Sydney Opera House in 1972 | Rare Construction Footage Before Opening

Step inside the Sydney Opera House in 1972, just months before its official opening, in this rare Australian Colour Diary film capturing the building at a pivotal moment in its history. Filmed near the end of construction, the footage moves through the Opera House’s evolving interior spaces, including stairways rising from the car concourse into the concert hall foyer, the cinema and chamber music hall seating 420, and the drama theatre with its innovative revolving stage and concentric turntables. The film documents the installation of the iconic sun and moon curtains designed by artist John Coburn, rehearsed in the recording and rehearsal hall before being placed in the drama and opera theatres. The immense scale of the building becomes clear as the opera theatre stage rises nearly one hundred feet from bottom to top, while the opera house seating for 1,550 and the concert hall, standing eighty feet high and seating 2,700, reveal the ambition behind Australia’s new performing arts centre. Adjustable acoustic perspective rings above the concert hall stage illustrate the advanced sound engineering built into the design, while exterior shots highlight the layered glass walls combining clear and topaz panes laminated for safety, and the separate shell roof covering the main restaurant. This short documentary captures the Sydney Opera House poised on the brink of completion, an architectural vision by Jørn Utzon about to transform the cultural life of Sydney and Australia. Preserved as part of the Australian Colour Diary series, the film offers a rare time capsule of one of the world’s most recognisable buildings just before it opened to the public in 1973. The Australian Diary Series (1947–1970) records aspects of everyday life, industry and production in mid‑20th‑century Australia. To watch more Australian Diary films visit: 👉    • Australian Diary Series & Colour Diary Ser...   CHAPTERS 00:00 Sydney Opera House in 1972 00:24 Final construction stages 01:16 Interior stairway and foyers 01:34 Cinema and chamber music hall 01:58 Drama theatre revolving stage 02:21 Curtain installation 03:11 Opera theatre scale 03:40 Seating revealed 04:28 Glass walls and roof design 06:11 Concert hall and acoustics 07:13 Construction nearing completion #SydneyOperaHouse #FilmAustralianCollection #AustralianHistory #AustralianColourDiary #ArchiveFilm #sydneysymphonyorchestra From the Film Australia Collection, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Title: Australian Colour Diary. No. 41 NFSA ID: 49MPH114 Year: 1972 Credits: Production Company: Australian Commonwealth Film Unit Director: Shan Benson Director of Photography: Kerry Brown Producer: Roland Beckett