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The Regent Theatre. Murwillumbah
The Regent Cinema. Murwillumbah
The building dates from the late 40s. You may expect her to be like a rambling old girl who is nearly past her use-by date…but not this lady!
The Regent is a delight. Unpretentious…small scale…packed with moviegoers, kids, families...oldies…popcorn…good old-fashioned courtesy and service.
Offering the usual menu of circuit movies, you may think that the Regent is a run of the mill movie house? However you would be wrong on several counts.
Where else could the kids laze on rows of beanbags way down in front of the screen? Where else will the obliging staff bring you a cup of tea in your seat! (Question: How do they know where you are sitting?) and what’s more, they bring it to you in a cup and saucer…the very real thing.
Tickets are sold at the front counter as one might expect, but whilst youre at it why not order a pizza from the first class choices on offer. The lass at the counter ( with kitchen staff busy in the immediate background ), will take your orders, sell you some tickets, and at the same time expertly juggle her baby on her arm! We have sampled 3 pizza varieties so far and they are simply the best. One can eat right there at the tables and chairs provided or saunter in to your seat and enjoy hot food and your movie at the same time.
This place is a blend of relaxed country hospitality and down to earth good service.
CAFE RESTAURANT:
Opens at 5pm with the movies.
PIZZAS
* Greek Extravaganza
* Italian Supreme
* Vegan Supreme
* Spring Vegie
* Mushroom Magic
* Mexican
* The Outback
* Greek Pizza
* Fetta Pizza
* Vegie, Ham and Pineapple
* Margarita
All available in Family, Medium, small or single portion.
Phone ahead and have your pizza ready to eat in or Take Away.
MOVIES: Kids $6.50. Adults $7.50
Check out whats on next time youre in town or visit www.cinemaregent.com
Murwillumbah Regent Cinema & Restaurant. 5 Brisbane Street. Murwillumbah. 02 6672 8265. In the heart of Murwillumbah.
Recently we received this lovely letter from someone who remembers the Regent first hand:
Dear Roy,
I came across your site when Googling the Regent Theatre Murwillumbah... and was fascinated to read of the present state of a former home town landmark. I was born in Murwillumbah in 1939 and moved to Sydney in 1949. You described the theatre as a treasure dating back to the 1930s. This is not so - it opened in 1947, and this was a really big event in the town. Murwillumbah had been without a proper cinema since the old Regent Theatre in Alma Street burned down (and took the managers adjacent house with it) in 1945. The old building had been of what I understand was a classic Queenslander type, with hard wooden chairs in the front stalls and reclining canvas deckchairs in the back.
The new theatre was proclaimed as the most modern outside the state capitals, and it certainly seemed very glamorous with just about everything - pastel colours, a crying room where parents with refractory infants could view the show from behind a glass screen, art deco themes and indirect house lighting. The only thing that it lacked was indoor toilets - rare in the town at the time. It was said that seating was held below 1000 to allow them to get away with outside dunnies. Still, it was a great step forward in a town subject to the travel restrictions associated with postwar petrol rationing, and dependent on occasional screenings using the makeshift facilities of the local School of Arts.
I have made some visits back to Murwillumbah over the years and, while sorry to see that the main foyer and stalls seem to have given way to shops, was pleased to note that it is still functioning as a cinema (having evidently withstood assaults from TV, video tapes and DVDs).
So, while the Regent is perhaps not as old as stated in your site, 60 plus is a good age for a functioning cinema. There werent any 60-year-old cinemas when the Regent opened.
Best regards,
Malcolm Lawrie.
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