the de luxe theatre was built by william fradgley and opened on wednesday 15 october 1930. it showed silent movies initially with its first "talkie" on wednesday 9 september 1931, featuring the movies "paradise island", "hot curves" and a "mickey the mouse" cartoon. it was also used for catholic church services prior to the construction of the infant saviour roman catholic church. world war ii was a boom time for the cinema as there were camps for both australian and american army personnel in the area. in february 1945 the thams brothers (lorenz and charles thams who owned and operated other cinemas on the gold coast) leased the de luxe, purchasing it in 1950. cyclonic winds damaged the cinema on friday 19 and saturday 20 february 1954, and it needed to be rebuilt. the thams sold the cinema on 29 june 1966. the building gradually became derelict. it was converted in the 1970s into the old burleigh theatre arcade, with shops, restaurants and offices. in august 2019, the complex and an adjacent building were sold for about $18.5 million, which the short-term intention of continuing its current operations but with a long-term view of redeveloping the site.