Twilight Talks: Not the Last Picture Show: History of Hoyts

Hoyts is synonymous with cinema in Australia. As Australia’s oldest and largest cinema, it has entertained generations of audiences from the silent era through to the present age.

At the start of the 20th century, Melbourne dentist and cornet player Arthur Russell bought a share in a small touring American circus that visited Melbourne, called Hoyts Circus. Russell toured with the circus as a magician, but it did not prove to be a financial success. In 1908, he started presenting moving pictures at St George’s Hall in Bourke Street, accompanying the silent films with his small family band: his wife on piano, son on drums, and Russell on cornet. On 18 September 1909, he opened Hoyts Picture Palace and formed a company called Hoyts Pictures Pty Ltd. The old hall was rebuilt and renamed “Hoyts De Luxe”. By the end of World War I, Hoyts had expanded into the suburbs of Melbourne and into Sydney. The shows included vaudeville acts, as was common practice in those days.

While countless stories have been shown on Hoyts’ screens, the story of the Hoyts along with its unique connection with Australian audiences has largely been overlooked.

A project is underway that aims to gain an insight into the unique history Hoyts by conducting oral history interviews with Hoyts cinema patrons as well as those who worked there.