Semaphore Wondergraph c 1930
Image courtesy of the State Library of South Australia
Just around the corner from Semaphore Road, next to the Customs House on the Esplanade at Semaphore stood the Wondergraph Open Air Picturedrome. This open-air picture theatre could seat up to 1000 patrons (Walker 1995, p. 36).
The Advertiser (Adelaide) 8th October 1910.
Courtesy of Trove
Opening in 1910 (Walker 1995, p. 80) it would show the very best of films such as The Test of Honor starring Mr John Barrymore (Semaphore Wondergraph, The Advertiser (Adelaide), 1 November, 1919, p. 12). In September 1920 Daniel Clifford purchased the suburban circuit of Wondergraph, which included the Semaphore Wondergraph for a sum of £15,000 (Thiele & Lang 1991, p. 52) and a more permanent structure would be built on Semaphore Road.
The Advertiser (Adelaide) 1 November 1919
Courtesy of Trove
Semaphore Jetty C 1940, you can see the Semaphore Wondergraph in the background
Image courtesy of State Library of South Australia
References:
Thiele ,John & Lange, Ross 1991, Thanks for the memory; 1991 TOSA (SA) celebrates, Gillingham Press, Adelaide, South Australia.
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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