![]() ![]() Magnus supported William Dobell (1899–1970) who was living in reduced circumstances on the top floor of a building on the corner of Darlinghurst Road and Roslyn Street and was the subject of Dobell’s stylized portrait Chez Walter (1945). The Claremont’s cuisine continentale included previously unheard of dishes such as goulash and Vienna schnitzel. Walter Magnus (1904–1954) opened the Claremont Restaurant in Darlinghurst Road in 1938. The Cross with its metropolitan character attracted European refugees. A reputation for danger and illegal activities appeared to define the Cross. Prostitutes cruised the dirty ‘dirty half mile’ in William Street. The control of the supply of alcohol to nightclubs and corner shops was fought over by razor gangs. Between 19 when hotels closed at 6pm, Kings Cross was the place to buy sly grog. ![]() From the 1930s onwards the Cross had its own cinema and repertory theatre, its cafes stayed open after 11pm and its nightclubs were the place to go after city clubs closed. Photographs such as Max Dupain’s Kings Cross Rush Hour (1938) illustrate the turbulent, first-stop-east-of-the-city junction which existed before the opening of the William Street tunnel in 1975. Kings Cross’ modernity was conducive to those wanting to bring about artistic, intellectual or social change. It was Kings Cross’ dense urban character that provided an appropriate environment for bohemians who abandoned conventional social ties in the pursuit of intellectual freedom, or spiritual freedom in the case of Rosaleen Norton, the notorious ‘witch’ of Kings Cross. ![]()
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