Image courtesy State Library of Sth Australia ([B 5517]
The Ozone Theatre, St Vincent Street in Port Adelaide. It was designed in an Art Nouveau style in 1913 by the architects Bruce, Wooldridge, and Harral (State Library of SA). This photo is dated 1919. This was the first permanent theatre that The Ozone Theatre Group would build, prior to that they had used available town halls and institutes to show their films (Walker 1995, p. 103). But soon they would have several theatres within their stable, as well as the one in Port Adelaide, there were others in Semaphore, Alberton, Enfield, Prospect, Marryatville, Renmark, Murray Bridge, Broken Hill, Victor Harbor and Port Pirie (http://www.caths.org.au/cinemas_sa/cinemas_sa.htm). The Ozone at Port Adelaide had a capacity of 1680 people, and a sloping floor, that allowed each patron to see the screen clearly ( Walker 1995, p. 45). Sadly this building has been lost to history.
In this photo, you can see the Ozone Theatre in the background, this is from 1964. I can find a mention of it closing in 1977 (http://caarp.edu.au/venue/2/view)
Photo: courtesy the State Library of South Australia (Lockley Collection) [B 70890/30]
References:
CATHS
CAARP:Cinema and Audience Research Project
State Library of SA
Walker, Dylan 1995, Adelaide’s silent nights: A pictorial history of Adelaide’s picture theatres during the silent era 1896-1929, National Film and Sound Archive
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