The foundation stone for the Advancement Club Hall was laid on April 18, 1925 by the President of Blacktown Shire, Arthur Morehead.
The hall was situated in Mt Druitt Road South and money for its construction was raised from the local community, principally through a series of social evenings in various private homes.
The Advancement Club proudly wrote to the Chief Secretary’s Department for a licence, advising that the hall was to open on February 8, 1925.
A huge crowd attended the official opening as well as many civic dignitaries. A second celebration took place on 21 August 1925 for the Crowning of the Queen, officiated by the Blacktown Shire Council President, and featuring the crowning of Miss Edna Gehde as Queen.
Prior to World War 1, silent movies had been shown in Lance’s Music Hall in Station road.
Over the years that followed the Mt Druitt Hall was used extensively for dancing, library, a Roman Catholic church until a proper church was built, and by organisations such as the Masonic Club, Buffalo Lodge, Independent Order of Oddfellows,
Park Committees, Labor Party Meetings, Boy Scouts, Weight Watchers, dancing classes, Sunday School and many more.
It was a true community centre.
In November 1925 St Mary’s Police wrote “it is up-to-date in every way and a credit to the district, and complies with every regulation of the Act.”
By the end of World War 2 the hall was suffering due to lack of maintenance, as were most public buildings, and an agreement was made with Mr Dick Simpson, the operator of the Tasma Pictures in the Wallgrove Migrant Camp, to convert it into a cinema. Simpson had to construct a projection room, install theatre seats and install a screen.
He opened his Vogue Theatre on June 5, 1946 with Elizabeth Taylor in MGM’s National Velvet. He would run this film again on the first anniversary of the Vogue.
The projection equipment was transferred from the Tasma to the Vogue.
At this time Blacktown still had the Rivoli Theatre, which unfortunately burnt down that same year, and was without a theatre or cinema for three years until the Warrick was built, so screenings at the Mount Druitt Hall, or Vogue Theatre as it was now known, were very popular and well attended.
Mr Simpson recalls that there were no street lights in those days, and if one looked from the theatre, lanterns and torches could be seen as patrons made their way to the hall. Riders left their horses hitched to the fence outside, and sulkies were left in a nearby churchyard.
In 1949 he applied for permission to increase seating from 317 to 343 by adding two rows to the rear seating. Permission was granted.
The 1950 inspection report stated that the Vogue screened Wednesdays, Saturday and Saturday matinee.
Widescreen CinemaScope was installed in 1955, an event in itself, which necessitated a new screen and alterations to the stage area.
Accompanied by sterophonic sound
CinemaScope films had been introduced in 1953 by 20th Century-Fox and were two and half times the width of ordinary screens, usually accompanied by stereophonic sound, and had quite an impact on the movie-going public.
There was a complaint lodged by the local MLA from a member of the public, stated that as the hall was a public hall, it should not be used exclusively for films.
The Chief Secretary replied that as the hall did not sit on land granted from either the Department of Lands of the Department of Education, he was not in a position to take action, adding that the hall was properly licensed for the purpose of conducting a picture theatre.
In 1957 a new foyer was erected on the northern side of the hall. The 1965 inspection report stated the theatre seated 300. Cinema, theatres and public halls were usually inspected every year by the authorities to ensure they were clean and complied with the fire regulations for the safety of the public.
In 1966 Mr Simpson informed St Mary’s Police that the building was now owned by Blacktown Shire Council. Police advised the Chief Secretary “visited hall on 25 September 1966. I was present when Mr Simpson removed the old curtain that was suspended between the screen and the back wall.”
Dick Simpson sold the Vogue Theatre in 1968, but continued to work there as projectionist.
In 1970 it was still screening three times weekly, although by 1974 this was down to two nights a week due to the influence of television. The seating at that time was given as 260.
In 1974 it was renamed the Family Cinema, utilising a subsidy from the Whitlam Government to show a policy of family film screenings only. This grant was swiftly withdrawn by the following Fraser Government!
In 1975 it was reported by the Chief Secretary that the auditorium measured 70 x 33 ft, the hall was of brick construction, iron roof, foyer 30 x 15 ft on the northern side of the hall. The bio was elevated above the eastern end, and the floor was level with loose seating for 400.
The hall complied with the fire safety laws and was therefore allowed to continue.
In 1976 extensions were completed for the construction of a kiosk and a covered walkway as well as new male and female toilets.
By 1978 it was the Vogue Theatre again, and Dick Simpson continued to work there as projectionist, under the exhibitor Stuart Ford. Around that time seats were installed from the former Hoyts Esquire Theatre at Chatswood, which had closed down.
In 1983 more seats were replaced using almost-new seating from the former Mall Cinema at Merrylands. Air conditioning and stereophonic sound were also installed. Although a cinema in a hall, it was a very comfortable one.
The cinema closed after the September 1984 school holidays, then reopened for the December 1984 school holidays. It closed permanently at the end of January 1985 and all of its cinematic fittings were removed. The projectors are now in the possession of Mt Druitt Historic Society.
The hall’s career as a cinema had finally come to an end, but there are still many local people who have fond memories of attending picture shows in the hall.
Movies would not return to Mt Druitt until 1991, when the Astro Cinema was built.
