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298:, who left the cinema operating under Florence's guidance but intended to redevelop the building as a performing arts centre. The "Friends of the Astor" community group was formed in response and 12,000 signatures were obtained on a "Save the Astor" petition. The building was then sold again to businessman Ralph Taranto, but disputes with Florence led to the announcement that the Astor would close in 2015. However, this did not eventuate as
266:. Florence initiated the programming style of the Astor that continues to this day, and designed the classic "calendar" session posters which became popular pin-ups in homes across Melbourne. During this era, the theatre's capacity was reduced to 1,200 so that a stage could be installed for live performances. Many concerts were then held at the Astor throughout the 1980s, including
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Different rules apply to the Astor... It has an important role to play, not just as a revival cinema or a repertory cinema, but also as an educational institution. It’s a place where school bookings are held. It’s a tourist attraction. It’s a great venue for things such as film festivals, corporate
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The Astor has historical and social significance for its associations with perhaps the most important mass entertainment of the twentieth century, the cinema. The scale of the theatre and the quality of its decoration evoke the popularity and glamour of cinema as entertainment, particularly during
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Despite a few relatively minor alterations and the passage of close to 90 years, the building has survived almost entirely intact from how it appeared on its first day of operation. This is demonstrated in the below photos, taken by photographer Lyle Fowler shortly after the Astor first opened in
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The site at 1-3 Chapel Street, St Kilda has been used for entertainment purposes since the
Diamond Picture Theatre opened there on 29 July 1912. It was later renamed the Theatre Rex and closed in 1917. Astor founder Frank O'Collins bought the property in 1935, commissioning architect Ron Morton
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the heyday of cinema in the 1930s. The Astor
Theatre, with its Moderne design, spacious foyers and its many original furnishings, objects and surviving early signage, symbolises the suburban cinema experience during the inter-war years when cinema-going reached its peak.
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The Astor officially opened on 3 April 1936 with a seating capacity of 1,673 people. Notably it was one of the last theatres in
Melbourne to use the traditional two-level auditorium layout, a costly approach that later fell out of favour. The cinema operated throughout
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every
January since 2016 and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The screenings are a Melbourne tradition advertised annually as the "Stop Making Sense Dance Party", with all attendees encouraged to get out of their seats and dance. Many attend in
457:, who is an aspiring actress that works at a cinema. The Astor was used for shots of that cinema's lobby; however, characters refer to that cinema in-universe as having more than one screen, which the Astor does not.
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by Alison Evans centres on two transgender young people who form a connection with each other while attending retro double features at the Astor.
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It reopened in 1983 under the leadership of George
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agreed to become the new tenant. There were fears that the building would be divided into three screens, as had been done at the
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centres on a
Melbourne cinema which finds itself in the situation of needing to improvise a soundtrack to 1964's
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In 1969, the Astor was bought by Tanda
Investments and became one of 12 cinemas in Melbourne that played only
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The Astor is still operating as of 2024 and is currently managed by film critic Zak
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and the post-war era, mostly showing big-name
American films from the major studios such as
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style. Construction work began within a few months, led by the
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events and weddings. There are a lot of reasons to keep it a single screen.
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films. In the early 1980s, demand from the Greek community declined due to
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View of the seats and upstairs stalls from under the screen.
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624:"Is this the happy ending The Astor has been waiting for?"
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The seats, curtains and screen inside the theatre itself.
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Buildings and structures in the City of Port Phillip
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513:The History of "The Astor Theatre"
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645:"The Astor's New Life"
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117:144°59′31″E
104:Coordinates
744:Categories
679:14 January
654:14 January
649:Broadsheet
579:14 January
544:14 January
491:14 January
469:References
251:home video
205:suburb of
114:37°51′29″S
308:Northcote
263:King Kong
236:Paramount
203:Melbourne
160:Completed
97:Australia
83:Melbourne
699:Facebook
517:Archived
423:In media
207:St Kilda
87:Victoria
79:St Kilda
629:The Age
511:RMIT -
328:1936.
213:History
201:in the
93:Country
168:Owner
707:2023
681:2024
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