Frankston Plaza Theatre

Playne Street,
Melbourne, VIC 3199

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Additional Info

Previous Names: Frankston Picture Theatre

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Frankston Plaza Theatre  Playne Street, Frankston, VIC 3199

Located in the south Melbourne district of Frankston. The Frankston Picture Theatre (trading as the Frankston Picture Palais) was opened on December 24, 1922. It was located on Playne Street, close to the main shopping centre, and comprised of a modern brick theatre. with four lock-up shops, along with a complete plant and furnishings. The land it stood on measured 93ft by 142 ft 8 inches.

The Frankston Picture Theatre successfully ran silent movies to excellent crowds until the property was sold (at auction) to the Plaza Theatre Company in 1930 for £8,000. It officially re-opened on October 13, 1930 as the Frankston Plaza Theatre with the introduction of ‘talking pictures’. In May 1945 the theatre made major improvements with the installation of the new Australian-made Raycophone Sound system, where sound is distributed accurately to every seat in the theatre. CinemaScope was installed in the early-1950’s and the Plaza Theatre ran well into the mid to late-1950’s (it was still open in 1959-1960), until television forced its closure. The actual closing date is currently unknown, however we do know that the theatre was demolished to be replaced by the Ball and Welch department store in the early-1960’s.

Contributed by Ken Roe
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