The history of Willawarrin's famous Picture Show

A crowd of about 1200 people watched as the switch was thrown from the stage of the Willawarrin Hall, officially switching on the Kempsey-Toorooka electricity extension.

Donald Edward Hargans was a local sawmiller and a committee member of the Willawarrin Town Improvement Committee, which was charged with raising funds to pay for the electricity charges.

Don had another idea for improving facilities for the town though - he would provide movie pictures.

Previously both Bellbrook and Willawarrin were served by Lawrence Penn and his travelling picture show, immortalised in the film "The Picture Show Man".

Based in Tamworth, Penn covered an extensive area of New South Wales and Queensland, so his visits to the Macleay area were infrequent, (About once every six weeks.)

Don Hargans constructed a projection room from corrugated iron at the back of the Willawarrin Hall.

The room was two metres off the ground and had steps on both sides.

He acquired two Australian-made Cummings & Wilson 1930's model 35mm projectors which could project into the hall through slots in the room.

A sound console was connected to speakers in the hall.

Movies were screened on Saturday nights in the Willawarrin Hall and the business was advertised as Willawarrin Pictures.

Some of the movies screened in 1954 at Willawarrin pictures were "Ma and Pa Kettle at the Fair" with Marjory Main and Percy Kilbridge, "Too Young to Kiss" (June Allyson and Van Johnson) and "Jack and the Beanstalk (Bud Abbott and Lou Costello).

Donald Hargans was also the inventor of the Hargan Saw, the first portable swing saw.

He sold the movie theatre business to a local school teacher, Eric Rossiter, in 1955, with Eric insisting on thorough training as a projectionist as part of the deal.

Eric said his first blackout from a blown fuse was traumatic, but luckliy, somebody in the audience was able to assist, and the show went on.

Interviewed in 1995, Eric said:

"Travellers from the four main distributors dropped in and sold programmes mostly on circuit which saved a lot of freight."

Special screenings such as The Ten Commandments came direct from Sydney and were usually screened, allowing a proportion of the takings."

When the movie "War and Peace" was received, Eric discovered that the projectors needed special lenses to project in Cinemascope; however, the mirth caused by the resulting distortion meant the audience was still satisfied.

Cartoons were usually shown first, then a newsreel followed by the main feature after an intermission.

During the intermission, music was played while the bulk of the audience left the hall for the shop across the road for pies or ice-cream.

The show always finished with the National Anthem.

Allan Powick assisted Eric as projectionist, and later Percy Forrest.

The ownership of Willawarrin Pictures was transferred to Eric's wife Helen in 1963, but the spread of television would soon be the death knell for the movie shows in Willawarrin as in many other towns throughout Australia.

The last movie shown at Willawarrin was "In Search of the Castaways" on May 15, 1965.

Donated by Eric Rossiter's son and daughter, Bill Rossiter and Barbara Harrold, the Willawarrin Pictures projection room was installed in the grounds of the Kempsey Museum on October 10, 2020.

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