Following brown signs lead you to interesting and sometimes unexpected places. In Far North Queensland, coming across Australia’s longest continually operating picture theatre was not something we were expecting to come across.
The Majestic Theatre in Malanda was first built in 1928 and opening in 1929. It had been operating for 92 years with an amazing 100 years looming not too far away. In the foyer sits one of the projectors installed in the 1930s, using the original old carbon arc projection. It was used for over 50 years until the 1980s when it was replaced by a XENON lamp projector.
Today, the theatre’s projection technology has been modernised with a 2kw digital projector fed by a 4TB GDC server, with a JBL digital sound processor. The projection is new age but the atmosphere of the theater space, including the seating and decor, is a theatrical museum, approaching 100 years of cinema entertainment.
The theatre has gone through several major transitions in its black and white and colourful history. Starting in the era of black and white silent movies, it has seen technology advancements of sound, colour, widescreen, digital sound, and of course, the latest digital projection. It has survived the in-home threats to end cinema, from the introduction of television in the 1950s, colour television in the 1970s, VHS cassettes in the 1980s, DVDs in the 1990s, and in more recent times, streaming services. Technology hasn’t been its only threats. The Majetic Theatre in Malanda has survived mother nature’s shows of wild weather and cyclones.
Researching the longest continually operating picture theatre in Australia, I found another theatre claiming the same. Also called Majestic Theatre, but in Pomona closer to Brisbane, the opening year is not clear. The land was purchased in 1921, initially opening as a community hall, the Majestic Hall. It was occasionally leased by travelling picture show men to show silent movies, the hall was leased with a theatre license in 1924.
Perhaps in the earlier days, the Pomona hall was only used by travelling projectionists. Either way, the Majestic Theatre in Malanda hold true cinematic history in Australia and has provided moving picture entertainment to countless people over many decades.
