Mayfair & Panorama: The long lost movie theatres of the Mid North Coast

Now in his 70s, Mid North Coast resident Mark Johnson remembers the magic of two long-gone picture theatres: the grandeur of the Mayfair Theatre in Kempsey with its semi-circular staircase, classical statues and upstairs foyer, and Crescent Head’s Panorama, a simple building next door to his childhood home where he spent every Saturday night.

Cinemas a’plenty: The Mid North Coast has a deep history of theatre and cinemas. While most have closed down, been demolished or redeveloped, seeing a movie on the big screen remains an option – but going to “the pictures” has changed.

New neighbours every weekend: Johnson grew up right next door to the Panorama theatre in Crescent Head – where Barnett’s Bakery now stands. 

“I have a very faint memory of the theatre being built,” Johnson told the Mid North Coaster.

During that time, when the town had a population of about 500 people, Saturday night ran the only session with no daytime shows or weekday screenings.

“You went on Saturday or you missed it completely,” Johnson said. Living next door, he saw every movie the Panorama showed.

A fibro palace: Johnson said he fell in love with movies before he hit primary school. 

“The Panorama was not exactly a lavish cinema; the sole decoration was two fading photos on the wall near the stairs, one of Tony Curtis and one of Debbie Reynolds,” Johnson said. 

“It may have been a fibro box, but the Panorama was a dream palace to me.”

Mayfair memories: The Mayfair Theatre, in Kempsey was a different experience.

The theatre was opened on Easter Sunday in 1933 (April 15). After almost 50 years of service, the doors closed in February 1980.

Licensed to seat more than 950 people, the Mayfair was built on a scale not before seen in a Kempsey theatre. 

According to the Macleay River Historical Society (MRHS), the Mayfair was modelled on theatres in England and was built by Sydney’s Tom Lawson, who owned the Wintergarden and Mayfair Theatres at Rose Bay and Earlwood. He later bought two other theatres in Kempsey; the Roxy (previously known as Adelphi Theatre) and the Victoria.

Unlike any other: Johnson said the Mayfair was “no ordinary country picture theatre”.

“Walking into the foyer was like Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz stepping from black-and-white Kansas into vibrantly coloured Oz,” he said.

The venue had a colour scheme of off ivory and gold with carpet throughout.

A walk through: Johnson says he didn’t realise until long after it was gone how exceptional Mayfair was. 

“You entered the downstairs foyer with its deep pile carpeting and bought your ticket from the ticket booth in elaborate gold-painted arabesque style. All fancy gold fretwork. 

“You then either proceeded to the downstairs, often the only section open for ‘kid’s sessions’ on a Saturday afternoon ( a couple of Looney Toons cartoons, a cliff-hanger serial from the forties, and a kids movie, like Old Yellah or The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh both courtesy of Walt Disney).

When you reached your teens, you went upstairs. 

“Upstairs meant ascending a semi-circular staircase with niches in which stood life-sized ‘Greek’ statues. In other words, a semi-naked lady which I am sure fuelled the dreams of many a pubescent Kempsey boy.” 

At the top, another foyer with a beautiful circular sofa.

“My mother told me that in the 40s and 50s you would be shown to your seat by either an usher in a dinner suit or an usherette in a long gown and long white gloves.”

Predominately a picture theatre, the Mayfair occasionally put on stage shows and talent quests.

Dream-worthy: Johnson said he still dreams about The Mayfair and The Panorama. 

“It was a wonderful time when going to ‘the pictures’ was something special,” Johnson said.

“Of course, both the Panorama and the Mayfair are gone now, as is my childhood home, but I am grateful to them for fuelling my love of cinema which remains unabated into my seventieth decade.”