Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
DESPITE the inroads being made by the home video market, developers were still keen to move into the drive in market.
The first proposal, for a drive in on land behind the Lithgow RSL Club, went by the wayside but then on Wednesday April 24 1974 the Mercury’s front page heralded that Marrangaroo was to be the site for a drive in with the sub heading ‘Protests rejected’.
The report went on to read that Blaxland Shire Council had accepted a proposal by a Sydney firm to erect a drive in theatre at Marrangaroo after receiving the application more than six months ago.
READ ON: ARMY OBJECTION REJECTED THERE were 11 letters to council objecting to the plan, nine letters in favour of the proposal and a petition containing 1265 persons and several newspaper letters.
One letter of interest was from Major WJ Whitfield officer in command 223 Supply Co Marrangaroo.
In his letter Major Whitfield said that he had been instructed by his commanding officer to object to the establishment of the drive in.
Major Whitfield outlined his reason for objecting because of the fact that persons might enter the Army camp while attending the drive in.
He said that the drive in would operate when the camp was least manned.
He said that theft from the ammunition dump was highly likely and that this action would no doubt result in dangerous situations.
Major Whitfield also pointed out the fact that laden lorries would often be using Reserve Road after dark and that because of the bad condition of the road there would always be the possibility of collisions which could be fatal.
Major Whitfield also said that council could expect a letter from Senior Headquarters based in Sydney.
However Shire Engineer Mr Col White said that an officer had approached him to make further inquiries about the drive in.
Mr White said that the officer firmly believed that the drive in would adjoin the boundary of the army camp.
He said he was quite surprised to find that this was not a fact.
On the suggestion there could be fatal collisions between army vehicles and private cars on Reserve Road Mr White said that he felt that this would also be the case on open roads.
He said that army vehicles travel long distances and that some of the roads they travelled on were in as bad a condition as Reserve Road.
After much discussion by councillors on the issues including suggestion of an alternate site for the drive in, the meeting was told that there had been numerous discussions on the site and that Gayline Theatres were adamant that Reserve Road was the best site.
It was felt that if council were to keep putting the decision off then the shire would find it would not have a drive in at all. It was felt that Gayline Theatres had been very patient with council since lodging their application.
Cr Hall said: “It’s time we decided to do something about it or else we will drive them away”.
He said that the shire could not offer anything as far as amusement went except for the proposed establishment of bowling green in Wallerawang.
Cr Hall said he could not understand the Army’s objections because the camp could be broken into any time and accidents could occur at any time.
Cr Hall then proposed a motion “that council agree to the establishment of a drive in theatre at Marrangaroo”.
So on Tuesday April 23 1974 approval was given for the establishment of the Gayline Drive-In Theatre in Reserve Road Marrangaroo.
The Chief Secretary’s department issued a five-year licence to the drive-in later in 1974 and construction began in October.
It was not known by many at the time but all of the equipment for the drive in including the giant screen, projection plant and speaker system was from a drive in in Mildura that had closed the year before and had been purchased by Mr Frazer of Gayline Theatres.
All of this equipment had been transported from Mildura to Marrangaroo.
DRIVE IN OPERATOR BECOMES THE DUAL LEASEHOLDER REALISING that with two theatres in Lithgow competing for scarce product it would be difficult to survive at the Theatre Royal, Wes and Christine Anderson decided to put their lease of the theatre up for sale.
Mr Frazer of Gayline Drive-in Theatres took up the lease.
So in October 1975 Mr Frazer and Gayline Drive-In Theatres Pty Ltd took over operation of both the Theatre Royal in Lithgow and the drive in at Marrangaroo.
The lease on the Royal was for a three year period with an option to renew for a further three years.
Later that year the Gayline drive in opened with Steven Spielberg’s movie ‘1941’.
Attendances in the beginning were good but as the cold Lithgow winters began in 1976 audiences fell away somewhat and Mr Frazer’s promise to have the in car speaker heating system never materialised making it a very cold outing on a frosty windy night in Marrangaroo.
However having the Theatre Royal The Trades Hall after remodelling in 1947 allowed him to place the same movie in both theatres.
In 1978 when the lease on the Royal came up for renewal Mr Frazer exercised his option and renewed the lease for a further three years.
Government records show that the drive in licence was renewed for a period of one year when it expired in 1979.
Then in 1980 it was renewed for a further five years.
In 1981 things then took a dramatic turn for Gayline Theatres.
When the lease of the Royal came up for renewal the owners Lithgow Amusement Company Pty Ltd refused to offer another lease citing that Mr Frazer had not looked after the premises as he should have and had reduced screenings to a few days a week.
The theatre was subsequently advertised for lease to any other party.
Infuriated Mr Frazer negotiated with the Trades Hall Co-op who still owned the Trades Hall Theatre and subsequently took a lease on that theatre.
However before it would be licensed by the Chief Secretary’s Department Mr Frazer was required to finally install inside toilets.
He commenced doing this later in 1981 but the theatre was never opened to the public as a theatre again even though it was licensed in 1981 for a four-year period as City Cinema One.
INTERVENTION FAILED TO SAVE THE ROYAL THE introduction of breath testing in 1982 together with the introduction of the video cassette and the establishment of video libraries led to the demise of drive in theatres all over the country.
They fell like great dinosaurs and most of the drive-in sites were sold off for major housing developments, which at least gave their operators some money for their now worthless investment.
After the Theatre Royal was advertised for lease in 1981 Mr John Love of Sydney who had worked on remodelling theatres for Mike Walsh formed a consortium of investors to remodel and lease the theatre with the permission of the owners Lithgow Amusement Company Pty Ltd.
So the Theatre Royal was now set for a new lease of life. It underwent massive alterations, yet again, and re-opened on April 30 1982 with “The Man From Snowy River” on the opening night.
The movie was supported by a live show featuring soprano Helen Zerefos in “Hooray For Hollywood” live on stage.
John had designed a lavish new interior, to recall the heyday of the movie palaces of the 1920s with Axminster carpet, velvet covered seats, imported Venetian renaissance furnishings and gold edged mirrors.
Highlighting the decor were two magnificent 20-arm Florentine Capodimonte porcelain and brass chandeliers suspended from ornate ceiling centrepieces.
The vestibule was enhanced by facilities such as a cloakroom, candy and coffee bar, crying room and a grand piano.
The dress circle foyer lounge was renamed the Regency Room and the theatre had a licensed bar.
Lavish new stage and foyer drapes were installed, imported from Belgium.
A brand new 70mm screen was installed and the original orchestra pit was re-installed to accommodate up to 20 musicians.
A new $25,000 Rogers’s organ was put in place and the theatre was equipped with a new Eprad Dolby stereo sound system.
While the alterations were taking place a copy of the 1925 film “Across The Pacific” starring Myrna Loy was found and passed on to the Sound and Film Archive in Canberra.
John Love remained at the Royal for about two years but then moved on to do other theatre restorations in Mudgee and Sawtell.
The lease was then taken over by well-known local businessman Angelo Butta but by this time greater competition from video libraries had taken it’s toll and eventually even he couldn’t make it work, so when his lease expired the owners Lithgow Amusement Company Pty Ltd decide to put the theatre up for sale.
It was purchased by local chemist Mr Hugh Dougherty, who in 1988 converted it to “Sergeant Peppers Nightclub and Cinema” and for a while it was run as a nightclub and cinema, with movies being screened two to three times a week and the nightclub operating weekends.
Upon it’s conversion to a nightclub the entire downstairs stalls section was removed and a sunken disco floor with disco lighting was installed making it necessary to only use the dress circle when movies were screened.
However by 1991 movie screenings had ceased and the theatre became a full time nightclub.
Eventually the nightclub was closed as well and the theatre was once again closed.
It had two more revivals as a restaurant but eventually these too failed and the theatre was once again closed.
It never reopened again and was put up for sale.
The Trades Hall theatre was also put up for sale and now operates as a fitness centre and the Union Theatre was purchased by the council, restored and is used as a community theatre by the Lithgow Musical Society and the Lithgow Arts Council as well as hosting some travelling live shows from time to time.
It’s sad to see the demise of the movie theatres in Lithgow but like most other towns and cities changes in tastes, new technology, lack of good movies that attract regular audiences and greater competition for the entertainment dollar have led to their closure.
Looking back over the last 90 years the theatres of Lithgow entertained thousands of people and were once the hub of entertainment in the city.
They provided the social life of the city and many a wife met her husband and many a husband met his wife at one of those theatres.
Anybody who was anybody in the city had to be seen at the theatre so they could say they had seen and could talk about the latest movie.
It’s all gone now and there is nothing worse than seeing a shuttered theatre; people make a theatre and when the people stop coming it drains the lifeblood from the theatre and it dies.
Sadly that is what has happened to all of the theatres in Lithgow and across the entire country, it’s an era, which sadly will never return.
WES REFLECTS ON HIS TIME IN THE MOVIE BUSINESS
I WAS privileged to be manager of the Theatre Royal from 1967 to 1975 and I took this responsibility very seriously.
I knew that I was in charge of bringing the best movies to the people of Lithgow and during my time I negotiated to bring such great movies as Doctor Zhivago, My Fair Lady, Sound Of Music and Paint Your Wagon to the people of this great city.
Dealing with the big Hollywood studio executives was at times very challenging as they didn’t care about individual theatres but only the money they could make from them, so I learned a lot about negotiation skills which helped me a lot throughout my entire business career.
After I sold my lease on the Theatre Royal in 1975 I went back to become a projectionist and I did this for over 20 years.
I also was asked to do the buying and bookings for the theatre by successive lessees.
So even though I had got out of the business I was still drawn back through these jobs.
I enjoyed my time at the theatre, as it was always a childhood dream of mine to manage the theatre.
However when I got there I realised I was 30 years too late as the golden years of the movies had been during the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.
Those were the years when the movies were king.
My love of the movies probably began when I was about five years old.
My uncle was a projectionist at the Union Theatre and my parents would take me up to the projection room to see him.
I vividly remember him holding me up to the projection port to look out at the screen and asking me what was out there to which I replied “the pictures” with much laughter from him and my parents.
That encounter however always made an impression on me and I was always fascinated how a reel of celluloid with little picture frames and a photographic sound track could go through that magic machine called a projector and bring to life on that big screen actors who could make you laugh, make you cry, or tell a story that could bring you a song that would be recalled by your brain long after you left the theatre.
That to me was indeed the magic of the movies.
I remember walking into the Theatre Royal one afternoon when there was nobody there and thinking how dark and dingy a place it was, but it came to life every night as the lights were turned on and patrons began arriving and the light from the projection room flashed onto the silver screen.
I always got great satisfaction out of seeing audiences really enjoying a good movie.
I have been as accurate as I can in compiling this history and have carried out a lot of research and gathered a lot of material from various sources but if I have made any errors please contact me and I would be only too happy to correct those errors.
I also acknowledge the following sources: Kino Cinema and Les Todd’s article on the Theatre Royal. Lithgow Mercury. Chief Secretary’s Department. Board Of Fire Commissioners. NSW State Library. Lithgow Amusement Company Pty Ltd. Trades Hall Co-op Limited. The Australasian Exhibitor. Film Weekly