PICTURE MAGNATE

Dominion, Volume 20, Issue 78, 27 December 1926, Page 10

PICTURE MAGNATE

BIG AUSTRALIAN MERGER EFFECTED EIGHTY THEATRES WITH CAPITAL OF £2,500,000 REGENT CHAIN FOR NEW ZEALAND A passenger from Wellington for Sydney on Friday. last was Mr. F. \V. Thring, director of the J-C. WilliamsonHoyt moving picture organisation, the largest of its kind m Australia anil New Zealand, also Mr. Cedric Baliantyne, architect, of Melbourne.'' who designed the new Regent Theatres in Wellington ami Auckland. These gentlemen were only in New Zealand five days, having come over with the one object of inspecting the two new .theatres mentioned. So precious was their time that they- could'not wait for the opeuing of the Auckland Regent, which loos place last evening. These theatres have been erected by a company separate from the big organisation mentioned in Australia, being, as Mr. Thring pointed out, to be the beginning of u chain of theatres in New .’Zealand., . which may not only extend to. Christchurch and Dunedin, but uiav also, invade some of the other provincial centres, which give signs of progress- theatres wherein they hope to maintain the highest standard as to comfort and the entertainment to be provided.

£1,000,000 for New Theatres, Mr. Thring spoke interestingly on the recent merger in Australia between the J. C. Williamson and Hoyt s picture theatres, a company which now controlled 80 theatres, with a capital ct <12,500,000, and which intended to spend LCLOOO.OOO in new theatres in the various States in 1297. It was to note the effect of the design of the new t hint res in Auckland and Wellington that they had come across the Tasman, as there was an idea of standardising the same in their building a diate future. Really the fi ” t . t, ’® a l l ®B; the kind had been constructed at South Yarra, Melbourne, which was quite satisfactory, yet scarcely so ornate as the Wellington Regent. As the result, of his inspection, Mr. Thring was satisfied that the right linesi were being: oh-, served The Auckland Regent, he said, was a very beautiful theatre indeed, which compared favourablv with the very best houses m Sydney and nnd in the transformation of the V-el lington theatre, be considered tnat tie architect had achieved wonders with the space at his disposal. Criticism Answered. Referring to certain criticism which had been offered, Mr. Thnr.g mentioned heM that the rake of the balcony was rather more severe than usual Is vmW havp been quite a simnie inattoi tn nave iesZenWat rake, but it would be a the expense of patrons. It "as nor desirable for people to have to dodge between the heads of those in front in order to obtain a full and uninterrupted view of the screen, yet such was often the case. where the ! ak ® sufficient to give a visual <learance. Moreover, next to seeing the P^ 1 /® ’ self people liked to have a Mew .of the orchestra-now such a feature in picture houses—and in lowering the rake of-the balcony of the Wellington Regent manv would have been deprived of that privilege. These were points that were not readily recognised by members of the public, but which had all been carefully thought out by the architect.

Value of Mergers. Mr Thring, when consulted as to the purchase of film, for the many theatres in which he was interested, said that the combination of theatre interests was an absolute essential in the business. Where' there were a number of diverse and independent theatre proprietaries fighting for film it was practically inevitable that they must be exploited by the foreign film corporations to the' point of domination, if not annihilation. Inversely, that could not happen where there were big well-organised combinations of theatre proprietors or companies controlling chains of theatres, so that a big merger such as the one tecently consummated in Australia was actually in fact a measure of self-protection. Not only that, but it preserved the theatres for the exploitation of British films, when in the fullness of time England or her Dominions were able to pn>duce what the public wanted. Were the theatres to drift into the hands o' the foreign film corporations it was quite probable that British products. However good, might lie'shut cut-. That prospect was possible in Canada, where the American corporations, realising the strong position possession of the'theatres gave them, had been instituting chains of picture theatres. "I am happy to say," said Mr. Thring, "that not one dollar of American money is. invested in our theatres in Australia, so that for some years to come at least these theatres will be available for British pictures when they come up to the standard required, as.-I think .they will in good time.”