Astor founder Frank O'Collins bought the property in 1935, commissioning architect Ron Morton Taylor who designed the building in the jazz moderne style.

The cinema operated throughout World War II and the post-war era, mostly showing big-name American films from the major studios such as MGM, Paramount and United Artists.

In the early 1980s, demand from the Greek community declined due to home video and the introduction of SBS, leading to the Astor's brief closure in 1982.

Florence initiated the programming style of the Astor that continues to this day, and designed the classic "calendar" session posters which became popular pin-ups in homes across Melbourne.

[6] The Trust noted that: The Astor has historical and social significance for its associations with perhaps the most important mass entertainment of the twentieth century, the cinema.

The Astor Theatre, with its Moderne design, spacious foyers and its many original furnishings, objects and surviving early signage, symbolises the suburban cinema experience during the inter-war years when cinema-going reached its peak.In 2007, the Astor was bought for $3.8 million by St Michael's Grammar School, who left the cinema operating under Florence's guidance but intended to redevelop the building as a performing arts centre.

[8] There were fears that the building would be divided into three screens, as had been done at the Westgarth Theatre in Northcote, but Palace insisted they were committed to keep the Astor running in its traditional form.