Orpheum Theatre Dog Shows, Sydney

Children with their dogs gather outside the Orpheum Theatre in North Sydney and the nearby Cremorne Orpheum on Military Road, Cremorne in Sydney.

The dog show was part of a promotion for the short film Wanted: A Master (Arthur J Ornitz, Gunther von Fritsch, USA, 1936), about a dog which tried to find an owner to avoid being destroyed as a stray dog. The film was nominated for Best Short Subject (One Reel) at the 1936 Academy Awards.

The Orpheum in North Sydney opened in 1913 before it was renovated in 1923 and again in 1927. It was demolished in 1962 to make way for the Warringah Expressway.

The Orpheum in Cremorne opened on 3 October 1935. It eventually fell into disrepair and was sold to developers who turned it into a shopping arcade and gym. Bought by Mike Walsh in 1986, it was lovingly restored and reopened in December 1987 as the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace. It is still in operation.

This footage also appears in a compilation in the Roger McKenzie Collection, Theatre and Cinema Building History in Australia (NFSA: 393899).

Notes by Stephen Groenewegen