It was designed as a "tropical" theatre by local North Queensland architect Bob Hassell and constructed by builder Albie Halfpapp. A hard top theatre, with an auditorium designed to enhance air circulation, the place reflected a popular type of purpose-built picture theatre in interwar Queensland. Completed in December 1929, it was a timber-framed structure clad in weatherboards with a Gabled roof and timber-clad parapet, and was constructed entirely of rainforest hardwoods. The theatre was dedicated and opened on 14 December 1929 by John Edward Foxwell, Eacham Shire Council Chairman, and Fred Browning, superintendent of Atherton Ambulance Centre. All proceeds from a concert held on opening night were donated to the Atherton Ambulance. Screening of the first films took place on 21 December 1929. Large, purpose-built, single auditorium picture theatres, both open-air and hard-top, were constructed throughout Queensland during the interwar period. Almost every town and suburb in Queensland had its local picture theatre by the late 1930s. Many of these structures, including the Majestic Picture Theatre at Malanda, employed recognised facade "styles" which the public came to associate with film exhibition venues. Like many of the fanciful names given to Queensland picture theatres, the name "Majestic" was derivative of much grander overseas theatres and cinemas. Initially, Silent films were accompanied by an in-house pianist. The casework for the Beale Piano at the Majestic was made to order by the Beale Company in New South Wales from figured maple, cut on Patrick English's property and specially selected and sawn by him. 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. In 1933, English sold the theatre to Pollard Bros who also owned and ran the Roxy Theatre in Atherton. Jack Henson purchased the theatre in 1939 and ran it with his wife, Lil Henson, during World War II until 1969. Thousands of war-time U.S. servicemen were based on the Atherton Tablelands and the theatre was an important social venue and meeting place for troops and locals during the war.