The Forum Theatre
Since the atmospheric Forum Theatre opened in 1929 as the State Theatre, it has been a fabulous creation of fantasy both inside and out. Designed by American cinema architect John Eberson, in collaboration with Melbourne architects Bohringer, Taylor and Johnson, it was built during the boom years of cinema construction and boasted an unprecedented 3371 seats. Its Moorish exterior features a 48.5-metre-high jewel-encrusted clock tower, copper-clad Saracenic dome, minarets and barley sugar columns.Inside, a combination of Italian medieval, renaissance, baroque and Spanish mission styles culminate in an exotic, indoor Graeco-Roman garden complete with replica plaster statues of the Venus De Capua, Diana of Versailles and Discobolus. A cerulean blue ceiling, dotted with tiny stars and projected clouds, imitates the Mediterranean sky.
Coinciding with the decline of Victoria s large film theatres during the 1960s, the balcony section was enclosed and the auditorium thereby split into two separate theatres; downstairs an 800-seat live music and cabaret venue, and upstairs a 520-seat cinema and stage. Despite the renovation, the Forum remains to be the only surviving atmospheric cinema in Victoria and a relic of the state s cinematic boom.
Location: Corner Russell and Flinders Streets, Melbourne
