Television City

Bendigo Street, Richmond runs from behind the local Officeworks down to the busy hubbub of Swan Street.

The houses are mostly from the 60s and 70s, and look well kept. At the top of the street is a community garden, and about half way along, at number 22, a substantial red brick factory complex, which has been renovated and turned into apartments. There are a couple of upmarket cafes, and a swanky looking bar.

It's the very picture of successful, hip, inner city Melbourne.

It's hard to believe, visiting today, that this street has had other lives; that it was once part of the industrial heartland of the city, that pianos and baked beans were manufactured here. That, even more astoundingly, this street even has a glamorous past, and was a second home to many local celebrities. But some embossed lettering that remains on the re-modeled factory frontage confirms this unlikely history for us.  It reads: Television City.

But our story doesn't start in the age of television. Instead, it starts in  eastern Europe.

Hugo Wertheim

Hugo Wertheim was born in Lispenhausen, Germany, in 1854. The son of a successful businessman, who himself came from a merchant family, Wertheim came to Melbourne in 1875 to make his fortune. He took a junior position with his father's cousin, a wealthy manufacturer of sewing machines, and soon established himself as hard working and dedicated, with a flare for and promotion,

Saving money diligently, Wertheim was soon able to go into business for himself. He sold not only sewing machines, but other mechanical devices popular at the time; mangles, knitting machines, washing machines, bicycles, and even pianos.

Wertheim's business expanded rapidly, and by the 1880s he had established a presence in  Europe and America. He traveled extensively, and was well known for staging elaborate demonstrations at trade shows. He returned to Germany in 1885 to be married, and then settled with his wife in a magnificent 17 bedroom mansion - 'Gotha' - on the banks of the Yarra. 

Hugo Wertheim had become one of Melbourne's most successful, and well known, businessmen.

The Wertheim piano factory.

Pianos had, by this time, become one of Wertheim's most profitable products. Well before television, and before even radio had taken hold, the piano was a fixture in many Australian homes, as a source of light entertainment. But despite their popularity, no pianos were manufactured locally. They were all imported, mostly from Europe (Wertheim sourced his from his native Germany).

Around 1900, Wertheim decided to change this, and sent his son abroad to study piano manufacture. Meanwhile, he acquired a large industrial site in Richmond, and commissioned architect Nahum Barnet to design an extensive complex, with 50 000 feet of floor space. The factory included iron and brass foundries, wood curing facilities, and its own private power generators and tram stop. The project was significant enough that Prime Minister Alfred Deakin laid the foundation stone, in October 1908.

When the Wertheim piano factory opened it was one of the largest industrial sites in the city, capable of producing 2000 pianos a year. The distinctive chimney was large enough to be visible across the inner east.

The Wertheim chimney, viewed from Richmond racecourse (also long gone).

Accused during World War I of being a German spy, Wertheim denied the allegations and vigorously defended his reputation. Ultimately, the charges were found to be groundless. Hugo Wertheim died of hepatitis in his South Yarra home in July, 1919.

After his father's death, Hugo's son Herbert took over the business, and for much of the 1920's things continued much as before. But the great depression, and the growing popularity of the wireless, greatly reduced the local market for pianos. Herbert cut costs and reduced output, leasing space in the enormous factory to other manufacturers, but the writing was on the wall. The Wertheim piano factory closed in 1935, having produced 18 000 pianos over 27 years.

The site was taken over by food producer Heinz, who chose it as the location for their first Victorian factory.

Heinz takes over, 1935.

Founded by Henry John Heinz in Pennsylvania in 1869, by the 1930s Heinz was on its way to becoming one of the world's largest food companies. It's cheap products were particularly popular during the Great Depression and so, while many companies struggled in this time, Heinz was able to expand, opening a number of new factories across Australia and New Zealand.

They commenced business in Bendigo St in March 1935, with a staff of 75 producing Heinz Horseradish. Baked beans, tomato sauce and canned soup were added shortly afterwards, production increasing dramatically during World War II as the company became one of the Australian Army's major suppliers. By 1948, the Richmond factory was producing 13 million cans of food a year.

Heinz tomato sauce workers, Richmond factory, 1940s

Ultimately, the company was so successful that they outgrew the facility in Richmond. In 1955, Heinz needed more factory space to meet demand, and so decided to relocate to Dandenong, on the outskirts of the city 

The factory was sold again.

And, much like the 1930s, the new owners would again use the premises for a very different purpose.

Channel 9 comes to Melbourne.

The first television station to broadcast in Australia was TCN 9 in Sydney, in September 1956, followed by HSV 7 in Melbourne, in November. Both stations had scrambled to commence operation so they could show the Melbourne Olympic Games, which opened on November 22.

Other stations would rapidly follow.

Melbourne's second commercial station would be GTV 9, which was established in the former Wertheim/Heinz factory on Bendigo St. From the moment it was reincarnated as a TV studio, the former factory would be dubbed 'Television City,' partly due to the size of the premises, and partly in homage to CBS's famous studios in America, which went by the same name.

At 8 pm, on January 19, 1957 (coincidentally, the day the last issue of The Argus went on sale, before the paper closed) then Victorian governor Sir Dallas Brooks welcomed viewers to the new station... and advised that if they didn't like the programming, they could simply switch off. 

A new era in local entertainment had begun. And, almost immediately, it found its first big star.

Graham Kennedy

Smart, funny and quick witted, Graham Kennedy was also a larrikin, a rabble rouser and an iconoclast. And, perhaps most importantly, he didn't immediately look, or act, like a celebrity. While people were still getting used to the medium it helped, perhaps, that our first bona fide local TV star resembled the bloke next door.

From May 1957, Kennedy headed up 'In Melbourne Tonight' on Channel 9, a local variety show that mimicked the popular 'Tonight Show' in the US. With live music, interviews, and Kennedy's own witty take on the days events, the show was a smash, almost from it's inception. Initially backed by straight man Geoff Corke, in 1959 Channel 9 lured a young TV presenter named Bert Newton from Channel 7, and installed him as Kennedy's offsider.

Kennedy and Newton.

The chemistry between the two was immediate, and the popularity of the show surged still further. Recorded live four nights a week in the Bendigo St studios, IMT (as it became known) became the place to find out what was going on in the city that day, and what people were talking about. The cultural influence of the show was such that if firmly helped establish TV watching as a central part of everyday life, our first proper smash hit show.

You can watch an episode of IMT, from December 1961, here:

And as shows like IMT drove the popularity of TV, the GTV 9 Studios expanded as well.

By the 1960s, Bendigo St had its own recording studio, radio station, in house band and dance troop, the largest prop department in the southern hemisphere, and more than 2000 staff (IMT alone employed 300). More studio space was added, as the station's live output increased, and many thousands of locals made their way each week, to watch a live recording of the station's popular shows.

In Melbourne Tonight finished up in 1970, as Kennedy moved on to other projects, but live variety remained a key part of GTV 9's local production roster.

Daryl and Ozzie, early days.

In 1971, a nineteen year old named Daryl Somers moved from 'Cartoon Corner', to hosting his own kids variety show each Saturday morning. His initial co host was former Collingwood footballer Peter McKenna, but the station soon replaced him with a life size ostrich puppet, Ozzie Ostrich, operated by Ernie Carroll.

From these humble beginnings, 'Hey Hey' built an audience, that expanded far beyond children and into the wider mainstream. Somers proved himself a versatile performer, hosting not only 'Hey Hey' but his own talk show, game shows (including Family Feud), and even a live music show, 'Bandstand.'

'Hey Hey It's Saturday' moved into prime time on Saturday nights in 1984, and proved a ratings juggernaut. It's mix of live music and comedy, celebrity interviews and sketches was nothing new, but it was energetically performed, and had an appealing, madcap atmosphere, that proved enduringly popular. 'Hey Hey' would eventually run for 28 years, finishing up in 1999 (before returning briefly in 2009-10), and was one of the most popular shows in Australia across most of that time.

Don Lane with Robin Williams.

Don Lane was a moderately famous American singer, and occasional TV personality, who struck a chord with Australian audiences. He had guest hosted a number of local shows, when he was given his own talk show, 'Tonight with Don Lane', in Sydney, in 1965. The show was popular and ran for four years, before Lane returned to America to pursue his singing career.

But his popularity in Australia was such that he was able to be lured back.

In 1975 he returned to host a new talk show, 'The Don Lane Show', in Melbourne, now partnered by Graham Kennedy's old sidekick, Bert Newton. Recorded live at Bendigo St, the show was so popular that two episodes a week were produced, screening on Monday and Thursday nights. Similar to IMT, and Hey Hey, 'The Don Lane Show' took an already standard formula, celebrity interviews and chat, and added an irreverent spin, with proved very popular. The show's best ratings were among the highest recorded by any show in local history.

It was still popular in 1983 when the station ended its run, a victim of cost cutting rather than declining ratings.

Other iconic shows recorded at Bendigo St.

But to discuss IMT, and Hey Hey, and The Don Lane Show, and their famous hosts, is just to scratch the surface.

For five decades, the Channel 9 Studio in Richmond was home to any number of famous local programmes; variety shows, and kids shows and game shows and panel shows and sports shows. Not all of these programs were recorded live, but it was truly a golden age of live television, and the countless numbers that attended the red brick studio in Richmond to watch a show being taped, enjoyed a close up view of TV and local celebrity that is now quietly disappearing.

The dismantling process.

In 2010, Channel 9 management decided to leave Bendigo St, and relocate to a much smaller premise in Docklands. Then managing director Jeffrey Brown was unsentimental:

'We have been part of a great history at Richmond, but it is time to move on,' he said.

The high cost of running the giant site in Richmond was the primary reason for the move, but the network was also looking for a more up-to-date location, as TV prepared to enter a  new digital age. The nightly news, and 'A Current Affair' would be produced at the new Nine studios, everything else would be done off site, in independent studio space, another cost cutting measure,

Once the decision to move had been made, things advanced pretty quickly:

Channel 9's new HQ, Docklands.

The 9 network stopped using the Bendigo St studio in December 2010, and the site was sold in March of the following year. Local construction giant Lend Lease acquired the property, and developed it into an apartment complex, comprising 175 residences, a community centre and cafe/restaurant. The re-development took two years, with the first occupants moving in, in October 2013.

Three years later, and 22 Bendigo St seems well established in its fourth incarnation.

IN a restless city like Melbourne, it is impossible to tell it this will be its last.

Melbourne's Hidden Suburban Cinemas

Movies are a big thing in our city.

We have our multiplexes and big cinema chains, same as everywhere, but also; one of the few art deco cinema's (The Astor) in Australia left in their original form, Australia's oldest and largest film festival (The Melbourne International Film Festival) and the incomparable Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), which provides a public forum for many movies that would otherwise get lost in the commercial shuffle.

The cinematic tradition in Melbourne runs deep; the first public movie screenings in Australia were held here, when the technology was still so new it was considered an optical illusion and demonstrated as part of a stage magician's act. And after this dramatic debut the movies took hold rapidly. Within a year there were three dedicated cinemas in the city and within two years, countless others.

A lasting impact of Melbourne's love affair with the movies can be found right across the urban landscape. A large number of our old cinema's remain in place, decorating their suburbs with their still grand facades, although the vast majority were put to other use some time ago.

The following is a brief tour of a few of these.

THE NATIONAL THEATRE

177 Bridge Road, Richmond

Then...

Now...

Built in 1921 and refurbished in art deco style in 1935, The National showed general release movies until the late 1950's. It was then bought by the Cosmopolitan Motion Picture Group, who ran a successful chain of cinemas that showed Greek movies to Melbourne's vast Greek ex-pat population. The cinema continued in this fashion until 1985, when the interior was destroyed by a fire. In the 1990's the property was sold and converted into fashion shops, in which guise it continues to this day. 

HOYT'S CINEMA RICHMOND

313 Bridge Road, Richmond

Then...

Now...

Opened in 1919  adjacent to the Richmond Town Hall (the clock tower of which can be glimpsed in the first photo, above), this cinema had an enormous, 2500 seat capacity. It was originally known as The All British Cinema, before being taken over by Hoyts. The cinema closed in 1960 and the site was redeveloped into a retail premise.

THE PLAZA THEATRE

403 High Street, Northcote

Then...

Now...

Opening in 1934 at the height of the depression, the 1100 seat Plaza showed first run British and American films but struggled financially almost from the outset. In 1941 it was converted into a live venue, featuring caberet and vaudeville acts, before movies were reinstated after the Second World War. Different ownership continued in this vain over the next few decades, alternating between movies and live entertainment (in 1960 it spent one year showing only Italian language films). In 1986 it was sold again and converted into a reception centre, The Elysee Centre, although the building has subsequently fallen into disuse. It currently stands vacant.

THE NORTHCOTE THEATRE

216 High Street, Northcote

Then...

Now...

Built in 1912, The Northcote Theatre is almost certainly the oldest cinema building in Melbourne. Like many silent era cinemas, it was initially used for live shows as well as movie projection. When the original owner of the building, Robert McLeish, joined Hoyts as Victorian Executive Chairman, the Northcote was added to their stable. In 1952 the cinema was used as the setting for the local musical comedy Night Club. The cinema closed in 1960 and the building is now used as a reception centre.

THE GRAND

324 Sydney Road, Coburg

Then...

Now...

Built in 1922 with a capacity of 1300, The Grand featured an elaborately decorated facade and lobby. Once one of the northern suburbs principle cinemas, in the decades after World War 2 it gradually became neglected and run down. When it closed in 1964, and was converted into a restaurant, its decorative features were covered over with sheet metal, giving the building a much more functional look. It is used as a social club today.

CIRCLE THEATRE

9 Leake Street, Essendon

Then...

Now...

Built in 1924 and originally named The New Essendon Picture Theatre, this cinema was re-named when taken over by the Hoyts chain in the 1930's. The cinema closed in 1967 and has operated as an independent function centre and ballroom since.

REGENT THEATRE

853 High Street, Thornbury

Then...

Now...

Opening in 1923, Thornbury's Regent had one of the grandest entrance halls ever attached to a Melbourne cinema; featuring a domed lobby, marble staircase and glass chandeliers. All of these features still adorn the site today. Since the cinema closed in 1965, the renamed Thornbury Theatre has served as an upmarket space for hire and is often used for live music.

THE PROGRESS

236 Reynard Street, Coburg West

Then...

Now...

Tucked away on a side street in suburban Coburg, the tiny Progress (capacity 300-450) lived in the shadow of larger cinemas on the main streets nearby, and yet outlasted all of them. Opening in 1923, it showcased minor releases, B-pictures and re-runs but proved remarkably resilient, continuing to operate until 1998. It also featured in the cult local comedy Death in Brunswick (from which the first picture above is taken) and even as the Mt Thomas cinema in an episode of Blue Healers. It is currently used as a dance studio.

THE BARKLY THEATRE

277 Barkly Street, Footscray

Then...

Now...

Built in 1914 and adorned with an elaborate, baroque facade, the remarkable Barkly Theatre has enjoyed a dramatic double reversal of fortune in recent years. The cinema closed in 1961 and the building was used for a variety of purposes thereafter. Standing vacant from 1989, the theatre soon fell into disrepair, disuse compounded by both fire and storm damage. In the 1990's the vandalised, hulking wreck gained a new reputation, as one of Melbourne's most notorious drug dens. In 2000, former Footscray footballer Chris Grant (and his business partner) bought the building with a view to refurbishing it as apartments. The project took nearly a decade to realise, and the property changed hands several more times while it was ongoing, but the work was eventually completed in 2008. The exterior of the theatre has been fully restored, while the interior has been sub-divided into 60 up market apartments (see photo, above).

Further examples where a 'Then...' photo is not currently available...

CARLTON MOVIEHOUSE

235 Faraday Street, Carlton

Built in 1909 and originally used as a meeting hall for a trade association, this building was converted to a cinema and re-named the Carlton Picture Palace in 1924. It operated as an independent cinema, showing arthouse and foreign titles. In 1979 it was renovated and re-badged the Carlton Moviehouse, from this time it also included regular live music as part of its program. The cinema closed in 1999 and the building was turned into corporate offices.

THE ADELPHI

367 Nicholson Street, Carlton

Opening in 1912 as the Jubilee Picture Palace, this cinema was enlarged (to 1900 seats) and renamed The Adelphi in 1922. Operating independently, it was the largest cinema in the inner northern suburbs until its closure in 1967. Since this date it has operated as the San Remo Ballroom.

THE BROADWAY THEATRE

145 - 149 Ormond Road, Eltham

Opening in 1919, The Broadway was the first cinema in Eltham, in the city's north east. It was built for the Westgarth chain and then taken over by Consolidated Theatres, a large chain that operated cinemas across the city. The cinema closed in 1961 and was converted into a combined ballroom and function centre. In 1995 the building was further redeveloped into apartments.

The Origins of MIFF

The Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) started this week, so it seemed like an ideal time to take a look back of the origins of this popular cultural event.

The contemporary festival encompasses 17 days, 300 films, half a dozen venues, opening and closing night galas and an international profile. Meaning it is light years removed from the first event, held in a hall in the country town of Olinda in 1952.

Olinda, a small town in the Dandenongs, site of the first local film festival.

While films had been screened in Australia right from the early days of the medium - the first local screening had been in Melbourne, in 1896 - the type of films on offer were limited. Hollywood films dominated the market and opportunities to see other types of movies in a public forum were rare.

But the popularity of films in Australia had lead to a proliferation of film societies; one estimate indicated that there were as many as fifty in Victoria alone. These groups were run by passionate film buffs, eager to expand their filmic horizons. Meeting in town halls and private houses, film societies organised screenings of documentaries, 16mm films and archival prints, as an alternative to the latest studio films from America.

In 1950, the Australian Council of Film Societies (ACOFS) was formed, a national organisation designed to allow these groups to coordinate. In 1951, the Victorian delegation to the second meeting of ACOFS proposed to host a film festival the following year.

This proposal was enthusiastically adopted and the festival was set for the Australia Day long weekend, 1952.

Olinda was selected as the venue as the organisers thought the rural setting might make for an appealing weekend getaway. Expectations were modest; an attendance of fewer than 100 people was predicted, mainly drawn from Melbourne film society members.

The goals of the festival were laid out in the festival programme:

Source: miff.com.au

Point 3 was the key element. 

To provide a wider range of films the festival organisers would source films from scientific, educational and religious institutions. And to beat the stringent censorship laws of the 1950's, that made importing foreign films difficult, ACOFS would lobby the censorship board for a temporary exemption from classification (a practice that continues to this day).

This effort lead to a diverse program, showcasing 8 feature length, and 79 short films, to screen over four days.

Among the festival highlights were Jean Cocteau's take on the classic fairy tale La Belle et la Bete (Beauty and the Beast) and Alexander Dovzhenko's seminal Russian classic Earth, both previously unseen in Australia.

The festival was to climax with the presentation of the Commonwealth Jubilee Film Awards, on the final night.

Featured films from the 1952 festival.

And the Olinda film festival was to prove a grand success.

More than 600 people flocked to the town to take in the program, a number so far above the estimated audience that some temporary accommodation had to be organised. Tents were erected, and the army had to arrange a makeshift phone system when the local exchange was swamped. 

The Argus of January 29 summarises the weekend:

But the popularity of the festival also had some unfortunate consequences.

The country halls that were converted into temporary cinemas ended up being far too small for the large crowds; 200 people had to be turned away from opening night. and members of the Victorian Amateur Film Association were unable to get into a screening of a film that they had provided.

The difficulty of cramped venues was further exacerbated by poor ventilation in the old buildings. An outdoor cinema had been hastily convened to try and counter this problem, but bad weather throughout the weekend meant it was barely used.

So despite the popularity of the Olinda festival, and the immediate clamour for a follow up event in 1953, ACOFS was reluctant to sponsor another festival in Victoria. The Council favoured an annual, national, festival that would be held in a different state each year.

Preliminary plans were made to hold a second event in Canberra on the the following Australia Day long weekend.

The Victorian Federation of Film Societies then decided to organise their own festival, independent of the national body. To cater for the now expected demand for tickets, the festival was moved to the city, and renamed the Melbourne Film Festival.

In 1953 it was held over the Labour Day long weekend - 6 to 9 March - and based at the Royal Exhibition Building, in Carlton.

The first MIFF program, 1953.

The local press coverage reflected the growth of the festival, in terms of scope and expectations, and gave a hint of what was to be on offer:

Photos and caption above taken from 'The Argus' newspaper, 20 February 1953.

There were considerable challenges, and costs, attached to converting the enormous space of the Exhibition Building to a cinema. Organising committee member Alfred Heintz recalled:

Source: 'Films for the Intelligent Layman: The Origin of the Sydney and
Melbourne Film Festivals, by C.Hope and A. Dickinson

Despite the problems, more than 2 000 people attended the inaugural city based festival and it was held again the following year (now shifted to Melbourne University). 

The festival has continued, through countless further variations of venue and organisation, every year since.