39 Cathedral Square
Regent Theater
A domed Cathedral Square landmark, transformed into a picture palace with a night sky inside.
Lost Christchurch Cinema Collection
Christchurch,
do you remember these?
Four picture houses. Thousands of first dates, Saturday matinees, school-holiday queues and interval treats. The photographs and the archive records are what is left of them.
WestEnd refreshment seller, 1988 · Christchurch Star / Allied Media
01 / 04
Why this exists
The buildings are gone. The stories aren’t.
Going to the pictures was never only about the film. It was the bus into town, the queue beneath the marquee, the first glimpse of the foyer and the person beside you when the lights went down.
Jaffas and the movies belonged together in New Zealand memory. When we remember those orange chocolate sweets, we remember the queues, the interval and who was sitting beside us. Intermission Treats — orange coated chocolate — are our invitation to remember it through four Christchurch cinemas and the people who filled them.
Jaffas at the movies: the New Zealand storyA city of picture houses
Remember where
they stood?
Four theaters, a short walk apart. Find your way back through central Christchurch.
Cathedral Square & Worcester StreetCirca 1980s
Approximate locations · collector’s mapHover or choose a theater to remember Tap a number or choose a theater below.
50 Cathedral Square
Savoy Theater
The queue, the matinee and the familiar north-east corner of Cathedral Square.
88 Worcester Street
Avon Theater
Worcester Street's Art Deco cinema — remembered for its foyer, lounge and unmistakable facade.
57 Cathedral Square
WestEnd Theater
Everybody's, Tivoli, WestEnd — three names and generations passing through the same doors.
The first collection
Four doors back into Christchurch.
Each page begins with the official record. What makes it live is what only the people who were there can tell us.
Regent from 1930 • Royal Exchange building c. 1904
Regent Theater
A domed Cathedral Square landmark, transformed into a picture palace with a night sky inside.
Savoy 1953–1993 • Liberty/Savoy building 1917–1997
Savoy Theater
The queue, the matinee and the familiar north-east corner of Cathedral Square.
Cinema 1935–1989 • Building 1935–2013
Avon Theater
Worcester Street's Art Deco cinema — remembered for its foyer, lounge and unmistakable facade.
WestEnd 1971–1994 • Cinema building 1915–2007
WestEnd Theater
Everybody's, Tivoli, WestEnd — three names and generations passing through the same doors.
Back on the bill
The films we remember.
A first film. A favourite star. A night you still talk about. Rediscover the films linked to these four cinemas.
Swedish release poster
Regent 1930s
In the historical record
Paramount on Parade
16 August 1930
The cinema connection
The musical comedy on the programme when the Regent first opened its doors.
Savoy 1950s
In the historical record
Love Me Tender
March 1957 account
The cinema connection
Elvis at the Savoy: a local history connects the cinema with his first film in its March 1957 account. The exact screening date is still unknown.
Avon 1970s
In the historical record
Eyes of Laura Mars
Photographed 3 May 1979
The cinema connection
A Christchurch Star photograph records this thriller on the Avon’s Worcester Street frontage.
The people’s archive
A building history gives us dates. The photographs give us the feeling.
Queues in Cathedral Square, interval trays, dated ice-cream advertising and the inside of the picture palace. Every image in the album is an archive item, captioned with its date, source and rights position.
Browse the visual memories Which cinema do you remember?What was the first film you saw?Who were you with?Did you work there?What did interval taste like?Where were the best seats?Which cinema do you remember?What was the first film you saw?Who were you with?Did you work there?What did interval taste like?Where were the best seats?
The collection
Four cinemas.
Four boxes.
Thousands of memories.
Each collectible Intermission Treats box is a keepsake for one lost cinema, built around real archival photography and a route back to its fuller story. The box is the invitation. The archive is the point.
Open the first story → 
Four cinema designs. One presentation case.
The Collector’s Box
All four lost cinemas. One complete set.
Regent. Savoy. Avon. WestEnd. Bring the complete Lost Christchurch Cinema Collection together in one presentation box—made for gifting, keeping and passing the stories on.
- Four cinema boxesOne from each story
- 4 × 90 g360 g net total
- Intermission TreatsOrange coated chocolate
Available exclusively from Deluxe Cinemas—at our box office at The Tannery or through our official online store.
See the Collector’s Box Coming soon · join the launch list
Exclusive to Deluxe Cinemas
The collection has a home.
Every individual cinema box and the complete Collector’s Box will be available only through Deluxe Cinemas—where Christchurch still comes together for the pictures.
01
The Tannery box office
3 Garlands Road, Woolston, Christchurch
02
The official online store
Explore the Collector’s Box and join the launch list
