BONZA - Australia & New Zealand Database

Cinema Name	Middle Park Picture Theatre
Date Started	00-00-1909
Date Finished	00-04-1943
Seats Count	300
Screens Count	1
Address	1-3 Armstrong Street
Suburb	Middle Park
Postcode	3206
State	VIC
Country	Australia
Date Built	00-00-1907
Date Demolished

People ( click to view )

Productions ( click to view )

References ( click to view )

journal - Aiming the Arrow On Stage Autmn V2006. 00-00-2006. pp.22-25

Barry Gordon

Written by an Australian actor, Barry J. Gordon, reminiscing about the activities in The Arrow Theatre (1951-1956), the venue prior known as the Melbourne Re...[full record]

picture - ARMSTRONG STREET, MIDDLE PARK, VIC. . 00-00-1920

Rose Stereograph

Well-composed, rare 1920s photograph of Armstrong Street featuring a profile of the Middle Park Picture Theatre from the period of its operation (1909-1943).[full record]

newspaper - Mr. Scullin to speak. The Argus. 04-04-1932. p.6

This very brief newspaper advertisement tells of one other use of the Middle Park Picture Theatre that could account for its long survival as an independent ...[full record]

journal - The Flics at Armstrong Street Cinemarecord 4 V38. 00-00-2002. pp.8-9

Denzil Howson

The article offers a brief but well researched historical profile of the Middle Park Picture Theatre (1909-1943) as well as the buildingâs posthumous life ...[full record]

chapter - The heart of Middle Park: stories from a suburb by the sea : The Middle Park Theatre . 00-00-2011. pp.28-41

Rosemary Goad, Diana Phoenix, Kay Rowan

This chapter provides the most comprehensive historical information of the building at 1-3 Armstrong Street, Middle Park, in its various roles as the Middle ...[full record]

Notes ( click to view )

HISTORY:

Middle Park Picture Theatre in Armstrong Street, Middle Park screened 'flickers' as early as 1909 and it continued to do so until 1943. Its 34 years of history record the shift from silent films and hand-cranked oxyhydrogen gas illuminated projectors, to the later wonder of technology known as 'talkies' and motor driven projectors. The theatre was known as the Hall for that is precisely what it was, a secluded brick hall at the back of the building that housed two shops at the street front. What is surprising is that this somewhat faceless annexe with its basic interior without much aesthetic appeal managed to survive as an independent cinema for nearly three and a half decades. What is even more astonishing about this 300-seat cinema is that it managed to survive the Great Depression in a working-class suburb, amidst a plenitude of larger purpose built cinemas, many within a ten-minute walk distance, in the neighbouring suburbs, most notably Kinema (1920-1983) and The Park (1938-1962) in Albert Park, Eclipse (1924-1959) and Port (1913-1952) in Port Melbourne, and Victory (1921-1971) and Palais (1927-1970) in St Kilda.

The cinema's first owner Alfred King Smith sold the business in 1923. The next owner P. Jones three years later leased it to Basil and Jack Flae. After this the lessees came and went about every three years until its very end when the venue took on a new life as the Melbourne Repertory Theatre (1945-1951), where the actor Frank Thring of the Hollywood fame started his career. Frank later became the artistic director of the theatre's later reincarnation as The Arrow Theatre (1951-1956), initiating it as the avant-garde cultural hub for radical and non-mainstream theatre. The building's early history is somewhat overshadowed by its later status and its affiliation with Frank and many other big names in the film industry (for an extensive list see references).

Search - Australia & New Zealand | Search - French Cinema | Terms of Use