The location arrow is in the wrong place: way out.
The correct location is much further down Union Street and across from ‘The Old Town Hall’. It is the very building that the map shows as Costa Coffee.
The Kinematograph Weekly dated 11 January 1940, reported that the Astoria Morecambe, a 1,500 capacity kinema, had been requisitioned by the Government ‘for the duration of the war’.
In the KW of 17 April 1941, the Astoria advertised for sale its British Acoustic sound equipment: soundheads; Roxy horns; twin-non-sync attachment. It could be inspected at the cinema.
The KW of 12 March 1942 reported that the owners had applied for, and received, consent for structural alterations when the theatre was returned to them, post war. The changes included toilet provision, exits, and replacing the entrance staircase.
Next door, the last film show at the Canadian Rink Cinema was Saturday 22 November 1924. It re-opened as a Palais de Danse on 26 December (Boxing Day) 1924.
I personally doubt that the Palace used the name ‘Canadian Cinema’. Trawling newspaper archives comes up with the Tottenham Palace Cinema: except for the following. On 25 Sept 1925 The Bioscope mistakenly listed the long-closed ‘Canadian Rink Cinema’ amongst several others getting the first release of a film, presumably meaning the Palace. In Picturegoer of January and of February 1925 a brand-promoting advert for Provincial Cinematograph Theatres Ltd listed its halls and included ‘Canadian Cinema (Tottenham Palace)’. That has to be a mistake. Why would PCT want to give the Palace the name of the defunct cinema next door which was a converted roller-skating rink with exposed metal roof trusses and ties?
Perhaps someone with access to Tottenham’s local newspapers for 1925 could resolve the matter - annoyingly, the archive of those ends in the early 1920s.
The operating date can be pushed back to March 1923 when it was mentioned in the Kinematograph Weekly as being run by the son of John Morgan who ran the Kennington Theatre.
This looks to have started as the cinema opened by F Mancy on Thursday 16 December 1909. The premises had been the New Hudson Cycle Co Ltd. In his advert for the cinema’s opening in The Aldershot News on 10 December 1909, Mancy described himself as of ‘the Elmsdale Cycle Co’. Oddly, he announced no name for the venue other than describing it as a ‘Bioscope Hall’. His name occurs in some editions of the cinema trade press.
Additional information since uploading:
the Craven Assembly Rooms were owned by the Craven Assembly Rooms Co Ltd which was founded in May 1894. The Rooms were in Bishopdale Court, and were the venue for auctions, social events, public meetings, lectures, etc. The present-day postcode is BD24 9EB.
Bishopdale Court is a collection of very old buildings. Which one housed the Crystal Picture Palace is not obvious. ‘Demolished’ at the head of this Cinema Treasures listing is clearly not correct but was the nearest option offered to describe the present-day situation. The Victoria Hall, though close-by, was separately owned and operated.
A BRITISH TALKING PICTURE sound system was installed in late March 1929. The ‘Jazz Singer’, not a talkie but a film with sound, was shown in mid-April. In a trade newspaper, the first ‘full talkie’ was reported as shown in October. The Ritz’s orchestra was retained, because a trade newspaper reported that the orchestra was providing the music where captions occurred due to the poor quality of the recorded music.
A WESTERN ELECTRIC sound system replaced the BTP system in mid-February 1930.
Dundee newspaper archives show that this was the ‘Tay Street Cinema’ from its opening on Monday 24 June 1918 until Saturday 12 March 1921. The following Monday, 14 March, it was managed by Thomson Pennycook (not Pennycock) as the Cinerama, its name until closure in 1962.
There is no evidence of James Joseph (not George) Bennell having run it as part of his BB circuit.
In Dundee, he ran film shows at the Empire theatre, which described his films, commencing 8 June 1908, as ‘Spleet New to Dundee’, and at Gilfillan Hall where he began with shows throughout September 1908. On 2 August 1909 he opened ‘permanent picture entertainment’ at the Palace theatre, behind Nethergate’s Queen’s Hotel. The 1911-1912 Dundee Directory listed him running the BB Picture Palace at 160 Nethergate, and leasing the Empire.
My article about Bennell and the historical use of the word ‘cinerama’ was in the CTA Bulletin, Vol 54, No 4, July/August 2022, pp 14,15.
A common solution when cinemas were wired for sound. Bringing the screen forward, to create space for the horn loudspeaker behind it, would be costly and involve losing rows of seats. So a hole was made in the end wall and a horn-chamber built out on the end of the building.
According to The Bioscope (3 October 1912), ‘the hall was formerly a Roman Catholic School’ and ‘a Kalee projector has been installed’. This would explain the Roman Catholic church’s influence on the running of the Tivoli.
It was built on part of the site of the Swallow Brewery.
It was opened on Monday 9 January 1939. The capacity was small, but thare was parking ‘for about 60 cars’.
It had RCA sound. The proscenium was 32ft wide and the screen 17.5 ft (KYB 1957).
According to Kinematograph Weekly of Thursday 18 August 1921, the cinema was formally opened on the Monday of the previous week: Monday 8 August 1921. The ‘gallery’ was 60ft wide and seated 420. The decoration was ‘Greek key type’ with a silver, black and gold colourscheme and copper-plated lamps. “Music is from an unseen orchestra.”
The fire was on Friday 2 February 1940.
It broke out in the operating box, 45 minutes into a performance.
See the two newspaper reports in the ‘Photos’ section.
Leeds Arena was not built on this cinema. The Arena is elsewhere.
The current Google Maps satellite view (June 2024) shows the cinema has been demolished and the site awaits development.
The projection was from the back of the stalls and, due to a central cast iron column, was off-axis. The beams had an upward angle. The console of the Victorian organ was relocated to an orchestra area created below the screen, which looks to have had a curved barrier. An organ blower driven by an electric motor was installed, very crudely, and located in front of the rather trashed organ behind the screen. The two U-shaped galleries meant that people in the side arms of the U (where the seats faced across to the other side) had to sit askew in their seats and/or crank their heads to one side to look sideways at the screen.
This is illustrated in uploaded photos from 1951 before renovation started.
The location on the map is not accurate. It was actually on Park Road.
Having overlaid a 1934 OS 25-inch map on the Google satellite view: the site of Western is (to a very close approximation) on the north side of Park Road opposite Hawkshead Drive.
The Palladium cinema was created in what had been the 1896 Queen’s Market hall. The entrance to the building was on Back Crescent Street which was parallel to Marine Road Central (the promenade).
The sign still visible on a gable end points to the entrance to a passage through the promenade buildings to the back street. There were lights and cases of posters etc, but paying etc took place at the entrance to the building in Back Crescent Street.
The 1933 and 1913 25-inch OS Maps confirm this.
The GBPC Ltd acquired the four Pavilion cinemas when created and floated in April 1927. The process of acquisition was completed on 20 May, and Electric Pavilions Ltd (i.e. Mr & Mrs Israel Davis) hosted a farewell party for employees and friends at the Shepherd’s Bush Pavilion on Saturday 4 June 1927.
So the sentence “The Pavilion Cinema was taken over by Gaumont British Theatres in 1923” is not correct.
The location arrow is in the wrong place: way out. The correct location is much further down Union Street and across from ‘The Old Town Hall’. It is the very building that the map shows as Costa Coffee.
The Kinematograph Weekly dated 11 January 1940, reported that the Astoria Morecambe, a 1,500 capacity kinema, had been requisitioned by the Government ‘for the duration of the war’. In the KW of 17 April 1941, the Astoria advertised for sale its British Acoustic sound equipment: soundheads; Roxy horns; twin-non-sync attachment. It could be inspected at the cinema. The KW of 12 March 1942 reported that the owners had applied for, and received, consent for structural alterations when the theatre was returned to them, post war. The changes included toilet provision, exits, and replacing the entrance staircase.
The first talkie was ‘In Old Arizona’, first shown on Monday 19 August 1929. The sound installation was Western Electric.
Next door, the last film show at the Canadian Rink Cinema was Saturday 22 November 1924. It re-opened as a Palais de Danse on 26 December (Boxing Day) 1924. I personally doubt that the Palace used the name ‘Canadian Cinema’. Trawling newspaper archives comes up with the Tottenham Palace Cinema: except for the following. On 25 Sept 1925 The Bioscope mistakenly listed the long-closed ‘Canadian Rink Cinema’ amongst several others getting the first release of a film, presumably meaning the Palace. In Picturegoer of January and of February 1925 a brand-promoting advert for Provincial Cinematograph Theatres Ltd listed its halls and included ‘Canadian Cinema (Tottenham Palace)’. That has to be a mistake. Why would PCT want to give the Palace the name of the defunct cinema next door which was a converted roller-skating rink with exposed metal roof trusses and ties? Perhaps someone with access to Tottenham’s local newspapers for 1925 could resolve the matter - annoyingly, the archive of those ends in the early 1920s.
The last film show at the Canadian Rink Cinema was Saturday 22 November 1924. It re=opened as a Palais de Danse on 26 December (Boxing Day) 1924.
The operating date can be pushed back to March 1923 when it was mentioned in the Kinematograph Weekly as being run by the son of John Morgan who ran the Kennington Theatre.
This looks to have started as the cinema opened by F Mancy on Thursday 16 December 1909. The premises had been the New Hudson Cycle Co Ltd. In his advert for the cinema’s opening in The Aldershot News on 10 December 1909, Mancy described himself as of ‘the Elmsdale Cycle Co’. Oddly, he announced no name for the venue other than describing it as a ‘Bioscope Hall’. His name occurs in some editions of the cinema trade press.
Additional information since uploading: the Craven Assembly Rooms were owned by the Craven Assembly Rooms Co Ltd which was founded in May 1894. The Rooms were in Bishopdale Court, and were the venue for auctions, social events, public meetings, lectures, etc. The present-day postcode is BD24 9EB. Bishopdale Court is a collection of very old buildings. Which one housed the Crystal Picture Palace is not obvious. ‘Demolished’ at the head of this Cinema Treasures listing is clearly not correct but was the nearest option offered to describe the present-day situation. The Victoria Hall, though close-by, was separately owned and operated.
The CT marker for thew NuVic is in the wrong place. It is actually the building nearby that is labelled ‘Coop’.
The CT Victoria Hall marker is in the wrong place. The hall is actually indicated on the basic map, on Kirkgate to the east of the railway line..
A BRITISH TALKING PICTURE sound system was installed in late March 1929. The ‘Jazz Singer’, not a talkie but a film with sound, was shown in mid-April. In a trade newspaper, the first ‘full talkie’ was reported as shown in October. The Ritz’s orchestra was retained, because a trade newspaper reported that the orchestra was providing the music where captions occurred due to the poor quality of the recorded music. A WESTERN ELECTRIC sound system replaced the BTP system in mid-February 1930.
An excellent account here … http://www.barwickinelmethistoricalsociety.com/11000.html
Dundee newspaper archives show that this was the ‘Tay Street Cinema’ from its opening on Monday 24 June 1918 until Saturday 12 March 1921. The following Monday, 14 March, it was managed by Thomson Pennycook (not Pennycock) as the Cinerama, its name until closure in 1962.
There is no evidence of James Joseph (not George) Bennell having run it as part of his BB circuit.
In Dundee, he ran film shows at the Empire theatre, which described his films, commencing 8 June 1908, as ‘Spleet New to Dundee’, and at Gilfillan Hall where he began with shows throughout September 1908. On 2 August 1909 he opened ‘permanent picture entertainment’ at the Palace theatre, behind Nethergate’s Queen’s Hotel. The 1911-1912 Dundee Directory listed him running the BB Picture Palace at 160 Nethergate, and leasing the Empire.
My article about Bennell and the historical use of the word ‘cinerama’ was in the CTA Bulletin, Vol 54, No 4, July/August 2022, pp 14,15.
A common solution when cinemas were wired for sound. Bringing the screen forward, to create space for the horn loudspeaker behind it, would be costly and involve losing rows of seats. So a hole was made in the end wall and a horn-chamber built out on the end of the building.
According to The Bioscope (3 October 1912), ‘the hall was formerly a Roman Catholic School’ and ‘a Kalee projector has been installed’. This would explain the Roman Catholic church’s influence on the running of the Tivoli.
It was built on part of the site of the Swallow Brewery. It was opened on Monday 9 January 1939. The capacity was small, but thare was parking ‘for about 60 cars’. It had RCA sound. The proscenium was 32ft wide and the screen 17.5 ft (KYB 1957).
According to Kinematograph Weekly of Thursday 18 August 1921, the cinema was formally opened on the Monday of the previous week: Monday 8 August 1921. The ‘gallery’ was 60ft wide and seated 420. The decoration was ‘Greek key type’ with a silver, black and gold colourscheme and copper-plated lamps. “Music is from an unseen orchestra.”
The fire was on Friday 2 February 1940.
It broke out in the operating box, 45 minutes into a performance.
See the two newspaper reports in the ‘Photos’ section.
Leeds Arena was not built on this cinema. The Arena is elsewhere. The current Google Maps satellite view (June 2024) shows the cinema has been demolished and the site awaits development.
The projection was from the back of the stalls and, due to a central cast iron column, was off-axis. The beams had an upward angle. The console of the Victorian organ was relocated to an orchestra area created below the screen, which looks to have had a curved barrier. An organ blower driven by an electric motor was installed, very crudely, and located in front of the rather trashed organ behind the screen. The two U-shaped galleries meant that people in the side arms of the U (where the seats faced across to the other side) had to sit askew in their seats and/or crank their heads to one side to look sideways at the screen. This is illustrated in uploaded photos from 1951 before renovation started.
On the Google Map, the marker for the Olympic should be touching the left of the marker for ‘Mind the Gap’.
The location on the map is not accurate. It was actually on Park Road. Having overlaid a 1934 OS 25-inch map on the Google satellite view: the site of Western is (to a very close approximation) on the north side of Park Road opposite Hawkshead Drive.
The Palladium cinema was created in what had been the 1896 Queen’s Market hall. The entrance to the building was on Back Crescent Street which was parallel to Marine Road Central (the promenade). The sign still visible on a gable end points to the entrance to a passage through the promenade buildings to the back street. There were lights and cases of posters etc, but paying etc took place at the entrance to the building in Back Crescent Street. The 1933 and 1913 25-inch OS Maps confirm this.
In December 1948 a 16 year old boy, charged with setting fire to the stage area of the hall, was remanded for psychiatric assessment and treatment.
The GBPC Ltd acquired the four Pavilion cinemas when created and floated in April 1927. The process of acquisition was completed on 20 May, and Electric Pavilions Ltd (i.e. Mr & Mrs Israel Davis) hosted a farewell party for employees and friends at the Shepherd’s Bush Pavilion on Saturday 4 June 1927.
So the sentence “The Pavilion Cinema was taken over by Gaumont British Theatres in 1923” is not correct.