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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald

The rugged lives of the film pioneers behind old Hunter cinemas

The surviving facade of the old Lyrique cinema and rear wall after being gutted for rebuilding in late 2021. Picture by Mike Scanlon

WHAT do three former inner-city Newcastle cinemas have in common? The closed sites are the historic "new" Victoria Theatre, Tower Cinemas down the road and the old Lyrique Theatre nearby.

Well, all the buildings would simply not exist if it wasn't for the movie-going public's continuing love of motion pictures from the pioneer travelling picture-show men once showing silent black-and-white "flickers" on hand-cranked projectors in country halls.

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