WHEN asked if a film was any good, former Capitol Cinema manager Stan Stevens used to joke, “they’re all good movies”.
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While it was a clever gag from an astute businessman, Mr Stevens knew about movies – he saw more of them than most people.
For more than five decades, Mr Stevens worked at the Capitol Cinema, first as an usher in the 1950s before becoming manager in the ‘70s alongside his wife Norma.
Even after he and Norma retired in 2006, Mr Stevens kept an active interest in the cinema as a business partner.
He kept up a steady diet of films after retirement, attending a few screenings a month at his former workplace until failing health prohibited him. He died on Tuesday in Warrnambool, aged 87.
Mr Stevens was born on January 1, 1929 in Warrnambool and his first passion was the local beach.
A life member of the Warrnambool Surf Life Saving Club, Mr Stevens met his wife Norma at a surf carnival in Perth.
They were married in Warrnambool in 1953 and had four children, six grandchildren and one great grandchild.
Daughter Jan McCluskey said her father would hire out rubber floats at the beach over summer to try to make extra money for his family.
“He was a real family man – all he wanted to do was to be at home with his family,” Ms McCluskey said.
But Mr Stevens was best known for bringing the movies of the world to Warrnambool.
He and his wife ran the Warrnambool Drive-In until it closed in 1985 and oversaw the Capitol Cinema’s $500,000 redevelopment in 1994 when it changed from a single-screen theatre to a multiplex.
“He absolutely loved the movies,” Ms McCluskey said, citing the Batman films as among Mr Stevens’ favourites.
There's a dark cloud over the cinema.
- Capitol Cinema manager Greg Gent
“One of the rooms (at his home) was called the Batcave – it’s got a few posters and got some memorabilia in it.”
Capitol Cinema manager Greg Gent, who took over the reins when Mr and Mrs Stevens retired, said his predecessor’s passing had left “a dark cloud over the cinema”.
“He was a great mentor,” Mr Gent said.
“He ran a tight ship and you found that if you worked hard for him, he was good to you. Everyone respected Stan. He’s always been a phone call away if I needed anything.”