Some time in the 1980s the owners of nearby record store, Selectadisc, tried to buy the Classic with the intention of turning it into an arthouse cinema with “…music, food, drink and DJs etc.”
Some further background taken from “Made in North Notts” (issue 13 November/December 2019, p.52).
Building work began in April 1927, taking six months to complete. It was operated by Cyril Getliffe, who also owned two other Retford cinemas – The Picture House (later the Roxy) and The Palace Theatre. It was built originally to take stage plays and moving pictures. The projectors were converted to sound in 1929. The cinema was sold to Midland Empire Theatres Ltd in 1943. It later became a bingo hall and began screening films again in 1968. It closed in 1983 and was put up for sale for the sum of £48,950. After being purchased in 1986 it became a two-screen cinema but closed again in 1992. The Retford Theatre Trust was established shortly afterwards to raise money to save the building.
One part of the building still has the original 1920s lino running through it and down a flight of stairs.
Some further background taken from “Made in North Notts” (issue 13 November/December 2019, p.51).
It took twenty-two weeks to build and was Mansfield’s first purpose-built cinema. An advertisement for the grand opening in 1910 refers to it as the Palace Electric Theatre. The seating capacity was 850; 500 seats in the pit, 230 seats in the stalls, and 120 seats in the circle. Admission prices in 1910 were threepence for the lower pit, fourpence for the pit, sixpence for the stalls and one shilling for the Grand Circle. Sound was introduced in 1931, the first talking picture to be screened being “Love comes along” (1930). The building was refurbished in 1937 when pieces of the ornate plaster frontage began to fall on pedestrians. It was replaced with plain rendering.
The cinema became a theatre in 1944, reopening on 3 July. Plans to convert it back to a cinema failed to materialse and it closed in August 1954. The building was bought by Mansfield Borough Council in 1956 for £11,500 and reopened in March 1957 as the Civic Hall. It received a new frontage in 1971 and was renamed the Civic Theatre.
I went past the cinema on 4 July 2019. Builder’s van parked outside so presumably builder was somewhere inside. No sign of activity but foyer seemed to be in a state of potential refurbishment…
There’s an article about The Picture Theatre by Robert Ovens – Oakham’s first cinema – in the current issue of the Rutland Local History & Record Society Newsletter (no. 1/19, April 2019, pp.9-12). Available at http://www.rutlandhistory.org/newsletters/201904.pdf
The Ideal Cinema was located on Westgate in Southwell (NG25 0LL), not Market Place. It was built by local builder W. D. Tuck on the site of the former Westgate Brewery which had been demolished in 1930. The 600 seat cinema opened in 1932 with two nightly performances from Monday to Saturday, plus a matinee performance on Saturday. The building included a stage and plays were performed there at various times. A social club was established in a separate building at the rear of the auditorium. The cinema foyer was flanked by two shops – a flower shop run by Kathleen Tuck and an electrical supplies shop. Dances and public meetings were held on the upper floor. By 1950 it was owned by Jayel Cinemas (Southwell) Ltd and after a number of changes in ownership, the cinema finally closed on 6 February 1962. In 1970 it was the head office of Theatre and Display (John Griffin) Ltd, suppliers of stage scenery and lighting services for theatres. At a later date the building was used by Pressac for the assembly of telephones. This ended in 1989 and in 1992 the foyer was converted into a flower shop and greengrocers.
King’s Picture House was opened on 22nd March 1915 by the Ilkeston Cinema Company Ltd (owned by local pawnbroker John Brailsford) and deliberately sited across the road from where the rival Globe Picture House was to be built. The architect was H. Tatham of Sudbury. The builders were Bosworth & Lowe of Nottingham. The exterior consisted of a biscuit-colored faience (terra-cotta) with space left for shop and office units. The auditorium measured 86 ft by 50 ft. Interior walls were a rich plaster tinted in blue and gold. The plasterwork was carried out by Lazzerini of Nottingham. Tip-up chairs were supplied by the Buoyant Upholstery Company of Sandiacre. The projection room was located over the lounge and equipped with two projectors.
£3000 of alterations were carried out in late 1920 and involved removal of the virtually unused stage and an extension of the auditorium. An organ loft was also created but there is no record of an organ being installed.
On 8th October 1929 it showed an early sound version of “Show Boat” (1929). A Western Electric sound system and Kalee 8 projectors were installed on 27th January 1930. Later sound systems included the Western Electric Wide Range and Western Electric Mirrorphonic. Projectors were regularly updated and included Ernemann V and Westar systems. It closed for several weeks in 1936 for major modernisation overseen by Reginald W. Cooper, a Nottingham architect. The ornate plasterwork was removed and a new proscenium installed. Concealed lighting was introduced on the side walls. Total seating was reduced to 1,340 on account of wider seats and more space between rows. A 44 foot wide CinemaScope screen together with stereophonic sound was installed in 1954.
The building was sold to Town & Country Properties, the cinema’s final screening – “The thrill of it all” (1963) – taking place on 29th February 1964. It was demolished and replaced by The Albion Centre shopping mall.
Although officially known as King’s Picture House, the sign on the front of the building did not have a comma and thus was Kings Picture House.
The site was originally part of an iron foundry and later a car
repairs garage. Rebuilt in 1930s, extended in the 1950s and
further extended when converted into a cinema. In September 2018 a planning application was submitted stating that with the recent opening of the Everyman Cinema the Picturehouse was no longer viable. The applicant pointed out that the owner of the building had effectively been subsidising its operation by
charging a rent below current local market values. This was to ensure that the town had its own cinema. As the Everyman Cinema now served that function the owner was proposing to demolish the
building and replace it with a four storey hotel.
Exterior features in the opening of “The Twenty Questions murder mystery” (1949) with a panning shot of Lower Regent Street showing people queuing for a recording of “20 Questions” (a popular radio programme of its day). Bomb damage visible in surrounding buildings – cinema has boarded up windows. Interior is studio set bearing no relation to the genuine article.
Exterior features in three episodes of tv series “Trust” (2018) – (ep.4 – “That’s all, folks!”) as the venue where the mother of kidnapped John Paul Getty III is told to meet with the kidnapper’s negotiator. Sequence also shows foyer and auditorium; (ep.6 – “John, Chapter 11”) a meeting with one of the kidnappers. Sequence shows cinema exterior, foyer, box office, auditorium, balcony, and screen; (ep.9 – “White car in a snowstorm”) – final meeting with cinema owner(?). Sequence shows exterior with neon sign fully lit.
Renamed the Coronet, the exterior features near the start of Eyewitness (1956). The heroine goes there after argument with her husband, managing to bypass large queues when buying her ticket. She witnesses a robbery in the manager’s office and is pursued by one of the villains. During the chase she’s knocked down by a bus in front of the cinema – a very large poster for “The Rose Tattoo” (1955) can be seen on the cinema wall. The film actually being shown is a singing western entitled “The Desperados” (a non-existent film – may be an oblique reference to the robbers?). The box office looks genuine, but the rest of the cinema interiors are studio sets. The external fire escape down which heroine is chased looks real. THe manager’s office has a seating indicator propped against the wall.
As of June/July 2018 owned by UK Ghost Hunts. Renamed the Old Picture House Houses a tearoom in the former balcony and also hosts the Haunted Museum, a collection of artefacts linked to the dead. Paranormal investigation evenings held on a regular basis. Owners hope to start showing films once an exhibition licence has been obtained. Exterior much improved after years of neglect.
Situated at 15 New Road, Framlingham. Planning permission granted in February 1963 for change of use from cinema to light industrial use. In December 1963 planning permission granted for alterations to form workshops and storeroom. By 1975 it was a commercial vehicle workshop possibly operated by A G Potter. In 1992 planning permission was granted for change of use to hardplay area for adjacent primary school.
It’s still called The Old Cinema but now consists of apartments. The Old Theatre Deli is further down the road and used to be a Georgian theatre. http://theoldtheatredeli.co.uk/index.php
Some time in the 1980s the owners of nearby record store, Selectadisc, tried to buy the Classic with the intention of turning it into an arthouse cinema with “…music, food, drink and DJs etc.”
In 1942 the cinema was used by the Army Kinematograph Service as its exhibition headquarters and projectionist training centre.
Some further background taken from “Made in North Notts” (issue 13 November/December 2019, p.52).
Building work began in April 1927, taking six months to complete. It was operated by Cyril Getliffe, who also owned two other Retford cinemas – The Picture House (later the Roxy) and The Palace Theatre. It was built originally to take stage plays and moving pictures. The projectors were converted to sound in 1929. The cinema was sold to Midland Empire Theatres Ltd in 1943. It later became a bingo hall and began screening films again in 1968. It closed in 1983 and was put up for sale for the sum of £48,950. After being purchased in 1986 it became a two-screen cinema but closed again in 1992. The Retford Theatre Trust was established shortly afterwards to raise money to save the building.
One part of the building still has the original 1920s lino running through it and down a flight of stairs.
Some further background taken from “Made in North Notts” (issue 13 November/December 2019, p.51).
It took twenty-two weeks to build and was Mansfield’s first purpose-built cinema. An advertisement for the grand opening in 1910 refers to it as the Palace Electric Theatre. The seating capacity was 850; 500 seats in the pit, 230 seats in the stalls, and 120 seats in the circle. Admission prices in 1910 were threepence for the lower pit, fourpence for the pit, sixpence for the stalls and one shilling for the Grand Circle. Sound was introduced in 1931, the first talking picture to be screened being “Love comes along” (1930). The building was refurbished in 1937 when pieces of the ornate plaster frontage began to fall on pedestrians. It was replaced with plain rendering.
The cinema became a theatre in 1944, reopening on 3 July. Plans to convert it back to a cinema failed to materialse and it closed in August 1954. The building was bought by Mansfield Borough Council in 1956 for £11,500 and reopened in March 1957 as the Civic Hall. It received a new frontage in 1971 and was renamed the Civic Theatre.
I went past the cinema on 4 July 2019. Builder’s van parked outside so presumably builder was somewhere inside. No sign of activity but foyer seemed to be in a state of potential refurbishment…
There’s an article about The Picture Theatre by Robert Ovens – Oakham’s first cinema – in the current issue of the Rutland Local History & Record Society Newsletter (no. 1/19, April 2019, pp.9-12). Available at http://www.rutlandhistory.org/newsletters/201904.pdf
The Ideal Cinema was located on Westgate in Southwell (NG25 0LL), not Market Place. It was built by local builder W. D. Tuck on the site of the former Westgate Brewery which had been demolished in 1930. The 600 seat cinema opened in 1932 with two nightly performances from Monday to Saturday, plus a matinee performance on Saturday. The building included a stage and plays were performed there at various times. A social club was established in a separate building at the rear of the auditorium. The cinema foyer was flanked by two shops – a flower shop run by Kathleen Tuck and an electrical supplies shop. Dances and public meetings were held on the upper floor. By 1950 it was owned by Jayel Cinemas (Southwell) Ltd and after a number of changes in ownership, the cinema finally closed on 6 February 1962. In 1970 it was the head office of Theatre and Display (John Griffin) Ltd, suppliers of stage scenery and lighting services for theatres. At a later date the building was used by Pressac for the assembly of telephones. This ended in 1989 and in 1992 the foyer was converted into a flower shop and greengrocers.
King’s Picture House was opened on 22nd March 1915 by the Ilkeston Cinema Company Ltd (owned by local pawnbroker John Brailsford) and deliberately sited across the road from where the rival Globe Picture House was to be built. The architect was H. Tatham of Sudbury. The builders were Bosworth & Lowe of Nottingham. The exterior consisted of a biscuit-colored faience (terra-cotta) with space left for shop and office units. The auditorium measured 86 ft by 50 ft. Interior walls were a rich plaster tinted in blue and gold. The plasterwork was carried out by Lazzerini of Nottingham. Tip-up chairs were supplied by the Buoyant Upholstery Company of Sandiacre. The projection room was located over the lounge and equipped with two projectors. £3000 of alterations were carried out in late 1920 and involved removal of the virtually unused stage and an extension of the auditorium. An organ loft was also created but there is no record of an organ being installed.
On 8th October 1929 it showed an early sound version of “Show Boat” (1929). A Western Electric sound system and Kalee 8 projectors were installed on 27th January 1930. Later sound systems included the Western Electric Wide Range and Western Electric Mirrorphonic. Projectors were regularly updated and included Ernemann V and Westar systems. It closed for several weeks in 1936 for major modernisation overseen by Reginald W. Cooper, a Nottingham architect. The ornate plasterwork was removed and a new proscenium installed. Concealed lighting was introduced on the side walls. Total seating was reduced to 1,340 on account of wider seats and more space between rows. A 44 foot wide CinemaScope screen together with stereophonic sound was installed in 1954.
The building was sold to Town & Country Properties, the cinema’s final screening – “The thrill of it all” (1963) – taking place on 29th February 1964. It was demolished and replaced by The Albion Centre shopping mall.
Although officially known as King’s Picture House, the sign on the front of the building did not have a comma and thus was Kings Picture House.
The postcode for site of the cinema is DE7 8AG.
The site was originally part of an iron foundry and later a car repairs garage. Rebuilt in 1930s, extended in the 1950s and further extended when converted into a cinema. In September 2018 a planning application was submitted stating that with the recent opening of the Everyman Cinema the Picturehouse was no longer viable. The applicant pointed out that the owner of the building had effectively been subsidising its operation by charging a rent below current local market values. This was to ensure that the town had its own cinema. As the Everyman Cinema now served that function the owner was proposing to demolish the building and replace it with a four storey hotel.
Exterior features in the opening of “The Twenty Questions murder mystery” (1949) with a panning shot of Lower Regent Street showing people queuing for a recording of “20 Questions” (a popular radio programme of its day). Bomb damage visible in surrounding buildings – cinema has boarded up windows. Interior is studio set bearing no relation to the genuine article.
Exterior features in three episodes of tv series “Trust” (2018) – (ep.4 – “That’s all, folks!”) as the venue where the mother of kidnapped John Paul Getty III is told to meet with the kidnapper’s negotiator. Sequence also shows foyer and auditorium; (ep.6 – “John, Chapter 11”) a meeting with one of the kidnappers. Sequence shows cinema exterior, foyer, box office, auditorium, balcony, and screen; (ep.9 – “White car in a snowstorm”) – final meeting with cinema owner(?). Sequence shows exterior with neon sign fully lit.
Renamed the Coronet, the exterior features near the start of Eyewitness (1956). The heroine goes there after argument with her husband, managing to bypass large queues when buying her ticket. She witnesses a robbery in the manager’s office and is pursued by one of the villains. During the chase she’s knocked down by a bus in front of the cinema – a very large poster for “The Rose Tattoo” (1955) can be seen on the cinema wall. The film actually being shown is a singing western entitled “The Desperados” (a non-existent film – may be an oblique reference to the robbers?). The box office looks genuine, but the rest of the cinema interiors are studio sets. The external fire escape down which heroine is chased looks real. THe manager’s office has a seating indicator propped against the wall.
Renovations planned for 2018 include relocating tourist information centre and public library to the building. Films will also continue to be shown.
As of June/July 2018 owned by UK Ghost Hunts. Renamed the Old Picture House Houses a tearoom in the former balcony and also hosts the Haunted Museum, a collection of artefacts linked to the dead. Paranormal investigation evenings held on a regular basis. Owners hope to start showing films once an exhibition licence has been obtained. Exterior much improved after years of neglect.
Situated at 15 New Road, Framlingham. Planning permission granted in February 1963 for change of use from cinema to light industrial use. In December 1963 planning permission granted for alterations to form workshops and storeroom. By 1975 it was a commercial vehicle workshop possibly operated by A G Potter. In 1992 planning permission was granted for change of use to hardplay area for adjacent primary school.
BBC Nottingham website reported sudden closure of Flutters Bingo (former Regal Cinema) today. Owner Ian Tyler said to be looking for new owners.
It’s still called The Old Cinema but now consists of apartments. The Old Theatre Deli is further down the road and used to be a Georgian theatre. http://theoldtheatredeli.co.uk/index.php
Terry Hanstock
Nottingham