Stage Number: MBSH.02.02.47
Group: Southern
Local Study Area: Fairfield-Annerley
Epoch: Early 20th Century
Street Address: 664-676 Ipswich Road, Annerley
Latitude & Longitude: -27.51777778,153.02977778
Time Link: 1938
Map Link: 1936
Image Time Point: 1936
The Odeon was the third movie theatre to open in Annerley, following the Annerley Picture Theatre (1914) and the Boomerang Theatre (1924). It opened in 1938 with a screening of ‘Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’. This was a large theatre, and the 750 cushioned seats and 250 canvas chairs provided seating for up to 1,000 patrons. Unlike earlier theatres that had to upgrade to ‘talkie’ technology when the era of silent movies came to an end, the Odeon started out with state-of-the-art RCA Photophone sound system and projection equipment that provided consistent levels of illumination. The theatre closed in the early 1960s, and the building has since been used for a variety of purposes.
Sunday Mail, 23 October 1938; Annerley-Stephens History Group, ‘Odeon Theatre’, (https://annerleystephenshistory.org/history/research-material/489-2/other-places/odeon-theatre-annerley), sighted 18 July 2017.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs’ was the first movie to screen at the Annerley Odeon in 1938.
Qimagery. Brisbane 1936. Scale: 1:11,000.
