Wallis Cinemas
Wallis Cinemas,formerlyWallis Theatres,is a family-ownedSouth Australiancompany that operatescinemacomplexes ingreater Adelaideand regionalSouth Australia.
Wallis Theatres works in conjunction withBig Screen Advertising,a company which distributes and screensadvertisementsat cinemas.
Company history
[edit]This family-owned company was established as Wallis Theatres by its founder, Hugh Wallis, in December 1953, with the opening of the Blueline drive-in atWest Beach.[1]Wallis gave up arefrigerationbusiness to move into the cinema industry.[2]
In 1991, Hugh's son Bob Wallis bought theBarr Smithhome,Auchendarroch House,at Mount Barker, and restored it, including adding a tavern and a seven-screen cinema complex.[1]
Hugh Wallis died in 1994, and Bob, then general manager, took over the business.[3]
Bob Wallis died in 2007, and his wife Lorna and their daughter Michelle, and granddaughter Deanna continued to run the business.[1][3]
In 2005, Wallis Theatres changed their branding for all public advertising purposes to "Wallis Cinemas". Officially, however, the company was still known as Wallis Theatres. This changed in late 2007 when officially it was changed to the new name Wallis Cinemas.[citation needed]
Drive-ins
[edit]The Blueline was the state's first drive-in theatre,[1]and the second in the country. It was established on a 40-acre (16 ha) plot purchased fromAdelaide Airport.[2]Wallis Theatres expanded rapidly, opening drive-ins throughout South Australia over the next decade.[1] The company operated the following drive-ins in Adelaide:[1]
- Blueline,West Beach
- Oceanline,Christies Beach
- Mainline,Gepps Cross
- Parkline,Mitchell Park
- Valleyline,St Agnes
- Harbourline,Outer Harbour
- Hi-line,Panorama
- Hollywood,Salisbury Downs
Wallis Theatres also catered for country South Australia, with drive-in theatres established in theRiverland,Barossa Valleyand mid-north. Wallis' six country drive-ins were:[1]
Wallis Theatres had closed and sold most of their country and suburban drive-ins by the early 1990s. Of their remaining drive-in locations, the Blueline closed in November 1998[4]and the Valleyline in May 2003.[5]
However, Wallis continued to operate the Mainline Drive-in as the last survivingdrive-in theatre in Adelaide.In November 2021, Wallis announced the closure of Mainline in early 2022.[6][7]
Cinemas
[edit]Glenelg Cinema Centre
[edit]TheOzone TheatreinGlenelg,designed byKenneth Milne(who was also responsible for the 1940–41 major refurbishment of the[8]), opened on 25 November 1937, with seating for up to 1,920 patrons.[9]The Waterman family ownedOzone Theatres Ltd.[10]
In February 1945, the Ozone was ranked second in terms of size among Adelaide suburban cinemas, with a seating capacity of 1,853; the largest was the Star Theatre / Hindmarsh Town Hall, part of theClifford Cinema Circuit,with a seating capacity of 2,012.[11]
In 1951 the cinema was being operated by Hoyts-Ozone Theatres Ltd., and remained as a single-screen cinema until 1971, when Wallis acquired it.[9]Wallis transformed it into South Australia's firstmulti-screen cinema,and renamed it the Glenelg Cinema Centre.[1][9]A third screen was added to the two screens in 1978.[9]
On 1 February 2009 Wallis gave a free screening ofGone with the Wind,before closing the cinema. It was demolished in mid-2011.[9]
The Ozone Glenelg was featured in a photographic exhibition calledNow Showing... Cinema Architecture in South Australia,held at theHawke Centre's Kerry Packer Civic Gallery in April/May 2024.[12]
Chelsea/Regal
[edit]Wallis Theatres saved theChelsea CinemaatKensington Parkfrom demolition, after taking over the lease from 1 January 1971.[8][13]This cinema is nowheritage-listedand owned by theCity of Burnside.[8]
Academy Cinema City
[edit]The company's growth continued when Wallis purchased a warehouse inHindmarsh Square, Adelaide,[citation needed]and converted it into a twin cinema in 1976.[1]A further three screens were added in 1980, and the complex was named Academy Cinema City.[14]
In 2007 the Academy Cinema City complex was closed. It was demolished in 2007 and redeveloped into aserviced apartmentand hotel complex.[14]
Piccadilly
[edit]Bob Wallis purchased the single-screen Forum Cinema atNorth Adelaidein 1983,[15]after it had closed in February of that year, to save it from demolition. This building was redeveloped into the three-screenPiccadilly Cinemasin 1989–90, although the company sought to maintain the heritage and architecture of the building, and had another major refurbishment in 2022.[16][15]
Oxford Cinema
[edit]The company closed their single-screen Oxford Cinema inUnley Town Hall[17][18]in 2001.
Noarlunga, Mt Barker, Mitcham
[edit]The company built and opened the five-screen Noarlunga Cinema Centre in 1991,[1]next to the Colonnades shopping centre;[19]the Mount Barker Cinemas in 2003;[20]and the Mitcham Cinemas in 2007.[21]
Present locations
[edit]As of December 2022[update],Wallis Cinemas owns the following cinemas:[22]
- Gawler
- Mildura
- MitchamCinemas atMitcham Square Shopping Centre(7 screens)
- Mount BarkerCinemas (7 screens)
- Mount Barker Outdoor
- NoarlungaCinema Centre (5 screens)
- Piccadilly Cinemas,North Adelaide(3 screens; refurbished 2022)
Other activities
[edit]Wallis Theatres works in conjunction with Big Screen Advertising, a company which distributes and screensadvertisementsat cinemas. Big Screen Advertising has supplied pre-film advertising to all of Wallis' cinema locations since 2004, whenVal Morgan Cinema Advertising(Wallis' previous advertising agent) was absorbed by rival cinema chainHoyts.
Wallis also provides services to independent cinema operators in South Australia (including theCapri TheatreatGoodwood,andVictor Harbortheatre), such as programming.
Auchendarroch House
[edit]
Wallis Theatres owns and operates Auchendarroch House and the Wallis Tavern, both located at Mount Barker adjacent to Wallis' cinema complex.
In 1878,Robert Barr Smithand his wife Joanna (sister of SirThomas Elder[23]), bothScottishimmigrants to thecolony of South Australia,paid £3000 for a piece of land in Mount Barker that included the Oakfield Hotel (opened 1860, owned by Lachlan MacFarlane[24]). They planned and built a 30-roomedmansioninFrench Renaissance stylearound the existing hotel, to be used as their family's summer home, with the architectJ. H. Grainger.[25]They later assigned the name Auchendarroch, from theScottish Gaelicword for "holy place of the oaks", and planted a lot ofoaktrees on the property. They assigned 3 acres (1.2 ha) each for an orchard and a garden, withhedgesplanted around the whole property. The garden included large lawns and many English trees, includingcedars,chestnuts,maples,conifers,and around 50oaktrees. It also had flower beds and vegetable gardens, with the produce given away in the community.[26]
Robert died in 1915, followed by Joanna in 1919, and the house was sold in 1921 to theMemorial Hospitaland used as aconvalescent home.[26]It was also used as anair forcehospital.[24]In 1976 the government sold the house and plots of land off separately.[26]
Hugh Wallis bought the house, surrounding gardens, and additional land in 2000, and his daughter Michelle set about restoring both house and garden, with the help of experts.[26]The home was converted into a function centre.[26]
See also
[edit]- D. Clifford Theatres
- Greater Union- competitor
- Hoyts- competitor
- Reading Cinemas- competitor
- South Australian cinema articles
- Capri Theatre
- Mercury Cinema
- Odeon Semaphore
- Piccadilly Cinema
- Regal Theatre, Adelaide
- South Australian Film Corporation
References
[edit]- ^abcdefghij"About us".Wallis Cinemas.27 October 2021.Retrieved14 December2022.
- ^abMetcalfe, Chloe (25 October 2020)."Buy Australian: Wallis Cinemas celebrates milestone in tough year".Adelaide Now.
- ^abLindert-Wentzell, Anne (4 August 2014)."Business In Focus Magazine".Wallis Cinemas.Archived fromthe originalon 30 October 2022.Retrieved14 December2022.
- ^"Blueline Drive-In in West Beach, AU".Cinema Treasures.Retrieved15 December2022.
- ^"Modbury Valleyline".Drive-Ins Downunder.26 May 2019.Retrieved15 December2022.
- ^"Adelaide's last suburban drive-in cinema, the Mainline, to close after more than 65 years".ABC News.22 November 2021.
- ^"Wallis Mainline Drive In - Our Last Summer - Memories That Remain - Movie Schedule".Play & Go Adelaide.11 February 2022.Retrieved14 December2022.
- ^abc"Regal Theatre undergoing a face lift".City of Burnside.7 July 2020.Retrieved14 December2022.
- ^abcde"Glenelg Cinema Centre in Adelaide, AU".Cinema Treasures.Retrieved15 December2022.
- ^"National Pictures".The News.Vol. X, no. 1, 419. Adelaide. 31 January 1928. p. 2.Retrieved14 December2022– via National Library of Australia.
- ^"Answers To Correspondents".The Advertiser (Adelaide).Vol. LXXXVII, no. 26956. South Australia. 24 February 1945. p. 5.Retrieved21 December2022– via National Library of Australia.
- ^Meegan, Genevieve (19 April 2024)."'Now showing' – celebrating Adelaide's cinema heyday ".InReview.Retrieved28 April2024.
- ^"Princess / Ozone / Wallis / Chelsea / Regal, Marryatville".CAARP: Cinema and Audience Research Project.24 November 1925.Retrieved14 December2022.
- ^ab"Academy Cinema City in Adelaide, AU".Cinema Treasures.Retrieved15 December2022.
- ^abKeen, Suzie (2 December 2022)."Then and now: Piccadilly Cinema enters a new era".InDaily.Retrieved14 December2022.
- ^"Piccadilly Cinemas in Adelaide, AU".Cinema Treasures.Retrieved14 December2022.
- ^"Town Hall Unley in Adelaide, AU".Cinema Treasures.Retrieved15 December2022.
- ^"Unley Town Hall complex Oxford Street view includes the former Oxford Cinema and entrance to the present Unley Library, South Australia".Flickr.15 December 2022.Retrieved15 December2022.
- ^"Noarlunga Cinema Centre in Adelaide, AU".Cinema Treasures.Retrieved15 December2022.
- ^"Wallis Mt. Barker Cinemas in Mount Barker, AU".Cinema Treasures.Retrieved15 December2022.
- ^"Wallis Mitcham Cinemas in Adelaide, AU".Cinema Treasures.Retrieved15 December2022.
- ^"Wallis Cinemas for your movie entertainment in South Australia".Wallis Cinemas.23 March 2022.Archivedfrom the original on 12 December 2022.Retrieved14 December2022.
- ^Dissel, Dirk Van (1 January 1976)."Barr Smith, Robert (1824–1915)".Australian Dictionary of Biography.Retrieved15 December2022.
This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 6, (Melbourne University Press), 1976
- ^ab"Wallis Auchendarroch House".SA Community History.23 October 2015. Archived fromthe originalon 23 October 2015.
- ^Tibbits, G. R. and Beauchamp, D.John Harry Grainger: Engineer and ArchitectArchived12 February 2013 at theWayback Machineat3rd Australasian Engineering Heritage Conference 2009.Retrieved 8 June 2024. (Also available (pay per view) atAustralian Journal of Multi-disciplinary Engineering,Vol. 8, No. 1, 2010: 11–22.ISSN1448-8388)
- ^abcdeGreen, Tanya (17 October 2019)."In the garden: History repeating".SA Life.Retrieved14 December2022.
