Workmen Guests At Opening Of New Carlton Cinema

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30127, 10 May 1963, Page 15

Workmen Guests At Opening Of New Carlton Cinema

Two hundred tradesmen, technicians, and engineers who have been working for 14 weeks on the refurbishing of the former Crystal Palace cinema, were guests at its gala re-opening last evening as the Carlton cinema.

Nearly all the theatre's 926 seats were occupied for the premiere of “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father.”

Although the interior of the theatre has been tastefully redecorated, the problem of bad acoustics in the old building has not been completely overcome and the dialogue at times was particularly hard to hear. A noisy air-conditioning plant did not improve matters. It was switched off half-way through the show.

After Last night’s showing. Mr M. J. Moodabe, jun., a son of the governing-director of Amalgamated Theatres. Ltd. (Mr M. J. Moodabe), said the company had originally in-

tended calling the cinema the Lido. “However, we were beaten to the draw by the management of the New Brighton theatre, so we decided to ’all it the Carlton,” said Mr Moodabe. There was no other theatre in New Zealand with that name, he added. The Carlton is the second theatre reopened in the city by the company this week. On Wednesday evening, the former Mayfair theatre was reopened with Cinerama. Cinerama would not be installed in any other theatre in the South Island, Mr Moodabe said. “Dunedin does not have a large enough population to support it Asked whether hie company would install the new medium in Wellington, Mr Moodabe replied: “It has a chance—but I don’t know when.” Auckland is the only other city in New Zealand with a Cinerama theatre.

The manager of the Carlton theatre is Mr B. Nasey.