Extract from ABC News
Ben De Luca has run the cinema for 64 years. (ABC News: Brooke Tindall)
When Ben De Luca first took over the Summergarden cinema, it was Mary Poppins, Goldfinger, My Fair Lady and later, The Sound of Music.
Now after 64 years at the foot of the big screens in Bowen, the almost 90-year-old is putting the movie theatre up for sale.
The hallways are filled with iconic movie posters signed by Hollywood stars. (ABC News: Brooke Tindall)
The Summergarden hosted two of the country's biggest Hollywood exports, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman, at its red carpet world premiere for Baz Luhrmann's 2008 movie Australia.
The original building was an open-air cinema. (ABC News: Brooke Tindall)
But almost more famous to the locals is Mr De Luca's smiling face at the ticket booth.
Movie-loving seed sown young
In 1964, at 28, he took over the family's cinema, which had been running since 1948, after working several jobs in agriculture.
His love for movies started when he was at school, where he made movies on a home-made projector using a box, drawings, cellophane and a torch.
He would charge friends and family a penny to watch.
"The seed was sown at a very young age,"he said.
In its early days, the cinema was built as an open-air structure, and Mr De Luca remembers people running to the back when it rained.
He said in the 1960s, everyone went to the movies on the weekend.
"The westerns were very popular, the old John Wayne movies, they were big time."
Ben De Luca at a fancy dress party held at the cinema in 1966. (Supplied: Ben De Luca)
But as the world, and Bowen, pivots from the big screen to streaming services, Mr De Luca said the cinema industry was "not the same as it used to be".
"People just don't go to the movies as much as they used to,"he said.
Bringing Hollywood to Bowen
Famed Australian director Baz Luhrmann first travelled to the mango-growing town of Bowen to scout locations for his upcoming epic Australia.
When it came out the following year, it topped the national box office and is still among the highest grossing Australian-made films of all time, notching up $211 million worldwide.
Mr De Luca says the movie posters that line the hallways hold sentimental value. (ABC News: Brooke Tindall)
The Summergarden cinema became a home for the stars during filming, with Luhrmann using the facilities to test raw footage from the film.
"He was so impressed at the time with what we had to offer," Mr De Luca said.
Locals were swept up by the movie magic. (ABC North Qld: Lily Nothling)
The hallways of the cinema are still filled with memorabilia from the movie, including several signed posters by Kidman, who Mr De Luca said he kept in touch over the years.
"Some of those posters, they're very dear to my heart because of the people that have signed them."
Mr De Luca has several posters signed by Nicole Kidman. (ABC News: Brooke Tindall)
A trusted voice in north Queensland cinema
Owner of the Tors Drive In cinema in Charters Towers, Steve Snell, said Mr De Luca had been influential in keeping the cinema industry alive in North Queensland.
At just eight years old, Mr De Luca took him into the projection room at the Summergarden, an experience he said changed his life.
At eight years old, Steve Snell was taken into the projection room at the Summergarden, which led him to pursue a career in the industry. (Supplied: Steve Snell)
"When I saw all the projectors up there and the big spools … it was just beautiful," he said.
"I just felt like I was the luckiest kid in town."
After 64 years, Mr De Luca had become a trusted point of call for the industry.
"A lot of exhibitors ring Ben for advice, whether it be business, something technical or in projection, Ben will be able to help."
Keeping the big screen alive
Despite the cinema seeing big names walk through its doors, Mr De Luca said his favourite part of owning a cinema was welcoming locals and travellers for regular screenings.
"That has always made me very happy, and I still do it and I still like doing it."
He said he wanted to see Summergarden continue to blossom in the hands of someone who will stay true to its storied history.
Ben De Luca and his wife Phyllis in 1972. (ABC News: Brooke Tindall)
"We're the longest continually running cinema in North Queensland," he said.
"I'm hopeful it will continue."
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