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Gilbert Trefry Hands Over Keys Of The “Renown Theatre Midland Junction”

The Swan Express (Midland Junction, WA) Thu 1 Jul 1954 Page 3 reports :

LONG LIFE IN THE PICTURE BUSINESS TO END.

When Mr. Gilbert Trefry sees the last patron depart from “The Theatre Renown” on Saturday night, and as he closes the gates he will be severing a connection with the picture industry which began in Day Dawn 44 years ago. On Monday morning he will hand over the keys to Bob Yelland of Consolidated Theatres Ltd, to whom he has leased the Renown. Born at Day Dawn in 1896, when the goldfield was booming, Gilbert Trefry went to school there and, at the age of 14, his father took him along to the Great Fingall Mine to start work as an electrician. His boss was the late Alfred Herbert. Mr. Herbert, as many people in Midland knew, was an extremely clever electrician and mechanic with an inventive turn of mind. At Day Dawn he was in charge of the electrical plant at the mine. He took a liking to his young show apprentice and when he started showing moving pictures at night, young Gilbert was his assistant. The the goldfield fizzled out. The Great Fingall closed down and Alf Herbert was the last man on the place.

Came to Midland –

In 1918 Herbert & Trefry came to Midland Junction and bought the picture showing business. In a little while they had the old Empire and the Town Hall running two nights a week each. Those were the days when the operator had to turn the film projection machine by hand, grinding out the old silents at a steady pace for the whole evening. People loved those old comedies and melodramas and never thought about the weary operator at his crank handle. But Herbert thought about it, often. The theatre did not use any water but it had to pay rates. What’s wrong with a water-motor he asked himself ?

Water Runs Show -

By playing a Jet of water through a nozzle onto a fan mounted on a shaft he found that he had a motor strong enough to turn the projector. What’s more, he could regulate the running by turning the tap on or off. Midland’s pictures were probably the only ones in the world to be run on water. In the late 20’s Herbert and Trefry decided that the old type picture hall was no longer suitable. The patrons were entitled to a little more comfort. They came to the pictures to relax and be entertained alter a hard Day’s work. Plans were got out and a contract let for what was at the time, one of the most comfortable and modern theatres in the metropolitan area, People came a long way to enjoy good films in good surroundings. You had to book ahead to get a seat in the upstairs lounge, Again the patrons didn’t know that Herbert and Trefry nearly broke themselves over building, furnishing and equipping “The Theatre Renown” – Only their banker knew how far they were in the red. That was in 1927, the beginning of the depression, Two years later, when they were just beginning to see daylight they found they had to pay out £2,000 for the new talkie equipment. The “silents” had gone forever. Even now many people will recall the horrors of the depression, Somehow the Renown managed to keep going. They showed to almost empty houses. The only good houses were those on Sunday for a silver coin admission. Since Mr. Herbert died, Gilbert Trefry has run the Renown on his own. This week he hands over its management to Consolidated Theatres.

Gratitude -

On Wednesday when we interviewed him. Mr Trefry thought back over past history of “The Theatre Renown” and said that the outstanding thing in his 36 years in the Picture Business in Midland Junction was the way the people had stuck to him in hard times. He was most grateful to all his patrons. He realized that the time had come for him to pull out in favor of a stronger concern able to put in new equipment and give the patrons the benefit of the latest in the motion picture industry. His own plans are not yet settled. His family will see a little more of him, he thought, and perhaps he would plan a little trip. Except for one visit to Sydney he had never been outside Western Australia.–

Contributed by Greg Lynch –