Liberty Theatre

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Uploaded on: August 26, 2023

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Liberty Theatre 81 Barrack Street, Perth, WA - Later to become The Kimberley.

Photo - ROBERT BAXTER - STATE LIBRARY of WA

By 1985 The Liberty was being run by a partnership of Bob Yelland, John Marsden and John Parker. It was still slightly seedy, known simply as the Kimberley, and presenting second runs of recent and popular films, and seasons of children’s films in the school holidays.

In 1986 a freshening up of the venue included recarpeting and repainting the entrance, hanging a new sign outside, and re-siting the ticket box. However, patronage continued to decline, and in January 1987 a consortium took it over, to screen first-run Asian (Chinese-language) films. Then it closed for renovations.

In December 1992, the renovated cinema was re-opened, with 390 seats and reverting to the old name of Liberty. For a while, Malcolm Leech (who was running similar screenings at the Piccadilly) was screening Hong Kong movies there, on week-nights and at weekends from about 2 p.m. till 1.30 a.m. The candy bar was completely rebuilt in the small foyer.

The first years were successful, but Chris Simmonds attributes the decline to ‘the black market in Asian Movies. A short-lived excursion into live theatre did not rescue the venture, which reverted to screening Chinese-language films in early 1997, but by October this closed and the cinema was again available for lease - Information courtesy of Cinema Web

Contributed by Greg Lynch -