Allan Hall inside the Oxford Theatre, Unley, 13/5/1996
Image courtesy of State Library of SA (https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+72747/42)
This is the continuation of my interview with Allan Hall (see my earlier post on the Ozone Theatre at Semaphore), it is only a few lines on the Semaphore.
I remember going to the Oxford Cinema myself to catch a couple of films when I used to live not too far away in Fullarton. The Oxford Cinema closed in 2000. (http://www.caths.org.au/venues/venue_search.html). The space is now used by the library, which was next door during Allan's time running the cinema and he mentions that in the interview. The cinema was on Oxford Terrace, hence the choice in name. The Oxford Cinema was a part of the Wallis chain of cinemas.
ES) So you went from there (Semaphore) to the Oxford at Unley?
AH) Yep.
ES) That was in the town hall?
AH) Correct yes, the town hall. What they done they destroyed the original stage area to give some room to the library or libraries. They they put up this great wall, you know, and they had a work room on the other side of that wall. Now, normally speaking, it wouldn't worry anybody, but during the matinees and that they wouldn't have been happy, would they, during the day. Because all I can hear is us in their workroom, but it wasn't too bad they put up in it.
One lots of seats was from the Piccadilly, red ones. They were the tippers. Tipper Seats. And they were comfortable, but they were upgrading seats and didn’t want them, they said do you want them? Yeh, they put them all on the truck, down she came. I had to do all the carrying and shuffling myself, and we put them in downstairs. There is a process you got to move them upstairs to do it. Then the office manager from Wallis’ came down and said, Oh I’ve sold those seats. I said we just put them . Well I sold them, so they will be coming out. Well, I said what will I do for seats. Well, he said they are taking the ones of Glenelg, you’re better off with them anyway, which I would have cause there a better seat to sit in that the tipper.
ES) So the seats were from the Glenelg cinema?
AH) The Glenelg seats before they upgraded to the fancy ones, now all the seats are thrown down the tip.
ES) What was the capacity at the Oxford?
AH) I can’t remember the actual number think it was about 300. It wasn’t a bad size, wasn’t a bad size, and we had the upstairs as well.
Picture of Allan Hall c 2020. Picture author's own.
Images and interview copyrighted to author, and cannot be reproduced in part or in whole without permission from author.
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