Treasure trove of cinema history goes under the hammer from Wellington’s Time Cinema

Time Cinema featured thousands of items. Photo / RNZ, Mark Papalii

By Nick James of RNZ

A treasure trove of cinema history has gone under the hammer after items from a private Wellington cinema were auctioned off.

Time Cinema was owned by John and Margaret Bell in the Wellington suburb of Lyall Bay and showcased films particularly made between the 1950s and 1980s.

It featured around 7000 movie tapes, retro mobile phones, typewriters, vintage cameras and a protector around six feet in height.

John died earlier this year.

Just prior to the auction, private cinema owner Gavin Cowern told RNZ he first met John in 1984.

“I belong to a group called the New Zealand Film Buffs Association and John and Margaret hosted the first meeting there in 1984 at Times Cinema.”

The collection included 7000 movie tapes, retro phones, typewriters, and vintage cameras. Photo / RNZ, Mark Papalii

Cowern said John and Margaret’s cinema and how he set up his projector was an inspiration.

“I can remember as a young man of about 17 or 18 seeing that and I just thought ‘wow, that is just so good’.”

Allan Fisher is one of the owners of Central Markets, which was selling the cinema items.

Fisher told RNZ there had been a lot of interest.

“It was an important part of a lot of peoples’ lives, and a lot of people in Wellington knew it, and all over the country.

“But it is an end of an era, and people are coming to buy bits of it.”

He said a lot of the collection was made up of donations – which was still growing unintentionally.

Retro cameras up for grabs. Photo / RNZ, Mark Papalii

“It is not uncommon for the owner of the place, the property in Lyall Bay, to get up in the morning and there’s projectors on the footpath outside his doorstep because everyone knew.”

John’s wife and former owner of Time Cinema, Margaret Bell, said the items had to be sold.

“It had to come to this at some stage, I just pray that they will go to people who will enjoy them as much as we did.”

For those that missed out on the bidding, more items are expected to be sold from the collection in the future.