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33-670: The Westgarth Theatre , formerly the Valhalla Cinema and now operating as the Palace Westgarth , is a heritage-listed movie theatre in the Westgarth neighbourhood of Northcote in Melbourne, Australia . It is the oldest continually-operating, purpose-built cinema in the city. The Westgarth arose from an era in which High Street featured many theatres in Thornbury and Northcote, including

66-659: A 1,000-watt sound system was used at a cinema screening in Australia. In 1975, the International Women's Film Festival screened and hosted events at the Palais, coordinated by Suzanne Spunner , founder of Lip , a feminist magazine, the following year. In the mid-2000s, the City of Port Phillip , managers of the land, proposed a large-scale redevelopment of the St Kilda 'Triangle',

99-572: A calendar of screenings, for example. The Valhalla in Sydney opened in 1979 when Chris Kiely (one of the original Melbourne Valhalla partners) leased the 1937 Art Deco Astor Cinema. It closed in August 2005. In March 2013, the "Valhalla Social Cinema" began operating in Melbourne. Celebrating the memory of Valhalla's 24-hour marathons, it is operated by Jose Maturana. The portable community cinema did not reside in

132-515: A permanent location, instead appearing in spaces that are not traditionally associated with movie halls. It specialised in 12- and 24-hour marathons. Palais Theatre The Palais Theatre , formerly known as Palais Pictures , is a historic picture palace located in St Kilda , an inner suburb of Melbourne , Victoria , Australia. With a capacity of nearly 3,000 people, it is the largest seated theatre in Australia. Replacing an earlier cinema of

165-425: A reasonable expectation of its being screened. Later, it became the home of two long-running audience participation films, The Rocky Horror Picture Show (from 1978) and The Blues Brothers (from 1980), as well as regular 24-hour film marathons. The marathons were often science-fiction-themed, showing anything from Hollywood blockbusters like " Terminator 2: Judgment Day " , B-grade films such as " Them! ", or

198-586: Is included on the Victorian Heritage Register , and in 2015 , it was inducted into the Music Victoria Hall of Fame . The Palais Theatre was developed by the Phillips brothers (Leon, Herman and Harold), who hailed from Spokane, Washington . Their first venture here, with fellow American showman James Dixon Williams , was Luna Park , which opened on the St Kilda foreshore in 1912. Williams left

231-523: Is unlikely that the Westgarth would have survived. A stage was added in the 1980s to allow for live performances, necessitating the removal of 15 seats. As with cinema in general, attendance declined in the 1980s due to the rise of home video . In 1987, the Westgarth changed its name to The Valhalla after the cinema of the same name , formerly based in Richmond , moved their operations there. On opening night,

264-487: The City of Darebin in 2000. In 2017, the Westgarth began showing films outdoors in the building's backyard, dubbing the newly used space the "Capi Outdoor Cinema." In 2022, the theatre celebrated 101 years of opening with a special "Westgarth 101" series of films from throughout the decades of its operation. Valhalla Cinema, Melbourne The Valhalla Cinema was a repertory and arthouse cinema in Melbourne , Australia. Noted for audience participation films, it

297-524: The Horticultural Hall in Victoria Street, Melbourne, they leased the cinema at 216 Victoria Street, Richmond. Although it initially had no seats, and patrons had to bring their own, it soon found a following. Among its more distinctive traits were its calendars, which contained up to six months' worth of upcoming attractions, and its request board, where anyone could add a request for any film with

330-483: The 1950s. In 1966, the building was acquired by Peter Yiannoudes and his company Cosmopolitan Motion Pictures Pty Ltd. It then became one of a chain of Cosmopolitan-owned cinemas that catered to Melbourne's Greek community , exclusively playing imported films that were either Greek in origin or featured Greek language subtitles. Without Yiannoudes' intervention and the Greek community's support for cinema during this period, it

363-436: The 1980s Barry Peak and Chris Kiely wrote, produced and directed four feature films: Future Schlock , Channel Chaos , The Big Hurt and As Time Goes By . Some of the managers of various Valhalla Cinemas include Ray Pond, Sue Thompson, Jane Kendrik, Andrew W Morse and Peter Castaldi. Glebe in Sydney was also home to a cinema called the Valhalla Cinema , which was very similar to the Melbourne version – they produced

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396-679: The Academy Twin, Paddington, Sydney; and then cinemas in Adelaide , Perth and Brisbane . In 1987, the Valhalla relocated from Richmond to the Westgarth Theatre in High Street , Westgarth , after the sale of their original venue (it was later demolished). With the characteristic offbeat nature of the cinema, the last film screened at the old premises was the first half of "The Blues Brothers", with

429-523: The American community of Victoria . The theatre, which had operated primarily as a cinema until the 1950s, became increasingly popular as a live performance venue, hosting top overseas stars such as Johnnie Ray , Bob Hope , the Rolling Stones , Tom Jones and many others. At some point in the 1950s, the name was changed from Palais Pictures to Palais Theatre, reflecting its new role, and the neon sign on

462-456: The Pacific , starring Monte Blue , and Rough House Rosie , starring Clara Bow , with interval entertainment provided by Harry Jacobs and his orchestra. When the last of the Phillips brothers died in 1957, the Palais, the Palais de Danse and Luna Park passed to local entrepreneurs. A brass plaque, still in place on the second level of the Palais, bears a tribute to Leon Phillips from members of

495-490: The Thornbury Picture Palace, Lyric Theatre and Northcote Town Hall. Design of the building is sometimes credited to Walter Burley Griffin , but this claim is unsubstantiated. No architect was credited during construction. It opened on 20 October 1921, with the opening night featuring a double bill of The Mother Heart and Anne of Green Gables . Attendance faced a downturn with the introduction of television in

528-596: The Valhalla becoming firmly associated in the public mind with cult films . At its peak, audiences included 400 patrons and 30 dedicated performers. From the late 1970s, Valhalla expanded both within Melbourne and around Australia. It opened the Academy Valhalla Twin Cinema in the heritage-listed Manchester Unity building on the corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, Melbourne; Valhalla at the Agora at La Trobe University , and late shows at The Astor in St Kilda ;

561-603: The architectural style is ornate, eclectic and exotic. The arched roof and twin domed towers of the façade is an arrangement shared by other entertainment buildings in the foreshore area, notably Luna Park next door, the St Kilda Sea Baths , and long demolished landmarks like the Palais de Danse to the north, and the St. Moritz Ice Rink on the Upper Esplanade. The architect Henry White stated that he adopted no particular style in

594-462: The building was leased by Palace Cinemas who also acquired the cinema's business and added two extra screens in the former upstairs balcony. Yiannoudes retains ownership of the building itself. He maintains an office on the premises full of memorabilia from decades of Greek cinema that he plans to turn into a museum. The Westgarth was heritage listed by the National Trust of Australia in 1994 and

627-435: The complete series of Star Trek motion pictures. Animation celebrations were popular with audiences. The cinema also ran regular weekend, or week-long, festivals on a theme: Jacques Tati , New Russian Cinema , Rainer Fassbinder , Werner Herzog , Pink Panther , Bond films , Astaire/Rogers , Woody Allen , Mel Brooks , and Akira Kurosawa . Shows like these – and the general selections played there – quickly led to

660-553: The design of the Palais Pictures building, and the interior has been described at times as Spanish, French, Oriental and Italian. The exterior does features Spanish Baroque detailing on top of the towers, while the interior is broadly neoclassical with tall columns and pilasters and a shallow dome in the auditorium, with elaborate textured plaster surfaces and detailing in the Adam style , and extensive concealed lighting. The Palais

693-492: The first half of The Blues Brothers was screened as a midnight movie in Richmond then all patrons were asked to go to Westgarth for the rest of it, causing a local traffic jam at 1 am. Programming in this era consisted of cult film and arthouse screenings, including 24-hour sci-fi marathons. The Valhalla's lease ended in 1996 and management reverted to Yiannoudes, who changed the name back to Westgarth Theatre. In 2006,

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726-590: The front was changed accordingly. In the 1960s and '70s, the Palais hosted live acts, films, opera and ballet. The Bolshoi Theatre , the Kirov Ballet and the Stars of World Ballet performed, and it was the Melbourne venue for The Australian Ballet , who premiered Anne Woolliams' production of Swan Lake on 19 October 1977, and its first commissioned Nutcracker choreographed by Leonid Kozlov and Valentina Kozlova on 8 October 1982. The Melbourne Film Festival

759-539: The partnership and returned to the United States in about 1913, leaving the Phillips brothers to expand their entertainment business. The Phillips' next ventures were a series of dance halls and picture theatres on the 'triangle site', across a small road from Luna Park. They began in 1913 with the first Palais de Danse, on the site of the current Palais Theatre. In 1915, this building was converted into Palais Pictures. In 1919, an arched-truss steel-framed structure that

792-416: The same name destroyed in a fire, the new theatre, designed by Henry Eli White , opened in 1927. Sitting adjacent to Luna Park , it helped to establish the St Kilda beach foreshore as an entertainment precinct, and remains an iconic landmark in the area. From the 1950s, it became primarily a live entertainment venue, and hosting ballet performances, operas, stand-up comedy shows and big name acts. The Palais

825-461: The second half being screened at the new venue after intermission. This caused a traffic jam in Richmond at 1 am. The Valhalla closed its doors in 1996 and became the Westgarth Cinema, after the rental costs of their Northcote site became too high to meet. The owners of the Westgarth cinema building continued to run it, as "The Westgarth", until early 2006. At that point, the cinema business

858-470: The site including the Palais and the adjacent car park. The lease of the site and building, which was nearing its end, was not renewed with the then-lessee, who controversially removed a number of items, notably the Spanish-style lobby chandelier. After various court cases, it was determined that their ownership by the former lessee was valid, and they remain in storage as of 2017. Between 2007 and 2016

891-472: The venue was managed by Palais Theatre Management Pty Ltd, a body set up by the local City of Port Phillip . In 2016 a new 30-year lease was granted to events management company Live Nation , and the state premier Daniel Andrews announced a A$ 20 -million restoration. The renovated theatre, repainted in its original sand colour after decades as off-white, reopened in May 2017. Typical of 1920s picture theatres,

924-535: Was Michael Ritchie 's " Smile " . The cinema was started by two friends from Sydney University: Barry Peak and Christopher Kiely. They had been running short seasons of films by the likes of the Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields & Mae West and Humphrey Bogart in Melbourne for some time. Realising that they needed a permanent home in Melbourne, rather than keep renting venues such as the Palais and The National in St Kilda and

957-584: Was based at the Palais from 1962 until 1982. Jesus Christ Superstar played at the Palais in 1973 and 1976, and Joan Sutherland appeared with the Australian Opera in The Merry Widow in 1979. In 1974/5, a Warner Brothers movie, A Film About Jimi Hendrix , had its Australian premiere at the Palais by special arrangement with the Paul Dainty Corporation. This was also the first time that

990-600: Was named for Valhalla , the "Hall of the slain" in Norse mythology . It ran as the Valhalla at Victoria Street , Richmond from 1976 until 1987, when it moved to the present location of the Westgarth Theatre in Northcote . In 1996 the Valhalla closed its doors and became Westgarth Cinema, now the Palace Westgarth. The cinema opened its doors on 10 June 1976 at 216 Victoria Street , Richmond . The first film to be screened there

1023-469: Was nearly complete in 1926 when a fire destroyed the whole building. The Phillips brothers then commissioned a new architect, theatre specialist Henry Eli White , to build a larger, grander theatre. This new theatre, with the largest seating capacity outside the main central city theatres, was officially opened by the Mayor of St Kilda on 12 November 1927. The next night the first films screened were Across

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1056-569: Was sold to the Palace Films and Cinemas chain, whilst they retain the ownership of the building. The building reopened after extensive renovations and the addition of two more screens. It now screens more traditionally arthouse fare. The original team of people who ran the Val went on to help run a number of the other independent cinemas in Melbourne. The Nova Cinema in Carlton is partly owned by Barry Peak. In

1089-433: Was to be a new Palais Pictures was built over the old Palais, which was then dismantled and relocated next door, to the north, becoming a dance hall again, the twin-towered arched-roofed Palais de Danse . In 1922 the interior of the Palais de Danse was remodelled to a design by the architect Walter Burley Griffin . In 1925, Griffin was again employed to design a substantial remodelling of the Palais Pictures next door; work

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