The York Picture Theatre building c 1921. Image courtesy of State Library of South Australia https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+826
The York Picture Theatre was located on the corner of Gawler Place and Rundle Street in Adelaide's CBD. Sadly the building was demolished in 1962 to enable the widening of Gawler Place. But by then the cinema itself had already closed. The building to the right in this photo below is the one you now see on the corner of Gawler Place and Rundle Mall.
The York Picture Theatre c 1936. Photo courtesy of State Library of South Australia.
I was recently chatting with a friend about which picture theatres that no longer exist I wish I had had a chance to visit, for me it would be the York Picture Theatre. It saddens me that we demolished such a beautiful building to widen Gawler Place. If you have ever been to Adelaide and stood at this very corner, it does seem there was no real reason to do so, today it is simply a space in which the council struggles to find a purpose.
But in the 1920s right through until Rundle Street became Rundle Mall the corner of Gawler Place would have had to carry a lot of traffic. Picture Theatres were typically built in areas with large passing foot/vehicle traffic, or the suburbs with access to public transport. For the York Picture Theatre, the high amount of passing traffic would later become the very reason for the building to be demolished, when the council decided that it was necessary to widen Gawler Place. But I still wish that it survived, such an unusual-looking building, especially the entrance to the cinema, which was as Thorne describes more in keeping with USA picture theatre design than Australian (1981, p. 381).
It was built for the Greater Wondergraph Company. In the early 1920s, they had sold their last suburban theatre to Cliffords, and intended to concentrate on theatres in the CBD (Walker, 1995 p. 85). The York Picture Theatre first opened on November 5, 1921, it was designed by the architect Chris A Smith (Thorne 1981, p. 381; Walker 1995, p. 85 ). Smith was a prolific designer of picture theatres in South Australia during this period. The York had a narrow fronted entrance, in a narrow building, which consisted of the theatre and floors of office spaces above (ibid), all up 8 floors.
Entering into The York patrons were met with all the latest modern comforts. The York wanted to appeal to the middle classes, why sell a seat for 1 shilling if you can sell the same seat for 4 shillings? In order to attract the wealthier audience theatres needed nicer facilities and furnishings. In her master's thesis, the author Antionette Hennessy discusses the 'embourgeoisement theory', a theory that discusses the change in the business of picture theatres that took place after World War One (2013 pp. 21-22). The theory is simply that picture theatre proprietors moved away from their traditional audience base and instead made considered choices to attract the middle classes because they wanted a wealthier audience (ibid). Previously picture theatres had been seen as entertainment more for the working classes, but with the shift towards attracting a wealthier audience, the proprietors could and would charge more for seating. Hennessy goes on to note that there was a move away from the 'embourgeoisement theory' by scholars towards a 'revisionist theory'(2013, p.22). Whilst Revisionist scholars agreed with the embourgeoisement theory scholars, that films were certainly popular with the working classes. They differed in that Revisionists scholars believed that it was the middle classes that influenced the cinema business, and it was this influence that would be behind the growth of the picture palaces (Hennessy 2013, pp. 22-23).
Image courtesy of Trove: Daily Herald (Adelaide) November 2, 1921, p 6
The investment needed to open a picture theatre such as the York Picture Theatre was spelled out in an article in the Gawler-based newspaper The Bunyip. Working on a cost of £120,000 to build, the newspaper worked out that the theatre would need to make at least £20.00 a day just to keep up with the interest rates on such an investment (Pictures De Luxe, 1921, p. 2). The Bunyip's answer was less salaciousness and more censorship of the films (ibid). For the proprietors, they hoped that investment in nicer facilities for their patrons would attract more of the wealthier patrons who were willing to part with more money to sit in the 'nicer' seats of the theatre. One that continues today, with the picture theatre business investing in 'gold class seating' which in some cases includes access to exclusive lounges for those willing to pay a premium.
But perhaps The Bunyip had been right in calling on more censorship, the author Dylan Walker mentions that the York Picture Theatre would come to clash with the Chief Secretary with an advertisement they placed in The Advertiser on Friday 25 July 1924 for the film The Temple of Venus (1923). The image of the man unbuttoning the back of the women's dress was accompanied by a quote to 'unhook my gown for the devils' dance' (1995, p. 89).
Advertisement for the film The Temple of Venus placed by the York Picture Theatre in The Advertiser 25 July 1924. Image courtesy of Trove; https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/page/2834326
In 1929 Greater Union purchased the York Picture Theatre. In 1938 it would be renovated and modernised, and become a first-release house for MGM. (Thorne 1981, p. 381). It would
close in 1960. The Cinema and Theatre History database shows that the York Picture Theatre would close on 30 September 1960 ( https://www.caths.org.au/venues/pdf/sa.pdf). With the increase in car ownership and the growth of the suburbs and suburban facilities many CBD cinemas would struggle throughout the 1950s, people no longer traveled into CBDs of cities to do their shopping or for their entertainment.
References:
Pictures De Luxe, Gawler Bunyip, 11 Nov 1921, p 2
Hennessy, Antoinette 2013, 'Entertaining the Classes An archaeological investigation of historic cinemas in Metropolitan Adelaide, South Australia, and their development in relation to social class, 1896-1949', Master's thesis, Department of Archaeology, Flinders University
Thorne, Ross 1981, Cinemas of Australia via USA, Architecture Department, Sydney University, 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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