Dendy Brighton

11 December 2024

There’s so many long lost interwar cinemas, but here’s one that’s still a cinema but sadly nothing original left – the Dendy Brighton was built in 1940, and designed by Cowper Murphy Appleford in a rather bitsy Art Deco style, with two tone bricks and a sign that went up out and back again. The auditorium by contrast had curvy speed lines, peppered with giant plaster flower/light fittings, rather odd but fun. It all seems to have survived until 1984, when the auditorium was made into two, and the facade altered/covered. In 2000, it was enlarged to 5 screens, and has just been done over, adding another one. The other point of interest is that the big Wurlitzer pipe organ from the 1924 Capitol Theatre in Swanston Street was saved by the theatre organ enthusiasts and relocated here in 1967 when the Capitol was reduced in size; its now in pieces I think waiting for funds so it can go back to its original home. All photos found on facebook.

10 January 2025

Camden, Caulfield

Another of the many long lost Art Deco cinemas in Melbourne that I hadn’t seen before. The Camden Theatre, 354 Hawthorn Road South Caulfield was opened in 1935, and designed by DF Cowell-Ham. The auditorium looks notably restrained, with rounded corners creating an enveloping effect, and where there is detail, it’s quite rich. It’s brought to life in childhood memories in a recent book by Ross Campbell ‘Melbourne and the Movies’; the walls were not plain but ‘scumbled’, with textured plaster and layers of deep gold colours, the same as used on the walls of the Regent Theatre, and the indirect lighting used red white and blue globes so the colours changed as they dimmed – it was all about creating a rich dimly lit atmosphere. The upstairs lobby featured a coved ceiling, very nice, but downstairs was a bit plain. The facade was unusual, featuring large chevron pattern windows. Like many cinemas it had a relatively short life, when TV and the drive-in caused patronage to plummet, closing in 1962. The facade was then flattened and the interior gutted for a bowling alley, a very 60s craze, and the whole thing finally demolished in 2021. So many went so long ago that I don’t mourn them, except the few really spectacular ones. Photos via Cinemas & Theatres of Australia, an active enthusiast group.

2 February 2025

Not Melbourne and long gone, but quite outstanding – the Yallourn Theatre, opened in 1939, closed in 1978, and demolished along with the whole town in the early 1980s. It was designed by cinema specialists Taylor & Soilleaux, who also brought us the Rivoli, with SEC architect William Gower. The various rounded elements of the auditorium made it much more interesting than the applied Deco features of most other cinemas, closer to German Expressionism, almost. The proscenium area was highlighted by plaster circles, lit from the sides, pretty groovy. It was all rounded to provide ‘perfect acoustics’ and the ceiling shaded from blue-green at the front to light green to the rear. The theatre was more like a public building, located in the middle of town, and designed for live performances, meetings, and concerts, with a wide curved frontage looking rather grand. I still puzzle about the whole idea of building a town that was just going to be demolished eventually for enlarging the coal mine – why not build it a bit further away ? Maybe they actually walked to work. All photos via various Facebook groups. This post prompted by an article on Yallourn in the latest Art Deco & Modernism Society magazine by Robin Grow.

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