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Taken on: October 21, 2022

Uploaded on: October 20, 2022

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Lido Cinema Willis Street and Mercer Street, Wellington NZ.

Photo courtesy of “Old Wellington Region” - April 1953 - Audience watching “Man in the Dark” in the new fangled 3D process. The theatre at the time (1953) was named The Tudor Theatre (Read the history of The Lido below)

Man in the Dark was an exploitative black-and-white remake of a 1936 thriller The Man Who Lived Twice. Originally released in 3D, in prints that were sepia-toned. Wellington saw the movie before London, Paris or Sydney. Columbia Pictures had flown prints to NZ from the US soon after the world premiere at the Globe Theatre, New York on April 2.

Six sessions were required on the first day of screening “Man in the Dark” to meet the reported phenomenal public demand…

Theatre information

Located in the Te Aro district of the city centre at the corner of Willis Street and Mercer Street, across from the Majestic Theatre. Shortts Cinema was a conversion of a former warehouse and it opened on 22nd December 1911 with 670-seats.

In 1936 it was taken over by Amalgamated Theatres playing double-bills of 2nd run films and renamed Tudor Theatre.

In 1964 Amalgamated Theatres re-named it Lido Cinema and it became an art-house cinema. It was closed in 1983 due to risk of earthquake damage and deemed not worth upgrading. It was used for a while as a bargain store and has since been demolished.

Contributed by Greg Lynch -