In case you’re checking your newspaper listings for the show ‘Knights of the Round Table’, don’t bother – unless you’ve got a copy of the newspaper from 1954. This photo of the Cathay Cinema was taken then by Robert Lucas, who worked for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) until 1973, where he retired as Chief Technical Officer. Select photos from the Robert Lucas collection, which showcases his work in cinema from the 1920s to 1980s, has been uploaded onto Flickr by The Powerhouse Museum in Sydneyand includes two photographs of the Cathay Cinema by day and by night. Knights of the Round Table was an MGM production, of course.

According to the Powerhouse Museum database:

The Robert James Lucas archive contains documents that illustrate the donor’s life and career in cinema exhibition from the mid 1920s to the late 1980s and offer a highly detailed and personal insight into the activities of a chief technical officer of a premier cinema chain.

Robert Lucas commenced work as a lolly boy at the Haymarket theatre in the mid 1920s and was employed by MGM in the late 1920s. Robert remained an employee of MGM for 45 years until his retirement in 1973 as the chief technical officer.

The archive material includes high quality commercial photographic prints of now demolished cinema interiors such as ‘The Regent’ / ‘Plaza Talkies’ (Melbourne) and files that record the debate regarding the introduction of drive-in cinemas in Australia.

There are also documents that illuminate the donor’s life long career and development in cinema exhibition. The period covered by the archive demonstrates the changing culture in the presentation, promotion and technology of theatrical exhibition – ranging from the richly illustrated and quirky 1930s Loew’s theatre management training manual to prospectuses for new theatre multiplex developments of the 1980s.

You can see the Flickr set here, or read the Powerhouse Museum’s entry here. I must say, Cathay then looks a lot more bustling than it does now – I like the way they did up the building to look like a medieval European-style castle in keeping with the Arthurian theme. Do any of our readers remember watching Knights of the Round Table at Cathay?