One of our sharp eyed Darwin runners found this slim booklet about Sun Pictures, which started showing films in the West Australian pearling town of Broome in 1916 .Written by Maria Mann and published in l991, it is a colourful, illustrated account of the venture, which at one stage involved British Conservative backer Lord McAlpine.
During the early boom days of pearling many Malays, Chinese, Japanese , Koepangers ,Filipinos and Sinhalese came to Broome or were brought in as indentured labour.
Sun Pictures, built on the site of a Japanese emporium owned by the Yamasaki family , had its ups and downs, change of ownership. A movie memorabilia museum was set up in the foyer . It was surprising to read that a circa 1930 ticket box from the old Mareeba theatre in Queensland was installed inside the front doors . The booklet states the building had survived 75 years of cyclones, floods , generations of jousters , catcallers and canoodlers .
* The cover photograph shows the Sun Pictures building reflected in a flooding high tide.
