Village East End 1-3

May 16, 1974 print ad as East End Two added courtesy Peter Norrish.

Cinema 3 (the former Embassy cinema) suffered a bad reputation from day one, but in fact was a perfectly serviceable house. Given todays seating, the original capacity of approx. 400 would today be considered quite large. One of the main complaints was the entrance to the auditorium at screen end, but double sets of black-out curtains never seemed to be a major concern to me. A very early Espresso Bar in the foyer was a major attraction for the “hip” early 60’s audience it attracted with many important foreign films of the era, e.g. I Vitteloni, Woman Of The Dunes, Umbrellas Of Cherbourg, 81/2 and many other European and British hits. When all 3 cinemas came under corporate control the end was near. The former Embassy deserves much more acclaim for the product it introduced to many Melbourne film lovers.

The former department store building was called Tye.