Luna Cinemas

Story

Luna Leederville is a cinema complex located at the corner of Oxford and Vincent Streets in Leederville, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia.HistoryThe New Oxford Theatre was designed by architect Samuel B. Rosenthal and constructed by E.A. Allwood. Rosenthal was a significant architect in Western Australia in the inter-war period, known primarily for his cinema designs. The New Oxford Theatre was opened in March, 1927 by the Minister for Works, Mr. Alex C. McCallum, before a capacity audience of 1,286. The opening programme included vaudeville, music by the New Oxford Orchestra, a short play, some comedy, and a special appearance by Miss Australia, Beryl Mills. Its first managers were William Bellion and Mr Cunningham. Silent movies were originally shown to the accompaniment of a piano or organ. During a second anniversary screening in 1929, hundreds were turned away because there were no seats left. This was the first suburban theatre to install sound, which was installed in September 1929.A 3,000 seat picture garden was opened on the southern corner of the same intersection in 1935, the largest of its kind at the time, and was named 'New Oxford Beautiful'. As time went on, the gardens capacity shrunk to just under 2,000. The theatre was then owned by the Ampol Oil Company and Ralph Stewart was the operator until August 1959. Evelyn and Bob Manorgan owned the theatre from 1959 to October 1966. The picture gardens closed in 1964 and an Ampol service station was built on the site by the owners. After Ampol sold it, the theatre was closed for two months in 1966 and then re-opened as the 'Nickelodeon'. Then in 1972 it was renamed the 'Olympia' and for the next seven years showed mainly Greek and Italian films, reflecting the changing local community.