Talkies Come to Town

Imagine Dan Alderson’s surprise when he found this ‘Woods Australian Diary’ from 1930 stashed behind the safe at Tamworth’s Theatre Royal. It was not just a plain old diary – when Dan opened its cover, he discovered that its pages were filled with handwritten notes revealing the titles of films screened decades before at the theatre he now managed. And the films it listed were not the silent type, they were some of the first sound-on-film ‘talkies’ (talking motion pictures) ever made, with synchronised dialogue, music and sound effects.

This projectionist’s diary was created just three years after the revolutionary talkies had first been released and screened in Europe, and just one year after they were first screened in Sydney. In 1929, the Hoyts company toured the necessary sound equipment around regional areas on their ‘Touring Talkie Show’ truck, and this diary tells us that by January 1930, the talkies had permanently arrived in Tamworth.

The projectionist used this diary to program daily screenings (except Sundays) with something for everyone at the 2000-person capacity open-air theatre adjoining the Theatre Royal in Brisbane Street, Tamworth (the site of the current CH Boutique Hotel). Patrons could enjoy films sourced from Columbia, Fox, Paramount and Metro distributors and the film lineup included the latest American titles – from crime-drama ‘Thunderbolt’ to Mickey Mouse’s ‘When the Cat’s Away.’

He also noted local events that were expected to attract filmgoers, such as the races, ambulance bazaar, and shearing. Each film title was recorded with its ‘footage,’ or length in feet, which the projectionist could convert into the actual time for screening each reel.

Tamworth’s filmgoers must have been in awe of this improvement to their much-loved silent films. All they needed next was colour.