1941753
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Cinema
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Alternative nameMoving picturesPicture PalaceDescription
CollectionPlaces of Interest
This collection contains a small selection of archives relating to cinema in the City of Sydney area.
The first motion pictures arrived in Australia in the mid-1890s and were run on the Edison Kinetoscope. In 1894, theatrical entrepreneur James McMahon opened a Kinetoscope Parlour in a converted shop at 148 Pitt Street, Sydney.
It is believed the first screening of a cinematograph film in Sydney was in 1896 at the Salon Lumiere, 237 Pitt Street Sydney. Other early screenings were often in temporary or improvised locations.
The City's involvement in early cinema was primarily in providing permission for outdoor exhibitions, ensuring exits were sufficient in theatres, managing requests for the provision of electricity, responding to complaints and dealing with requests to use the Exhibition Building or Sydney Town Hall for cinematographic exhibitions. Later the City was also involved in development and building or changes to cinemas.
The collection also includes some later photographs and plans of cinemas in Sydney. See also Theatres.
To find even more items relating to cinema in the City of Sydney area try the search tool.
References
Photograph
Books & Journals
Plan
Collection
McDonalds, formerly Plaza Cinema, George Street Sydney, 2011 (A-01077560)
Cinema [CN-0377]. City of Sydney Archives, accessed 04 Dec 2024, https://archives.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/nodes/view/1941753