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The building also charts darker moments
in Broome’s history. “In my time, segregated
seating existed although this was later relaxed,”
remembers Doug Fong, grandson of one of
Broome’s original Chinese pearling merchants
and the owner of Broome Chinatown Walks.
Segregation of Europeans, Chinese, Japanese,
Malays and Indigenous Australians mirrored
Broome society at the time and continued
until 1967. “Nevertheless, for the various
ethnic groups, this was a popular social outing,”
Doug continues.
“The pictures – never called the movies- usually started at 8pm when we stood
forGod Save the King /Queen. You would
have a newsreel that was a few months old,
a cartoon, a serial such asThe Cisco Kid,
then the support film; quite often this was
a Western. The second picture was usually
a more adult one and finished quite late.
Two pictures, a newsreel, cartoon and a
serial... good value in those days!”
During the half-hour intervals, Doug
recalls, patrons would visit local shops for
SHORTCUTS | Rewind
SUN NEVER SETS
FROM TOP:Segregated seating continued until
1967 ; Crews loading up the tram outside Sun Pictures
in 1920 ; The deckchairs still provide retro ambience.PHOTOGRAPHY: COURTESY OF THE BATTYE LIBRARY (CIRCA 1920); COURTESY OF THE BROOME HISTORICAL SOCIETY & MUSEUM (1920); COURTESY OF BRETT BARNETT PHOTOGRAPHY (PRESENT DAY)refreshments; his parents owned one just
40 metres away, selling confectionery, fruit,
drinks and Chinese salty plums.
Today, a visit to Sun Pictures offers the
chance to experience an operating piece
of history that reflects, and still lives, the
‘romantic golden era’ of theatre, says Marisa.
“Ceiling fans, deckchairs and antique wooden
bench seating, an historic display of used
projectors, framed photographs of Broome
in bygone years, archival movie posters, a jet
passing overhead and star-lit skies, [all] take
patrons back to days gone by,” she says.
“Coupled with the support from locals and
tourists, this is one sun that will never set.”
Sun Pictures celebrates its centenary with a
number of special events including its 100 th
Celebration on Saturday 22 July – a ticketed
event incorporating stories, music and tributes.
broomemovies.com.auSUN PICTURES, BROOME’S famous
open-air picture garden, has seen plenty in
its 100-year life. This modest weatherboard
building in Chinatown, which began life as
an Asian emporium before being converted
into a movie theatre, has long been an integral
and distinctive part of the town. Indeed, the
settler history of Broome can be read
through its evolution.
Today, Sun Pictures holds the Guinness
World Records’ title of being the world’s
oldest operating picture garden, but it has
been through a lot to get here. “After 65 years,
surviving thrice-yearly flooding, a town
evacuation due to war, the onslaught of
Cyclone Eva in 1970 and Cyclone Rosita
in 2000, Sun Pictures was forced to close in
1981 due to the surge of television and video
entertainment,” says current owner Marisa
Ferraz. In 1982 it found an investor in Lord
Alistair McAlpine, who acquired the building,
and Sun Pictures reopened its doors.
The many stories and legends that Sun
Pictures’ episodic history has spun are as
much part of the building’s identity. “Who
could have imagined needing to wade out
of the theatre at the end of a film? But that
is exactly what happened in 1974,” says
Marisa by way of example. “Approximately
three times a year, Carnarvon Street and
Sun Pictures were flooded and patrons had
to wade ankle-deep to their vehicles, some
even suggesting you could catch a fish
during the screening.”SUN PICTURES
in Broome – the
WOR LD’S OLDEST
operating picture
garden – turns 100
this year. IMOGEN
EVESON seeks out
some stories from its
illustrious past.