Press release from Palace Westgarth
Light the candles, roll out the red carpet and pop the sparkling, Palace Westgarth Theatre is turning 90 this October!
To celebrate the building's ninety years of cinematic charm Palace Cinemas is proud to present a special series of events and offers to commemorate the ninetieth birthday of Northcote's historic Palace Westgarth Theatre. Classified as a heritage listed building in 1994 by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), the Palace Westgarth Theatre currently stands as the oldest purpose built cinema still operating in Melbourne.
Lovingly renovated and maintained, the Palace Westgarth Theatre is a paean of quality cinema in Melbourne's Inner-North. Today the cinema remains as one of the last living remnants of a halcyon era of picture palaces and local cinema charm.
Birthday celebrations commence on Wednesday 19 October 2011 with a special birthday screening of the enchanting new romantic comedy Midnight in Paris starring Owen Wilson and Rachel McAdams. The screening will feature a glass of Brown Brothers Prosecco on arrival and a few other special birthday surprises.
Beginning from Thursday 20 October 2011 until Sunday 20 November 2011. each week Palace Cinemas will be offering some fantastic specials including great savings on movie dollars alongside complimentary ticket deals and movie club memberships. Alongside the special event screening this October Palace Westgarth Theatre features an exemplary film calendar with a series of quality releases including Nicolas Winding Refn's ultra-stylish neo-noir thriller Drive starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan. October also includes two fantastic Australian film releases including The Cup, chronicling the 2002 Melbourne Cup and the journey of jockey Damien Oliver and The Hunter, a sparse psychological thriller set within the beautiful Tasmanian wilderness.
Palace Westgarth Theatre's Cult Vault program will also join the celebrations commemorating the building's rich cult cinema heritage with some crazy late night cult sessions! Screening every Friday at 11.30pm, the October program entitled Moonlight Marque features new and old choice cuts of eclectic Cult Cinema, including a special propaganda double feature of Reefer Madness and Sex Madness alongside two special screening event screenings of The Fall, a lyrical piece of fantasy filmmaking and Machete Maidens Unleashed, Melbourne director Mark Hartley's ode to the Exploitation Filipino cinema of the 70s featuring interviews from Cult luminaries Joe Dante and John Landis.
Revisiting the traditions of the genre marathons of the Westgarth Theatre's past, the Cult Vault birthday celebrations culminate on Friday 28 October 2011 with an all-night twelve hour Cult Vault Cavalcade of Horror marathon featuring a bloodcurdling assortment of vintage and cutting edge horror cinema!
For this celebration, although it's our birthday, we're giving you the gifts with this unique program of events and offers that feature something for every connoisseur of cinema. Palace Cinemas is proud to honour the legacy of this opulent Odeon of dreams and invites guests old and new to share our passion for the past, present and future of cinema. Happy birthday Westgarth Theatre and here's to another ninety years!