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Glenelg Theatre (a.k.a. Seaview Theatre), Glenelg
This seaside theatre, which is usually referred to by its later name as the Seaview, housed two photoplayers in its time.
The first, installed when the theatre on Colley Terrace opened on 23 August, 1917 [Dylan Walker, "Adelaide's Silent Nights", Canberra, p.68], was a two-rank Fotoplayer (specification) which had previously been installed in the Wondergraph Theatre, Adelaide [Bill Binding, conversation with writer, September, 1975]. However, according to a contemporary press account, the Fotoplayer had been specially imported by the Pianola Company at a cost of £1000:
"The matter of providing suitable music caused the management much concern, and after exhaustive enquiries, they decided to instal an American "fotoplayer". The organ, which was specially imported by the Pianola Company, at a cost of £1000, has a combination of instruments equal to a full orchestra, and no fewer than 39 stops control the various combinations, which are worked electrically. A musician was specially instructed in the working of the 'fotoplayer' in Melbourne, where a similar instrument is in use at Hoyt's Picture Palace.
The building will comfortably seat more than 1000 persons."
[The Register, 3 September, 1917, p. 9]
"The new theatre is proving a popular rendezvous for Glenelg folk. The comfortable seats, the excellent lounge, the flickerless screening of the pictures, and the delightful music of the 'Fotoplayer' all contribute to the theatre's popularity."
[The Register, 1 September, 1917, p. 9]
The player was Fred Floyd. The organ, which has already been described, was transferred in 1926 to the Strand Theatre, Glenelg.
The second instrument came from Victoria. It was a Style 50
Fotoplayer which had originally been installed in the De Luxe
Theatre, Melbourne, and subsequently had briefly sojourned in a
number of Hoyt's suburban Melbourne theatres before being
sold to the Glenelg Theatre for £600 [Dylan Walker, "Adelaide's Silent
Nights", Canberra, p.68]. It was installed by Bill Binding of Dodd &
Sons, and he recalled its large size and that it was not in the best
of order when it arrived. Bill also recalled that its overhaul was
carried out by Jack Woods and Bill Voit, while Cliff Davies
renovated the piano section [Bill Binding, conversation with writer,
September, 1975].
Specification of the Style 50 Fotoplayer
A former projectionist from the theatre recalls the organ and its egregious Maestro, the late Lawrie Starr:
"Whenever I had work to do in the daytime at the theatre I used to slip into the organ pit, pull back the pedals and with the help of the three hundred rolls I became an instant Paderewski. My favourite roll was that of 'Blaze Away', and I must have pedalled that some dozens of times. It is a great pity that the organ never had a real organist. The only chap that remains in my memory was Lawrence Starr. The stock of rolls comprised 99.99% of his repertoire. On the keyboard he could finger a just recognisable 'God Save the King'. Happily, the National Anthem at that period was more or less a 'play out', so that any mistakes were blanketed by the shuffling of the outgoing patrons. His master-piece was a few phrases of, I think, 'By the Sad Sad Sea', which he trotted out when emotion on the silver sheet called for it. It was less than counter-productive, because the audience immediately gave vent to cat calls and other abuse. Our organist transformed pathos into bathos. Not only was Mr Starr our featured organist, but he was also the town tailor. He must have been a better tailor than organist, otherwise he would have starved to death. Something must have got him down, because a year or two before sound arrived he upped stakes and went to ... Whyalla. I can't imagine a place in the world in less need of a tailor than Whyalla at that period, unless it was making overalls."
["Eminent Person", SA TOSA News, TOSA (SA), Adelaide, November, 1987, p. 5]
The Glenelg Theatre ceased full-time film shows in 1929 ["Eminent Person", SA TOSA News, TOSA (SA),
Adelaide, November, 1987, p. 5 Note: The date given for the Glenelg Theatre's
closure is 1939, but this is clearly a misprint, as the article refers to this being "only a
few months after the City theatres [had installed sound]"] ,continuing with
reduced screenings until 1931, when it closed altogther. It was
remodelled inside and out and reopened on 24 August, 1936[Colin
Flint, The Seaview with a Sea View, "Kino Cinema Quartely", Wahroonga, Winter
2000, No. 72, p.31]. In time it was renamed the Seaview Theatre, a
reference to its location facing the sea across a park area. The
Fotoplayer remained in the Seaview, but there is no record of it
having been played during film shows. After years of disuse, it was
purchased (around the time the theatre finally showed its last film in
1959) by the late Alf Broadbent, of Macclesfield, S.A., who installed it
at his property.
The Seaview Theatre finally closed on 26 September, 1959, the building
being used for the next nearly forty years as a bowling alley. The latter
closed on 18 January, 1999, and the decrepit building stood unused until it
was demolished in October, 1999.
[The Seaview in April, 1998]
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