Honouring the man who kept cinema alive in remote outback city

Silver City Cinema is the last surviving cinema in Broken Hill. (Supplied: Michael Boland)

The outback town of Broken Hill and its surrounds in far west New South Wales are the backdrop to some of Australia's most iconic films.

Whether it be the Mad Max 2 road warriors tearing through an apocalyptic wasteland, Bernadette winning over the hearts of the Palace Hotel patrons in Priscilla Queen of the Desert or the mental unravelling of John Grant in Wake in Fright, the remote mining town has played its own role in shaping Australian cinema and cultural identity.

While film crews and famous casts have come and gone, the local cinema has stood for almost 60 years as one of the last surviving connections between the city and the film industry.

The 1971 Australian one-sheet poster for the original release of Wake in Fright. (Supplied: Wake in Fright Trust)

Now its current owners are honouring the local legend who sacrificed everything to keep that connection alive.

The Silver City Cinema opened in 1967 on the site of the former Century Theatre, which burned down in 1964.

But John Wren and his family are known locally as its longest-running custodians.

The Century Theatre, where the Silver City Cinema is located, was destroyed by fire in 1964. (Supplied: Michael Boland)

Mr Wren purchased the cinema in 1979, after already acquiring the local Village Drive-Inn theatre, driven by a determination to provide quality movie entertainment in Broken Hill.

Navigating tricky film distribution deals, competing against the arrival of video hire, and heading into an economic downturn, Mr Wren's devotion was tested from the beginning.

John Wren was known as a showman, often dressing up as titular characters for film releases. (Supplied: John Wren)

While these challenges forced Mr Wren to relinquish the drive-in, he never let go of the cinema.

He encouraged patronage by dressing up as popular movie characters including Rambo and Chopper Read, while collaborating with local schools, clubs and charities for numerous fundraising events.

His cinema also played a pivotal role in the production of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981).

Mr Wren would keep the cinema open until the early hours of the morning for producers to test their raw footage on the big screen.

Action shot of vehicles coming over the brow of the hill towards to compound in Broken Hill during filming of Mad Max 2. (Supplied: Ian Mitchell/Colin Jay)

Scott Smith, who has recently published a book on the history of cinema in regional South Australia and Broken Hill, said it showed how cinema and the Aust