History of the Roxy Cinema

In February 1935 Ronald Sutton and Charles Owen purchased the land that the Roxy now stands on from a man named John Campbell. They bought it with the intention of opening a new cinema, and within two short months their dream was nearly complete with thanks to the two architects, Guy Crick and Bruce Furce.
The theatre opened as the Roxy as we know it today on the 14^th of August 1935 with the film ‘Naughty Marietta’.
Four years later, the owners leased the business out to a Mr Edwin Potts who became a proprietor in 1944. Following his unfortunate death, his wife, Monica Potts assumed control of the business and married a man named Frank O’Brien. In 1964, she was driven to close down for ten months due to the popularity of television, and the declining popularity of cinemas. She re opened on the 27^th of November ’64 and ran for another 12 years. 

During this time, Mr Robert Brainwood, who left the drive in cinema business as he could see it was declining rapidly, entered into a lease with now Monica Woods, as she entered into her third marriage. She eventually sold out to him in 1976 because the rate to screen Jaws was 90 % of the profits that she was earning and he immediately started upgrading the cinema in a roman theme, inserting statues and pieces by local sculptors such as Charles Baker of Kangaroo Valley. Cinemas two and three used to be one big cinema, and when he came into possession of the cinema he split them up, and immediately abolished the segregation of blacks in the cinema. The previous refreshment area, we now know as the video games area/ function room where they hold children’s birthday parties, and the addition of a candy bar was a popular choice among the clientele . One of the original projectors was placed in the vestibule of the cinema near the toilets, and a funny story, the cinema purchased brass doors from the state cinema in Sydney, when they decided that they wanted them back- Mr Brainwood refused and the state cinema had to replace them with aluminium doors painted to match the brass colour. All in all, our beloved Roxy hasn’t changed much over the years, and we still get that original vibe whenever we go in there.

Published in 2005- written by Robert James Parkinson- see LH791.43/PAR in the Shoalhaven city Library, contribution from the Shoalhaven historical society.

Interview with Mr Robert Brainwood, owner of the Roxy cinema establishment.