100 YEAR OLD CINEMA IN NEW ZEALAND (1 Viewer)

[cinemiracle]

On Friday 4 August it will be 100 years since the Paramount cinema in Wellington, New Zealand first opened. No celebrations are planned ,as far as I know. I fondly remember working there as a teenager in the fifties ( as did my mother).It gave me a great appreciation of being able to see Foreign films which has lasted to this day.We did have the occasional stage show but Foreign films were the main attraction at the cinema. It is indeed rare for a cinema to last 100 years of continually screening films. The cinema was later cut in half and the bottom floor rented out with only a much smaller cinema , on the first level screening films.

 

[Brent Reid]

Happy centenary Paramount! Unfortunately, its website is only a blog template with basic info and nothing of its long history, commencing with an inaugural 4th August 1917 screening of Mary Pickford's Less than the Dust. There's much more info in its Cinema Treasures entry, including comments. However, there is some very sad news: it's set to close for good in September...

 

[cinemiracle]

Happy centenary Paramount! Unfortunately, its website is only a blog template with basic info and nothing of its long history, commencing with an inaugural 4th August 1917 screening of Mary Pickford's Less than the Dust. There's much more info in its Cinema Treasures entry, including comments. However, there is some very sad news: it's set to close for good in September...

I didn't know that- sad news indeed. There is a terrific book on the history of the Paramount called "80 TURBULENT YEARS" by David Lascelles (my old school buddy). It is still available from book shops in New Zealand.