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Taken on: November 2, 2022

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Paris Theatre Arcade Lane, Adelaide, SA - Previously known The Plaza.

The Plaza Theatre was the first Adelaide theatre especially built for CinemaScope presentations.

Situated directly behind the Adelaide Regent Theatre, the Plaza Theatre was erected out of the old Embassy Ballroom. The cinema opened on Thursday October 27, 1955 with Katharine Hepburn and Rossano Brazzi in ‘“Summer Madness” (US title: ‘Summertime’). Katharine Hepburn was there in person to officially open the theatre. Special sight lines and seating gave the 735 patrons an uninterrupted view of the screen in the one level cinema.

It was the first Adelaide theatre especially built for CinemaScope presentations. The entrance was along a laneway, which ran beside the Regent Theatre. The main decorative motif inside the Plaza Theatre was a bold striking plaster moulding of Pegasus, the legendary winged-horse, curving away on each side of the proscenium. The main programming idea was to screen exclusive British product, but this could not be sustained and ended by June 1957.

In April 1958 “Around the World in 80 Days” started its 45-week season in the new Todd-AO process. A new screen was installed, but within the confines of the original proscenium.

Contributed by Greg Lynch -