Paramount Theatre

The Paramount Theatre was among the earliest of Wellington’s cinemas. The Kings Theatre, Wellington’s first purpose-built cinema, was built in 1910 prior to the outbreak of the first World War. The years of conflict saw restrictions on the supply of building materials and Paramount Theatre, built in 1917, was one of the few theatres opened during this period.

J.J. Williamson, a farmer from Fielding, purchased the land  in 1916, and had the theatre designed in a late Edwardian style by architect James Bennie. The screen  was specially imported from America, and the theatre seated 1,511 people and housed a full orchestra pit. The cinema also contained a milk bar, saddlers and a stationary shop. Unfortunately, the original plans have not survived.

The Paramount opened on 4 August, 1917, with a sold-out screening of John Emerson and Erich von Stroheim’s Less Than Dust, starring Mary Pickford. The theatre also held the distinction of having screened the first “sound picture” ever shown in New Zealand; Frank Borzage’s Street Angel played in 1929 with a recorded musical soundtrack and drew large crowds “day and night”. Paramount Theatre was reported as having  announced a “coup” by booking every sound film by Fox Film Company, who owned the patents for the Movietone sound system that recorded audio to film.

The theatre underwent significant renovations in 1927, including an Art Deco parapet featuring the word ‘PARAMMOVNT’ which remains on the building today. The interior underwent alterations in 1926, throughout the 1960s, and in 2004. The rennovations were significant enought that by 2017 the interior seating had been reduced to 450, and the screen lay over the former orchestra pit.

In the modern era, the theatre was known for screening art-house and independent films, as well as hosting the Wellington Film Festival and New Zealand International Film Festival. In 2017, shortly after celebrating it centenary, The Paramount closed its doors . The final screening was of Wim Wenders’ 1975 film, Wrong Move.