Marc Zimmermann

A number of movie theatres have shaped the cinematic landscape of the city over the past ninety-eight years. They include Dublin's first dedicated cinema (the VOLTA, 1909), the city's first purpose-built CinemaScope screen (STATE, '54), the first twinned venue (SAVOY, '69) and Ireland's first multiplex (UCI TALLAGHT, '90). A further number of both well- and lesser-known venues forms a significant part of the capital's architectural and social history. One of these was the DORSET. The building it occupied for over seven decades had an unusual life, serving three di-verse purposes over two centuries.

The PLAZA's original ecclesiastical exterior c.1932 © National Library

The historic building -which until recently took up the corner of Granby Row and Upper Dorset Street near Parnell Square- began its life as a church. Following the design of architect William Smyth, it was erected around 1789 as the Protestant Bethesda Chapel. The squat building was fronted by a simple, classical portico car-ried by two Ionic columns. Tall, arched windows on the upper floor supplied natural lighting entering along the sides. A low-pitched slate roof capped the building and its restrained exterior.

Dr. Edward Smyth, a clergyman of the Church of Ireland (who had been ousted from his previous curacy for supporting the Methodists) was appointed minister of Bethesda Chapel, where he caused a division in the Methodist society. He was fol-lowed by Rev. John Walker, a Trinity College professor who resigned from his posts in 1804 to form an independent Brethren society.

The building served as a chapel for over a century, before it was acquired by Wil-liam M. Shanley in 1910. In a bold and contested move he converted the deconse-crated structure to one of the very first dedicated picture houses in the city, follow-ing the opening of James Joyce's VOLTA on Mary Street the previous year. The ar-chitects Batchelor & Hicks (who planned Rathmines Library in 1913), designed nec-essary alterations to the chapel, creating Dublin's largest cinema at the time, capa-ble of accommodating the astonishing number of 520 patrons in the stalls and a further 250 in the balcony. Initial changes to the building were kept to a minimum, retaining its exterior virtually unchanged.

The newly created DORSET PICTURE HOUSE opened on 13 May 1911. It proved popular from the very start and in 1914 this 'fine house of entertainment' -then un-der management of a Mr. Sullivan- was struggling to cope with the large crowds. Apparently the bitterly cold evenings of that winter resulted in a flourishing trade for all cinemas. By now almost thirty picture houses operated throughout the city during the cinemas' first boom, which would grind to a halt in Ireland in 1916.

Following acquisition of the building by John J. Farrell around 1928, the cinema -also known as the 'Dorrier'- was renamed the PLAZA. During subsequent alterations its seating capacity was substantially increased to 1,200 and a sound system was installed, following the first Irish presentation of a 'talkie' (The Singing Fool, USA 1928) at Dublin's SAVOY in 1929. The original exterior of the chapel remained largely unaltered for a number of years, retaining most of its ecclesiastical charac-ter underneath a layer of film posters and banners. By that stage the PLAZA had acquired a reputation as a fleapit; it was also a rough place where fights would fre-quently break out among the patrons.

Like most cinemas, the PLAZA declined in the late 1950s and early '60s due to the mounting competition from TV-broadcasts. In an attempt to attract audiences to return, several large movie theatres converted their interiors to accommodate widescreen presentations. The PLAZA followed suit relatively late, when it was con-verted in 1967 at a cost of £75,000 to feature Cinerama. By this stage the initially elaborate and expensive triple-projector system had been simplified and could op-erate from a single, three-strip projector box.

The stark, reclad façade of the Wax Museum in 2005 © Marc Zimmermann

The auditorium was extensively remodelled to now seat just 754 patrons in front of an enormous, curved screen. The façade was re-clad with concrete blocks and the original portico with its imposing columns vanished. The building's external appear-ance had changed from a classical style 18th Century building to a streamlined, boxy 1960s structure, resulting in the loss of its original architectural appeal. An enormous sign spelled out Cinerama in five-metre-tall letters across its façade.

The PLAZA was one of only two Dublin venues to convert to Cinerama, the other being the ELECTRIC, which had been converted in 1964. Most other cinemas imple-mented CinemaScope, a simpler and cheaper process that had mostly superseded Cinerama since 1953.

The cinema reopened on 28 September 1967 as the PLAZA CINERAMA THEATRE with the motor racing drama Grand Prix (USA 1966, starring James Garner). The ultra-wide feature films on offer were a popular attraction throughout the 1960s. They included the wild caper It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (USA 1963, starring Spencer Tracy and an ensemble cast).

The cinema operated with moderate success for another fourteen years. However, unable to remain profitable any longer as a single-screen venue in the face of dwin-dling audiences -further influenced by the introduction of video recorders in 1978- the cinema finally closed in 1981. The building was subsequently acquired by for-mer Senator Donie Cassidy who converted it to a National Wax Museum, which opened in 1983. Dublin's original wax museum on Henry Street had burned down in 1916. Among the new attractions were a Chamber of Horrors and a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The museum suffered serious neglect when visitor numbers dropped in the mid-1990s. In its final years the building was adorned with a novelty statue of a Viking giant climbing the façade in an attempt to attract patrons. The museum eventually closed in 2005 to be relocated to Smithfield. The historic building was demolished shortly thereafter to make way for a hotel development, resulting in the loss of yet another piece of Dublin's social heritage.

Note: This article first appeared in Film Ireland magazine (issue 115). Marc Zimmermann is the author of The History of Dublin Cinemas article series and book (out: May 2007). He also publishes The Cinematograph, the free e-newsletter of the Cinema Heritage Group. To subscribe and/or to find out about the group or book, contact: REMOVE-THISheritage_events@yahoo.com