Historical information

Image of the newly opened Mentone Picture Theatre located on Point Nepean Road in Mentone. Local picture theatres abounded in the in the suburbs of Kingston from the 1920s through to the late 1950s.

Significance

The New Mentone Picture Theatre was dreamt up and developed by Albert Lydford who along with other promoters, formed a company that provided the finance for the erection of a large cinema right at the junction of Balcombe Road and Point Nepean Road. The New Mentone Picture Theatre operated in competition with a council owned facility on Brindisi Street and within three years of opening, the council theatre was closed. The New Mentone Theatre flourished until the late 1950s. It offered three changes of program each week. Two movies screened on Mondays and Tuesdays. On Wednesday a new bill went on for just one night, and then the main feature of the week, a movie the likes of Casablanca, was shown from Thursday through to Saturday. During its heyday there were full houses almost weekly. Saturday night shows were often booked out in advance and some families had permanent bookings at weekends. Locals treated the place as a centre of social activity, a venue for an enjoyable night out that did not involve great expense or long travel times. The advent of television in the 1950's, saw the theatre close forever in 1960.

Physical description

Sepia toned image of the New Mentone Picture Theatre, located on Point Nepean Road, Mentone.