Motion Picture News (Oct-Dec 1929)

0 ciobt i in. 1221 THE STATE, SYDNEY, IS NEWEST HOUSE BUILT BY UNION THEATRES De Luxe Playhouse Is ti Feature of the State Shopping Block SINCE its opening early in June of this year, the State Theatre in Sydney, Australia, has played to grosses that exceed even the optimistic expectations of those who sponsored the erection of a playhouse that takes rank among the most elaborate built for motion picture entertainment in any of the world's large cities. The State, in conjunction with the State Shopping Block which houses it, represents an investment of four million dollars. It was built and is being operated by Union Theatres, Ltd., controlling a large circuit of pictures houses in Australia. This unique project, combining a large theatre and a -•hupping center in a building with n floors of "street space" above the street level, materializes an idea and an ideal of the Directors of Union Theatres, Ltd. : Edwin Geach, W. A. Gibson and Stuart F. Doyle, well known to theatre men in this country through their achievements in the field of motion picture showmanship. The Shopping Block was described in an article published in the July 6 issue of The Showman Section. The State Theatre has a seating capacity of nearly 4,000 persons, and operates on a policy of all-talking features, with stage band entertainments and talking short subjects comprising the first half of the program. Architecture in Gothic Style The theatre was designed by Henry E. White of Sydney. Australia, in association with Union Theatres' American Architect, John Eberson. Stuart F. Doyle personally supervised the construction, decoration and furnishing of the theatre. It features Gothic style of architecture. The entrance is through its Gothic Entrance Hall. This recreates the interior decoration of the best Gothic period. Bas reliefs, more than life-size canopied statues of King Arthur and England's Patron Saint, St. George, and other mediaeval figures famed in song and story adorn massive panelled oak walls, while high aloft is a reproduction of Proscenium arch and side-wall treatment of the Stale's auditorium, in which height is accentuated by sweeping arches and the striking color scheme featuring red. gold and ivory the famous fan pendant ceiling in the Henry the Seventh Chapel in Westminster Abbey. In the centre of the floor is a giant flooi clock, the first of its kind, with gilded hands and numerals in mosaic tiles under a plate-glass face. From the Gothic Hall the scene opens on the Grand Assembly, notable for the delicacy of its luminous and multi-hued Louis coloring, the grand sweep of its marble balustrades and murals in painted tones. With its Royal Mezzanine Circle the State introduces an entirely new note in theatre construction in Sydney, for it is the first theatrei n the Southern Hemisphere to adopt this outstanding feature of the "de luxe" style of construction which has enjoyed such popularity in the United States. And because it is a new departure, the Royal Mezzanine has been fashioned and furnished on a scale of comfort, lavishness and splendor hitherto not attempted in Australia. Striking Decorative Scheme In the Royal Mezzanine the splendor of the general Louis decorative scheme of gold and ivory with its delicate and pleasing relieving colors is heightened and accentuated. Magnificent wall treatments with panels of figures and flowered tapestry, gilded embrasures for marble pieces and cardinal red hangings flowing down in tremendous color cascades, are some of the things that feature the Royal Mezzanine. Despite its spaciousness and the great sweep of its semicircled balustrades, the State's Dress Circle gives an immediate impression of intimacy and cultured charm, and evokes an atmosphere of comfort and refinement. Here sweep upon sweep of the Louis treatment stretches out before and on all sides in burnished gold and gleaming ivory, relieved with the delicate pastel tones of the period and giant cascades of cardinal red velvet draping tapestrj work. The Stalls of the State introduce a far-reaching change in the accepted standards of comfort and convenience of that part of a theatre devoted to meeting popular requirements. Music and presentation at the State are under the direction of three well-known theatrical figures. The presiding genius of the theatre's large orchestra and stage