The Orient Theatre was the only picture theatre in Heidelberg. It was situated in Yarra Street one house block away from Mount Street and the Heidelberg Station. The theatre was independently owned, unlike the Hoyts chain of theatres, one of which was at Ivanhoe. The Orient opened on 21 December 1933 and closed in 1966.
The décor at the Orient was most impressive. To a child it was an exotic representation of the mystical East. It had red carpet in the aisles and enormous bare-chested Josses sitting cross legged in robes of green and gold adorned the walls in the alcoves. In the early days the usherettes wore the traditional Chinese cheong sam. I think the Depression and World WarII made this unviable and they later wore skirts and blouses. The ushers who showed you to your seats wore white shirts with black bow ties and trousers.
The program started at 7.40pm with a news reel followed by comic strips or a short film. We then had interval at 8.40pm after which the full feature film was shown, finishing at about 11.15pm. If I remember correctly, tickets cost two shillings and six pence (2/6d) for an adult and 1 shilling (1/-) for a child.
At interval a lolly boy would appear calling’ Ice, Dixie, Ice’. He wore a white coat and carried a tray suspended by a leather strap hanging from his neck, He sold ice creams in a waxed cup with a lid on it, and a small wooden spoon wrapped in paper to eat it with. These cups of ice cream were called Dixies. Wafers (ice cream) came wrapped in paper and were square and thin and placed between two crisp wafer thin biscuits. He also sold an assortment of lollies and chocolates.
As an alternative to the lolly boy, patrons could walk to the milk bar on the corner of Mount and Yarra streets to buy soft drinks, milk shakes, lollies and chocolates. The milk bar stayed open late to cater for the picture theatre patrons.
Although the films were run from Monday to Saturday, with a children’s matinee on Saturday afternoon, people who lived far away were restricted to a Wednesday or Saturday evening when the Yellow bus company ran two late night buses to cater for theatregoers. The bus route ran from Ivanhoe to the Lower Eltham Park, allowing local people to attend the pictures at either the Orient or Hoyts, depending on their choice of film being shown. Apart from these extra Wednesday and Saturday runs the bus service ceased at 7pm on week nights, noon on Saturday, and there was no service on a Sunday.
Some of the pictures I remember seeing with mum and dad on a Saturday night are Gone with the Wind, Pride & Prejudice, The Postman Always Knocks Twice and Thrill of a Romance (Van Johnson & Esther Williams) plus other Esther Williams films. At the matinee screenings my brothers and I saw the Lassie films, Snow White, The Wizard of Oz and National Velvet. These films had all been shown at the Hoyts theatre in Ivanhoe before they reached the independent Orient. For many people it was too far to go to the matinees as they didn’t have cars and not many had bikes.
The coming of television saw a decline in theatre patronage leading to the closure of many theatres, including the Orient. I often wonder what became of the Josses when the theatre was demolished. They were a sight to behold.
Source
Looking back: Heidelberg and Rosanna in the 1920s and 1940s by Bonnie Banfield, Joan Hope, Bill and Dorothy Lemin Watsonia, Against the Grain publications, 2006
Comment: Orient Place, named for the theartre is situated very close to the site at 76 Yarra Street, Heidelberg
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