John Wilmot Roberts

Interviewed by Trish Levido on 15 December 2005
Subject: Cinemas & Theatres

Trish Levido. Do you remember going to the cinema?

John Roberts. Oh yes, the two cinemas, one was the Kinema and the other one was the Australian, which is on the corner of Clifford Street at Spit Junction.

Trish Levido. What was the Kinema?

John Roberts. Kinema was the name of Hoyt’s Theatre. Cinema with a K instead of a C in it, I don’t know who owned it in those days, I think a family called the Keelings who lived at Clifton Gardens, owned the Australian.

Trish Levido. Which one did you prefer?

John Roberts. The Kinema, it was more modernised. It had been burnt down and rebuilt.

Trish Levido. Was it open air?

John Roberts. No, but it had comfortable seating and more modern at that stage.