In the early 60s, I am not sure of the date, two of us from grade 8 Sunnybank primary school attended a day session at the Regent. After the movie had finished, a number of people were standing at the top of the stairs when a lot of yelling took place. We heard a gunshot and saw a man tumble down the stairs. He got straight up and was surrounded by police. An officer fired a shot in the lovely engraved ceiling causing a piece of plaster to fall.
A lady next to me said; "They must be acting for a preview of a new picture."
The police numbers grew, the man was yelling, come you ***s and finally they wrestled him to the ground. They were hitting him with hand cuffs etc. They dragged him to the footpath, put him in a vehicle and drove off.
We all thought it was a joke. We soon found out that it was John Stuart the Whisky-a-Go-Go arsonist. He had escaped custody and was recaptured in the Regent. I remember that whenever I went to the Regent that I would look up at the ceiling just above the stair case where the bullet hit. It sure brings back memories.
JH
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