Introduction
When the Regent Theatre opened in Collins Street, Melbourne in 1929, the Australian Home Beautiful magazine published an article on the elaborate architectural features of the new picture palace. The author, known only as 'Architect', noted at the time that 'a book might easily be written - and probably will be - describing this building in detail'.² While a book focusing on the Regent Theatre's architecture is still to be written, the tumultuous history of the Regent - and its companion theatre, the Plaza - has been told more than once - in books (most notably in the book produced by Frank Van Straten and Elaine Marriner, The Regent Theatre: Melbourne's palace of dreams³), in the press, in parliament, and at public meetings - over the last thirty-five years. 'Architect' could not have imagined in 1929 just what a complicated saga the story of the Regent and Plaza theatres would become. But just how did this saga evolve? Of all the former picture palaces and theatres in Melbourne, why, in the 1970s, did the threatened demolition of the Regent and Plaza cause such a public outcry? Were the theatres outstanding examples of the glamorous Hollywood era of entertainment, far too significant to Victoria's heritage to be lost? Was it the renewed interest in preserving the State's heritage that ultimately led to the theatres' survival? Or was the theatres' proximity to the City Square to blame for prolonging the saga - a saga worthy of the films the theatres once screened? Next year is the tenth anniversary of the re-opening of the Regent and Plaza theatres: what better time to consider these questions and explore what the building meant - and continues to mean - to the people of Melbourne?

A Gala Opening
The Regent was the flagship theatre of Francis W. Thring's Hoyts chain. While Managing Director from 1924 to 1930, Thring (father of actor Frank Thring) opened a number of 'Regents' in Australia and New Zealand - the first in Sydney in March 1928. The Regent in Melbourne was the third in the chain, but by far the most elaborate. Designed by Cedric Ballantyne and built by James Porter & Sons, as many of Thring's Regent theatres were, the Melbourne Regent with its Gothic grand foyer was said to resemble a cathedral.⁴ The inspiration for the auditorium came from the Capitol Theatre in New York. 'Architect' described watching in wonder as the builders and artists put the finishing touches to the theatre - the stage curtain being sewn, the pictures being mounted, the elaborate chandelier waiting to be winched into place above the auditorium.⁵ When it opened the Regent was the second-largest theatre in Australia with over 3000 seats. The opening on 15 March 1929 was a gala affair featuring an in-house orchestra conducted by Ernest G. Mitchell, Stanley Wallace at the console of the magnificent Wurlitzer organ, a ballet performance, and, finally, the screening of the silent film The two lovers starring Ronald Colman and Vilma Banky.⁶ Thousands of people attended the event. The Plaza theatre, which opened two months later, was originally designed as a ballroom, but when a liquor licence was refused the plans were modified and the Plaza became a smaller theatre, with a distinctly Spanish atmosphere.

The 1920s heralded the beginning of the golden years of film-making - the Hollywood era. A theatre built during this time was often described as a 'palace of dreams'.⁷ Initially silent films were screened, but soon theatres were being converted to accommodate the 'talkies'. The Plaza was the first new Australian cinema to open in the era of sound film. The opening on 10 May was another gala affair to match the style of the smaller, but luxurious cinema. While many of Melbourne's theatres were in Bourke Street, the Regent and Plaza were located at the 'Paris' end of Collins Street. With the Town Hall, the Athenaeum and Georges' department store located opposite, the Regent and Plaza became part of what Frank Van Straten has called 'the Collins Street experience'.⁸ Such was the interest in the escapist world of cinema that when fire destroyed the Regent's auditorium in 1945, Hoyts obtained special permission from the State Government to enable the theatre to be reconstructed, despite wartime restrictions on building materials.⁹ The reconstruction of the Regent, which included new plasterwork undertaken by James Lyall, would later become an issue in the debate concerning the architectural and historical merits of the theatre. In 1947 audiences were just grateful to see the theatre re-open. Their affection for the Regent and Plaza continued into the 1950s and 1960s, but television gradually changed the entertainment landscape.

In 1969, when Hoyts sold the Regent and Plaza theatres to Melbourne City Council (MCC), there were many who felt that the golden years of the picture palaces were over. In the television age many of the larger theatres were becoming uneconomical to run. The State and Capitol theatres had both closed in the 1960s, and re-opened with reduced capacity. The State Theatre was converted into two smaller theatres, while the Capitol was reduced to one smaller theatre and a shopping arcade built in the area once occupied by the stalls. Hoyts briefly examined the possibility of converting the Regent into two smaller theatres, but opted instead to sell the Regent and Plaza and open a smaller multi-cinema complex in Bourke Street. MCC purchased the theatres for $2.25 million and subsequently called for tenders for development of the site. The Regent closed on 1 July 1970, followed by the Plaza on 4 November.

The City Square
Since the early 1960s Melbourne City Council had been considering the development of a city square. Councillor Bernard Evans first suggested the idea in 1961, but a formal proposal was not accepted until 1966. The Council then began acquiring property near the corner of Swanston and Collins Streets, including the Green's building, Wentworth House, and the Cathedral Hotel. When developers expressed an interest in the Regent Theatre site, MCC decided to purchase it in order to control development around the future City Square. Before the theatres had even closed, the Council accepted the tender of British development company Star (Great Britain) Holdings Ltd, who planned to build an international hotel overlooking the Square. Newspaper articles published at the time depict a 53-storey rectilinear building towering over the Town Hall and St Paul's Cathedral. The 445-bed hotel would occupy 24 storeys, with the remaining floors to be used as office space. The money MCC would receive from Star would assist in its funding of the City Square project.¹⁰ Looking at the structure as depicted in the newspapers, it is not surprising that some people were outraged by the proposal.¹¹ But despite this opposition the public campaign to save the theatres did not begin in earnest until 1973, after MCC's deal with Star Holdings had failed. Star blamed the Federal Government's new foreign investment laws on its failure to raise the necessary capital, while the Council announced it would 'make a clean break and, freed of the restraints it suffered in the past, embark on a new concept'.¹²