1950 australia cinema?

Question

Could anyone please tell me when abouts cinema started in australia??

thanks

Answer 1

The first motion pictures arrived in Australia in the mid-1890s and were run on the Edison Kinetoscope.

On 30 November 1894 theatrical entrepreneur James McMahon opened a Kinetoscope Parlour in a converted shop at 148 Pitt Street, Sydney.

In 1896, Melbourne had its own cinema and the first local short film of the Melbourne Cup.

Cinema Chronology in Australia: http://australianscreen.com.au/chronolog...

Answer 2

I'll try to find the exact answer, but I can already tell you it was a very long time before the 1950s. I was a kid then and there were cinemas everywhere that had been there for decades.

EDIT:

The first purpose built cinema in Australia was opened in 1906. Before this, films had been exhibited at a range of alternative venues, including converted shops, rented halls and tents.

PS

Elizabeth's post brought back memories. The matinee cost 9d (7.5 cents) to get in and it was the highlight of our week. A theatre miles away from our suburb used to have 27 cartoons days every few months and all the kids in our neighbourhood would leave home about 4 hours before it started so we could walk there because we couldn't afford the 3d tram fare.

Elizabeth has the rest pretty well spot on.  Going to the pictures at night was a major occasion for the whole family and we'd dress up in our best clothes. She didn't mention that there was always an interval between the rest of the programme and the main feature and during interval at the matinee, there would be competitions and prizes. Oh, and you never saw an adult at the matinee; it would be filled with hundreds of very noisy kids. In those days it was safe for kids to make their own way to the pictures without any adults being around.

In Brisbane, instead of theatre seats, they had canvas seats (like old style deck chairs) in most of the theatre. They were the cheaper seats and when you bought your ticket, you'd ask for a seat in 'the canvas'. For teenagers, the canvas were just the thing for cuddling (and sometimes, more than cuddling - they were quite roomy).

Answer 3

Going to the cinema in the 1950s was a big night out.

People used to get all dressed up to go, even during the daytime. Women would wear "going out" clothes including hat and gloves and men would wear a suit and tie.

There were two sorts of cinema. There was the local suburban cinema (of which there were many) which was nice but fairly basic.

Then there was the cinema "in town" which was very sumptuous and opulent.

Every cimema had ushers who showed you to your seat and they would keep watch on what was going on, in the theatre, during the film. Cigarette smoking was permitted inside the theatre.

We didn't call it going to the movies.

You said you were going to the pictures or to the flicks.

Pictures as in (moving) pictures. "The flicks" was slang from when the old silent films used to flicker as the ran.

You would have a newsreel, cartoon, advertisements and 2 films, a B grade film and the main feature. They would also show a picture of the Queen and play the National Anthem (which was "God Save the Queen") at that time. That was at the end of the show (but it could have been at the beginning in some places) and everyone would stand for the Queen.

I remember one cinema I was taken to ran continously, the same film. You could walk in and watch the film as often as you liked, for the one ticket price. Sometimes, if people arrived at the wrong time, they would see the end of the movie and have to stay to see the beginning during the next showing.

I think all cinemas had a Saturday morning matinee, especially for kids. I was never allowed to go I was too young but my older sister would go every Saturday. I think they started about 10 or 10.30am and would include cartoons and a serial which continued week to week. This encouraged the kids to whinge to their parents to let them go every week.

I hope this has helped you.