 When "talking pictures" were introduced, English purchased a Raycophone voice machine, designed by New South Wales radio engineer Ray Allsop.Raycophones were widely adopted by Australian cinemas – by mid-1937, when the sound wiring of all 1,420 Australian cinemas was complete, 345 Raycophone systems had been installed.The Majestic Picture Theatre has been owned and operated independently since it opened in 1929.