The entry for this cinema in the Belfast and Ulster Street Directory (1912) names it as the Electric Cinematograph Theatre and also states that it is in the course of erection. Perhaps this was to be its intended name, then the management had second thoughts and it became the Panopticon.
The Panopticon’s address (42-46 High Street) has long ceased to exist. The former cinema site is now part of 48-60 High Street, BT1 2BE, the address of River House, a 15-storey office block with retail and other businesses on the ground floor.
The original plans for the Panopticon Cinema were submitted by Isidore Clifford of Belfast Electric Theatres Ltd. It was planned as a companion hall to the Shaftesbury Pictoria, Shaftesbury Square which had opened in 1910. Architects Moore & Flanaghan of Royal Avenue, Belfast, who had designed the Pictoria, were appointed to design the Panopticon.
Seating capacity was to be 500; this was reduced by the time of opening to 340, which turned out to be too small. The Pictoria had a feature unique to Belfast, the mounting of the screen on the entrance wall of the building. This proved to be a mistake and may have contributed to the Pictoria’s early demise. The mistake was not repeated at the Panopticon where the screen was located on the far wall and the projection box was at the High Street end.
Barely five months after opening in December 1910, the Pictoria closed (see separate entry on Cinema Treasures). Belfast Electric Theatres was wound up and so the Panopticon was left unfinished.
Fortunately, into the breach stepped Fred Stewart. An audience at the opening was promised “a revelation in cinematography” and “the last word in living pictures”.
1910 was the year cinema in Belfast really took off, with the opening of no less than five cinemas. Three of those were within a few days of each other, in the month of December. The Shaftesbury Pictoria was the last one of those five cinemas to open.
The Shaftesbury Pictoria was clearly not in the business of understatement as can be demonstrated by their opening advertisement. It read as follows - “The Most Luxurious and Comfortable Picture Palace in Ireland. Artistic and Refined, Entertaining, Amusing, and Instructive. The Highest form of Cinematographic Art."
The proprietor of the Shaftesbury Pictoria was Belfast Electric Theatres Ltd. In their planning application, Isidore Clifford (with a London address) was named as President (a title perhaps suggestive of an American connection?).
Belfast architects Moore & Flanagan of Royal Avenue was commissioned to convert the building, previously occupied by a confectioner, for its new role. A lease for twenty-one years at an annual rent of £110 was agreed.
The Northern Whig reported that the exterior of the premises was painted white and cream and brightly lit with a row of electric bulbs, resulting in “a handsome and ornate appearance”. Inside the building the seats were plush and roomy. Two projectors were used to ensure continuity during the performances while a lone pianist provided the accompanying music. Using a layout, a unique one for Belfast cinemas, the screen was placed on the wall closest to Shaftesbury Square (apparently for safety and security reasons). This meant that the audience was facing the entrance and had to contend with varying degrees of irritation due to the comings and goings every time the door opened during the continuous performances.
Barely five months after opening for business the company was wound up. The liquidator blamed the Shaftesbury Pictoria’s closure on lack of sufficient capital, an unreliable film supply and overpriced seats. The middle-class audiences which the Pictoria appeared to be targeting clearly didn’t support it in sufficient numbers. Tom Hughes, in How Belfast Saw the Light (2014), makes matters crystal clear. For much of the time during its short life the Pictoria was only half-full. Incidentally, during that time it was sometimes known as the Pictoria or the Picture House Shaftesbury Square.
The Pictoria reopened under new ownership on Saturday 30th December 1911. Ulster Electric Theatres was named as the proprietor in the Kine Year Book (1914), with seating stated as 200. A new and experienced manager, E. P. Baskeyfield, was appointed (the manager in 1913 was W. Liddle). The building had been completely renovated and repainted outside and inside. Prices were also set more realistically than previously, at 6d for all performances and half price for children. Despite all this the Pictoria was ultimately unsuccessful (seating capacity must have been a factor in its demise) and appears to have closed in early 1917. The premises are shown as vacant in the Belfast and Ulster Street Directory for that year. Carlton House, previously an office block and derelict for many years, currently occupies the site of the former cinema.
There has been a difference of opinion regarding the precise site of the Shaftesbury Pictoria. James Doherty, in his book Standing Room Only (1997), was convinced it was on the south side of the Square (in Oxford Buildings, though he doesn’t name it) but provided no evidence to support his point of view. During the short period of the Pictoria’s existence, Oxford House’s sole occupant was Ferris Bros (drapers and clothiers).
The address of the cinema was listed in the Belfast and Ulster Street Directory (1913) as 6 Shaftesbury Square; this would place it on the east side of the Square. Starting at the corner with Fulton Street, the Pictoria was the third unit in Shaftesbury Buildings, a 4-storey terrace which was occupied by a number of retailers and other businesses including the Northern Bank (some sources say it was a 3-storey terrace but photographic evidence disproves that). Tom Hughes’s How Belfast Saw the Light (2014) has the most substantial piece on this cinema of any of the three authors who have written books on Belfast cinemas. He had obtained sight of the planning application and so was able to pinpoint the precise location.
The only entries for the Regal in the Belfast and Ulster Street Directories appeared in the 1936 and 1937 editions. The proprietor was shown as G. Smyth (Smyth with a y not an i, as in Overview). There was no sign of the Regal in the Kine Year Books.
Revisiting the Thirties (again!), a period covered briefly in previous Comment. It was a time of flux for the Picture House. A new lessee was listed in the K.Y.B. (1931), W. Carlisle. A change of name, to the Arcadian Picture House, was also revealed that year. Sadly, proprietor Bob Evans died in 1932. It seems that he was still owner of the building but not involved with the cinema operation.
The KYB (1933) revealed that the Picture House name had been restored and another new lessee was in place, T. McChesney. There was also a schedule change, to a single show nightly. The stage had been increased to 12ft. deep and there were two dressing rooms, presumably to cater for the occasional variety shows. T. McChesney didn’t stay long; the KYB (1934) showed T. Duffy as lessee. It also noted the presence of a Morrison sound system. Whatever the nature of these new arrangements, they would only have persisted for a relatively short period.
When the Regal Cinema opened in February 1936, the first film shown was ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street' (1934).
On to the 1950s, when Mr & Mrs Carr managed the cinema; during this time Cinemascope was installed.
It’s been mentioned elsewhere that the ‘Old House’ Cinema opened in the second week of January 1934. It was a conversion of part of the ‘Old House’ in Castle Street, built in 1744 by John Andrews. The operator was William McDonald who had been involved with two other Co.Down cinemas, in Holywood and Killyleagh. It’s named as the Picture House in the K.Y.B. (1935). The K.Y.B. (1937) shows the proprietor as Comber Picture House Ltd. There was seating for 330, and films were shown once nightly, twice on Saturday. The KYB (1940) mentions 300 seats and a Lodge sound system.
The proprietor of the new cinema (opened 1957) was Solar Cinemas of Belfast. Solar, around the same time, had also acquired the ‘Old House’ cinema next door and, for a time, both cinemas operated side-by-side. With two films each night, locals had a choice of 12 films every week.
And just to be pedantic, the current occupier of the site is SuperValu (Valu being spelt without an ‘e’).
Belatedly adding to the comment by popcorn_pete, the Billy James referred to may have been W (for William). L. James who around the same time was the lessee of the Midland Cinema in the Waterside area of the city (see separate entry for Midland Cinema, Londonderry).
If so, then it’s interesting to note that the Strand and the Midland, shortly after James’s involvement with both, became part of the Curran Theatres chain. William L. James in 1939 was a director of Portrush Majestic Cinema Ltd which opened the Majestic Cinema in Portrush that same year. The Majestic (in due course) was also bought over by Curran (see separate entry for Playhouse Cinema, Portrush).
For those who are not necessarily familiar with the area, Bonds Hill is located in the Waterside district of Derry / Londonderry which is on the east side of the River Foyle. Two road bridges and a footbridge across the river link the Waterside to the Cityside area.
Curiously, in the entry for the Midland Cinema in the Kine Year Book (1929), there is an entry (with brief details) under the Londonderry
heading and a separate entry (with additional details) under Waterside.
The first appearance of the Midland in the Kine Year Book seems to have been in the 1929 edition where W. L. James is listed as the lessee. It seems very probable that this was William L. James, who would later become a director of the Portrush Majestic Cinema Ltd. This was the company which opened the Majestic Cinema in Portrush in 1939.
Proprietor James Menary never owned a cinema in the nearby seaside town of Portrush. However, in April 1939 he opened the Palladium Ballroom and Café there, in Causeway Street. The Palladium Ballroom was a go-to destination for a number of years until the arrival, during the 1950s, of the Arcadia Ballroom. Its popularity dented by the newcomer, in 1964 the Palladium Ballroom was put up for sale. The estate agent’s blurb said it was a ‘Former Cinema Building’ but where is the evidence that films were ever shown there? It was purchased by St. Patrick’s Church (opposite) who continue to use it as a church hall.
The Regal Dance Hall attached to the Palladium Cinema in Portstewart appears to have closed when Menary sold his cinema to Stross (there’s no sign of it in subsequent K.Y.B’s.).
The Kine Year Book for 1927 includes an entry for the Picture House, Portstewart and its proprietor and resident manager J. (James) McCrory. Only a few years earlier J. McCrory had taken over the Picture Palace, the town’s first cinema. By 1927 he had changed its name to the Picture House (see separate Cinema Treasures entry).
As told by his granddaughter Peggie Murray in a letter, James McCrory, born Portstewart 1865, emigrated to Australia but returned to his homeland in 1912. Within a few years he had built his cinema (later to become known as the Palladium) on the Promenade.
By 1931, the Kine Year Book was listing the Cinema (with a capital C), proprietor and resident manager J. McCrory. There was no longer an entry for the Picture House (former Picture Palace). By 1935 the Cinema had been sold to James Menary, who only recently had bought the Palladium cinema in Coleraine (four miles from Portstewart). The K.Y.B. (1935) indicated that a British Thomson sound system had been installed. By 1937 more big changes had occurred; there was a new name in place – the Palladium. Seating had doubled from 350 to 700 and attached to the cinema was another new attraction, the Regal Dance Hall.
Around 1944, Raymond Stross Cinemas took over the Palladium cinemas in Coleraine and Portstewart. Raymond Stross, best known as a film producer, didn’t hang on to either Portstewart or Coleraine for long, selling both to Irish Theatres Ltd by 1946.
Irish Theatres was sold to the Rank Organisation in 1955. The Palladium was not included in the sale of Rank’s Northern Ireland cinemas to Belfast Cinemas Ltd in 1974. Perhaps Rank sold it to the Shiels family which the Overview says operated the Palladium until at least 1974.
There are entries for the Orange Hall, proprietor H. Black, 300 seats in the Kine Year Book (1939, 1940 and 1942).
The Palladium Cinema was first seen in the Kine Year Book for 1945 (but no sign of Orange Hall). The proprietor was Raymond Stross Cinemas, College Square East, Belfast. There were 200 seats. This was repeated in the 1946 edition. To help explain the choice of name, by 1944 Raymond Stross owned cinemas in Coleraine and Portstewart (not that far from Bushmills), both of which were named Palladium.
The 1948 and 1950 editions have no listings for Bushmills.
When the Majestic opened in 1939 there was an agency office for the Ulster Bank on one side of the entrance and a café on the other side. The café was run by Mr. A. Forte, who also had concessions inside the cinema for ice cream, confectionery and cigarettes. The first film shown was ‘Pygmalion’ starring Leslie Howard. Shows were continuous from 2.30 with prices starting at 6d.
One former cinemagoer recalls a Mr. McKeown (he had a Scottish accent), who managed the Majestic during the Sixties. This commentator, while working in the town in 1966, remembers the Majestic’s manager but not his name or accent. This gentleman also managed Rank’s Avenue cinema in Belfast and had been seconded to the Majestic for the summer season.
An oddity was found in the Kine Year Books (1939 and 1940). There was no sign as yet of the Majestic (opened 1939) but there was a new entry for the Ritz, Portrush - proprietor W. James (no other details). The 1941 edition was not seen but in the 1942 edition an entry for the Majestic was in place; there was no sign of the Ritz. Could it be that W. James was in fact William James, a director of Portrush Majestic Cinema Ltd (see previous comment) and the Ritz was the intended name for the cinema which became the Majestic?
When the Majestic Cinema opened in 1939 the owner was Portrush Majestic Cinema Ltd. The directors were William L. James, Mrs. Bridget L. James and James Curran (head of Curran Theatres). Mr. J. McLeod was the secretary and manager while the architect was James Sheriff Kennedy of Coleraine and Portstewart. By 1946 James Curran has taken a controlling interest in the Majestic and by the end of 1948 it had been taken over by Curran Theatres (who had grown to become one of the largest cinema chains in Northern Ireland). In 1956 the Majestic was included in the sale of the Curran chain to Rank.
Rank closed the Majestic in 1970, according to the Overview on Cinema Treasures. This is slightly at odds with the article on discoverportrush.com which says it closed in 1974. The Belfast Telegraph (5th July 1977) reported that James Moran had turned the former Majestic Cinema, which he had bought 3 years earlier, into a complex. Spread over 4-stories, it included not only the cinema but a bingo hall, leisure complex and restaurant. Moran also changed its name to the Playhouse and appointed a new manager, Ken Gibbons. Despite of all these changes, by 1980 (or 1982?) the Playhouse had closed.
In 1987 the Playhouse was leased to George Rowan and Michael McAdam (his first cinema venture) but their length of stay seems only to have lasted until 1990 (Sunday Life, 15th April 2007). In 1990 Michael McAdam opened the first of his Movie House Cinemas chain (at Glengormley – see separate Cinema Treasures entry).
According to the Overview, the Playhouse reopened in 1993 and in the summer of 1997 a second screen was added. These developments were a result of Ken Gibbons, the Playhouse’s former manager (in the later 1970s) having taken it over. Ken Gibbons ran it until his death in 2004 after which his son Alan took over until it closed in 2006. In 2007 Michael McAdam returned to the Playhouse again, when he opened it for Easter, before taking a 10-week lease for the summer season.
Around 1934 or 1935, Mr. J. Menary, previously associated with the Adelphi Kinema, Bangor, Co. Down, bought the Palladium in Coleraine.
Nine or ten years later (Kine Year Book, 1944), the proprietor was listed as the Coleraine Palladium Cinema Co., Raymond Stross Cinemas, College Street, Belfast. Raymond Stross, best known as a film producer, had, in the early 1940s, bought the Kelvin Cinema in Belfast city centre (see entry on Cinema Treasures for Classic Cinema, Belfast).
Shortly after his Coleraine acquisition, Menary bought a newly built cinema in the nearby seaside resort of Portstewart, which he renamed the Palladium. The latter he also sold to Stross. Stross didn’t hold on to either of these cinemas for long, selling them by 1945 to Irish Theatres Ltd.
The Coleraine and Portstewart Palladiums were included in a package of eleven cinemas sold by Irish Theatres (one of the largest cinema chains in Northern Ireland) to Rank in 1955. However, neither of them were included in the sale by Rank of its Northern Ireland estate to Belfast Cinemas in 1974.
As already noted in the current Overview, Shaun Henry was the proprietor of the Palladium, Coleraine in 1980. It may be the case that he acquired this cinema from Rank, by or around 1974.
The 1927 Kine Year Book listed it as the Picture Palace. In the 1933 edition the Picture House name had been reinstated. Even in its final years, tinkering with the name was still happening. In the Coleraine Chronicle, 20th September 1974, the Palace had once more become the Picture Palace.
Browsing the pages of the Coleraine Chronicle, we find an advertisement in the issue dated 23rd August 1975 which carried the programme to 30th August. It also announced that the Picture Palace would close for 2 weeks (reason not given). The last advertisement seen was on 13th September 1975, for the programme to 20th September. The paper was examined as far as 20th December 1975 but nothing further was seen about the Palace or the Picture Palace, perhaps an indication that it had finally closed.
Still browsing the pages of the Kine Year Book, the name of the proprietor, Coleraine Picture Palace Company Limited, kept recurring. Mention has been made in Comments of the involvement of the Christie family, which helps to explain why the patrons nicknamed it “Christie’s.”
According to NI Archive.org/Reflections on the Causeway Coast & Glens, Coleraine’s first cinema was the Orange Hall in Union Street. Did it justify the name cinema? That question remains unresolved; no date or other details have been seen. If it was the first cinema, it must have predated the Picture House.
First sighting of the Ballymoney Picture House in Main Street was found in the Kine Year Book 1927 (had no access to earlier editions). The proprietor and manager was P. J. O’Kane. The entries continued along the same lines up to and including the 1933 edition but after that the Picture House disappeared from sight. Had no access to the 1934 but in the 1935 edition the Cinema (no address given then or subsequently) was seen for the first time. Could it be that the Cinema was the successor to the Picture House and, perhaps, had taken over the latter’s Main Street premises? Unfortunately, the Provincial Towns section of the Belfast and Ulster Street Directory throws no light on this conundrum.
The Kine Year Book 1937 (and again in 1938) lists A. C. Cinemas Ltd as the proprietor of the Cinema (in other editions the proprietors were not shown). A. C. Cinemas was also the owner of the Cinema in Ballycastle around the same time.
First sighting of the Palladium was in the Kine Year Book 1939, which lists J. N. Crawford as the proprietor (400 seats). Other than the name, this Palladium had no connection with the Palladium cinemas in Coleraine or Portstewart. Perhaps Crawford just liked the name! He also owned the Castle Cinema in Belfast.
First sighting of the Picture House was in the 1927 Kine Year Book (had no access to earlier editions). The proprietor was McAllister Picture Hall Company, manager F. Blair (no street address). This was repeated in 1928 except that the manager was E. J. Fogarty. In the 1933 Kine Year Book the Picture House name had gone and now it was the McAllister Hall (other details as previous).
The Kine Year Book 1935 (1934 not seen) introduced the New Cinema but carried no further details other than 400 seats - subsequent entries did not reveal a street address. There was no sign of the McAllister Hall in the 1935 edition or subsequently. By the 1937 edition A. C. Cinemas Ltd had taken over the Cinema (450 seats, then 500 seats in 1938). By 1939 the New in the name had been dropped so it was just Cinema; the new proprietor was E. F. McCambridge (430 seats but in 1940, 400 again). These entries continued more or less along the same lines until 1954 (no access to Kine Year Books after that). A. C. Cinemas also owned the Cinema (later Palladium) in Ballymoney.
The Gate cinema closed on 12th August 2023 for major refurbishment, following a change in ownership. It was due to reopen on 15th December 2023 under its new name - The Arc Cinema.
Only a few years after the Alhambra had closed, the Belfast Telegraph (6 April 1964) reported that Belfast City Council had rejected plans to build a cinema, dance hall and bowling alley complex on a site at 30/36 North Street, almost opposite the Alhambra. The applicant was Compton Cinemas, London. Could this possibly have been the same company which operated an adult cinema in the heart of London’s Soho from 1960 to the 1970s?
A year before the Imperial opened its doors, the possibility of another cinema opening nearby was being contemplated. Provincial Cinematograph Theatres (PCT), having opened their Picture House in Royal Avenue in 1911, were looking at a second house in the city centre. To this end they had their eyes set on a site at 5/7 High Street (occupied by Hyams, clothiers and outfitters); the plan would have involved linking the rear of that building to an adjacent site which had its frontage at 12 Cornmarket (occupied by Linden’s “High class confectionery and pastry”) only a few doors away from the Imperial. Irish cinema historian and author Kevin Rockett says the project was considered too ambitious as it wouldn’t have produced an adequate return. It did not
proceed.
Continuing with super cinemas which didn’t happen. In July 1946 it was reported that Rank had acquired the Picture House in Royal Avenue and adjoining property so a 5,000-seater cinema (the largest in the UK!), ballroom and café could be erected. A sum of £600,000 was said to be involved in the project. In August the same year, Kine Weekly gave the seating capacity as 3,000. However, the deal was not completed; reasons must surely have included post-WW2 restrictions on new building construction.
In March 1947 Curran Theatres acquired the Picture House; it was the local chain’s first incursion into the city centre. It’s been suggested that Curran’s subsequent refit, renovation and rebranding as the Regent was but stage 1 of a project which would eventually lead to demolishing the building and replacing it with a 3,000-seater. Stage 2, however, did not happen.
Frustrated with the lack of progress over the Picture House site, Rank cast its eye over other city centre sites. In 1948 planners, apparently, gave them permission to build a 3,000-seater cinema on an unnamed bomb-damaged site; this report proved to be unfounded. Nevertheless, in 1954 the Belfast Telegraph reported that construction of a 1,750-seater in Fountain Street (same site as 1948?) would commence in the autumn. This didn’t happen either! (Sources include ‘Cinemas and Cinema-Going in the United Kingdom Decades in Decline, 1945-65’ by Sam Manning, 2020 and ‘Standing Room Only’ by James Doherty, 1997.)
During the mid-1950s Rank’s acquisitions of the two leading local chains, Curran and Irish Theatres, changed their perspective on super-cinemas in the city centre. Instead of turning their attention back to the Picture House (by then the Regent) site, at the start of the Sixties Rank bought the Hippodrome and Grand Opera House which sat side-by-side in Great Victoria Street. These were turned into their flagship venues in the city centre. The outcome was that the Regent was, to some extent, sidelined. That said, they did spend money on it and changed its name to the Avenue in 1965.
Following-up on the last Comment, Irish film historian and writer Kevin Rockett said that Paramount’s attempt to enter the Belfast market in 1931 was unsuccessful. He quoted from a press report stating that its proposed super cinema was postponed due to the economic depression. Rockett didn’t give any details about the intended site and so it’s unclear if this was the same plan he was referring to in the following paragraph.
Rockett also writes that Paramount seemed to have become involved with the Picture House in Royal Avenue, with a view to erecting a super cinema there; this development would stretch onto an adjacent site. Progress on this plan was postponed. (Source: ‘Film Exhibition and Distribution in Ireland, 1909 - 2010’ by Kevin Rockett, Four Courts Press, 2011).
Further back, on 19 May 1925, the Belfast Telegraph, in a brief report, said that the Grand Central Hotel (the city’s premier hotel, which was close by the Picture House) was to be turned into a super cinema and restaurant. Nothing further came of that.
Belatedly responding to the comments of July 2, which I’ve only just seen - The idea of a cinema on this site was conceived by Strand Cinemas (Belfast) Ltd., a locally owned company. One of their directors, Harry Wilton, was already well-known in local cinema circles. The company purchased the site and plans drawn up by architect Thomas Guthrie were submitted to the City Surveyor on March 26, 1935. Around this time Union Cinemas took over the project. McBride Neil, who was already making a name for himself as a cinema designer, was appointed and his new plans were submitted and approved. Tt seems unlikely that McBride Neil would have borrowed from Guthrie’s ideas, but we shall probably never know as no trace of the latter’s plans have been seen. Harry Wilton was appointed as the new cinema’s first managing director.
The entry for this cinema in the Belfast and Ulster Street Directory (1912) names it as the Electric Cinematograph Theatre and also states that it is in the course of erection. Perhaps this was to be its intended name, then the management had second thoughts and it became the Panopticon.
The Panopticon’s address (42-46 High Street) has long ceased to exist. The former cinema site is now part of 48-60 High Street, BT1 2BE, the address of River House, a 15-storey office block with retail and other businesses on the ground floor.
The original plans for the Panopticon Cinema were submitted by Isidore Clifford of Belfast Electric Theatres Ltd. It was planned as a companion hall to the Shaftesbury Pictoria, Shaftesbury Square which had opened in 1910. Architects Moore & Flanaghan of Royal Avenue, Belfast, who had designed the Pictoria, were appointed to design the Panopticon.
Seating capacity was to be 500; this was reduced by the time of opening to 340, which turned out to be too small. The Pictoria had a feature unique to Belfast, the mounting of the screen on the entrance wall of the building. This proved to be a mistake and may have contributed to the Pictoria’s early demise. The mistake was not repeated at the Panopticon where the screen was located on the far wall and the projection box was at the High Street end.
Barely five months after opening in December 1910, the Pictoria closed (see separate entry on Cinema Treasures). Belfast Electric Theatres was wound up and so the Panopticon was left unfinished.
Fortunately, into the breach stepped Fred Stewart. An audience at the opening was promised “a revelation in cinematography” and “the last word in living pictures”.
1910 was the year cinema in Belfast really took off, with the opening of no less than five cinemas. Three of those were within a few days of each other, in the month of December. The Shaftesbury Pictoria was the last one of those five cinemas to open.
The Shaftesbury Pictoria was clearly not in the business of understatement as can be demonstrated by their opening advertisement. It read as follows - “The Most Luxurious and Comfortable Picture Palace in Ireland. Artistic and Refined, Entertaining, Amusing, and Instructive. The Highest form of Cinematographic Art."
The proprietor of the Shaftesbury Pictoria was Belfast Electric Theatres Ltd. In their planning application, Isidore Clifford (with a London address) was named as President (a title perhaps suggestive of an American connection?).
Belfast architects Moore & Flanagan of Royal Avenue was commissioned to convert the building, previously occupied by a confectioner, for its new role. A lease for twenty-one years at an annual rent of £110 was agreed.
The Northern Whig reported that the exterior of the premises was painted white and cream and brightly lit with a row of electric bulbs, resulting in “a handsome and ornate appearance”. Inside the building the seats were plush and roomy. Two projectors were used to ensure continuity during the performances while a lone pianist provided the accompanying music. Using a layout, a unique one for Belfast cinemas, the screen was placed on the wall closest to Shaftesbury Square (apparently for safety and security reasons). This meant that the audience was facing the entrance and had to contend with varying degrees of irritation due to the comings and goings every time the door opened during the continuous performances.
Barely five months after opening for business the company was wound up. The liquidator blamed the Shaftesbury Pictoria’s closure on lack of sufficient capital, an unreliable film supply and overpriced seats. The middle-class audiences which the Pictoria appeared to be targeting clearly didn’t support it in sufficient numbers. Tom Hughes, in How Belfast Saw the Light (2014), makes matters crystal clear. For much of the time during its short life the Pictoria was only half-full. Incidentally, during that time it was sometimes known as the Pictoria or the Picture House Shaftesbury Square.
The Pictoria reopened under new ownership on Saturday 30th December 1911. Ulster Electric Theatres was named as the proprietor in the Kine Year Book (1914), with seating stated as 200. A new and experienced manager, E. P. Baskeyfield, was appointed (the manager in 1913 was W. Liddle). The building had been completely renovated and repainted outside and inside. Prices were also set more realistically than previously, at 6d for all performances and half price for children. Despite all this the Pictoria was ultimately unsuccessful (seating capacity must have been a factor in its demise) and appears to have closed in early 1917. The premises are shown as vacant in the Belfast and Ulster Street Directory for that year. Carlton House, previously an office block and derelict for many years, currently occupies the site of the former cinema.
There has been a difference of opinion regarding the precise site of the Shaftesbury Pictoria. James Doherty, in his book Standing Room Only (1997), was convinced it was on the south side of the Square (in Oxford Buildings, though he doesn’t name it) but provided no evidence to support his point of view. During the short period of the Pictoria’s existence, Oxford House’s sole occupant was Ferris Bros (drapers and clothiers).
The address of the cinema was listed in the Belfast and Ulster Street Directory (1913) as 6 Shaftesbury Square; this would place it on the east side of the Square. Starting at the corner with Fulton Street, the Pictoria was the third unit in Shaftesbury Buildings, a 4-storey terrace which was occupied by a number of retailers and other businesses including the Northern Bank (some sources say it was a 3-storey terrace but photographic evidence disproves that). Tom Hughes’s How Belfast Saw the Light (2014) has the most substantial piece on this cinema of any of the three authors who have written books on Belfast cinemas. He had obtained sight of the planning application and so was able to pinpoint the precise location.
The only entries for the Regal in the Belfast and Ulster Street Directories appeared in the 1936 and 1937 editions. The proprietor was shown as G. Smyth (Smyth with a y not an i, as in Overview). There was no sign of the Regal in the Kine Year Books.
Revisiting the Thirties (again!), a period covered briefly in previous Comment. It was a time of flux for the Picture House. A new lessee was listed in the K.Y.B. (1931), W. Carlisle. A change of name, to the Arcadian Picture House, was also revealed that year. Sadly, proprietor Bob Evans died in 1932. It seems that he was still owner of the building but not involved with the cinema operation.
The KYB (1933) revealed that the Picture House name had been restored and another new lessee was in place, T. McChesney. There was also a schedule change, to a single show nightly. The stage had been increased to 12ft. deep and there were two dressing rooms, presumably to cater for the occasional variety shows. T. McChesney didn’t stay long; the KYB (1934) showed T. Duffy as lessee. It also noted the presence of a Morrison sound system. Whatever the nature of these new arrangements, they would only have persisted for a relatively short period.
When the Regal Cinema opened in February 1936, the first film shown was ‘The Barretts of Wimpole Street' (1934).
On to the 1950s, when Mr & Mrs Carr managed the cinema; during this time Cinemascope was installed.
It’s been mentioned elsewhere that the ‘Old House’ Cinema opened in the second week of January 1934. It was a conversion of part of the ‘Old House’ in Castle Street, built in 1744 by John Andrews. The operator was William McDonald who had been involved with two other Co.Down cinemas, in Holywood and Killyleagh. It’s named as the Picture House in the K.Y.B. (1935). The K.Y.B. (1937) shows the proprietor as Comber Picture House Ltd. There was seating for 330, and films were shown once nightly, twice on Saturday. The KYB (1940) mentions 300 seats and a Lodge sound system.
The proprietor of the new cinema (opened 1957) was Solar Cinemas of Belfast. Solar, around the same time, had also acquired the ‘Old House’ cinema next door and, for a time, both cinemas operated side-by-side. With two films each night, locals had a choice of 12 films every week. And just to be pedantic, the current occupier of the site is SuperValu (Valu being spelt without an ‘e’).
Belatedly adding to the comment by popcorn_pete, the Billy James referred to may have been W (for William). L. James who around the same time was the lessee of the Midland Cinema in the Waterside area of the city (see separate entry for Midland Cinema, Londonderry).
If so, then it’s interesting to note that the Strand and the Midland, shortly after James’s involvement with both, became part of the Curran Theatres chain. William L. James in 1939 was a director of Portrush Majestic Cinema Ltd which opened the Majestic Cinema in Portrush that same year. The Majestic (in due course) was also bought over by Curran (see separate entry for Playhouse Cinema, Portrush).
For those who are not necessarily familiar with the area, Bonds Hill is located in the Waterside district of Derry / Londonderry which is on the east side of the River Foyle. Two road bridges and a footbridge across the river link the Waterside to the Cityside area.
Curiously, in the entry for the Midland Cinema in the Kine Year Book (1929), there is an entry (with brief details) under the Londonderry heading and a separate entry (with additional details) under Waterside.
The first appearance of the Midland in the Kine Year Book seems to have been in the 1929 edition where W. L. James is listed as the lessee. It seems very probable that this was William L. James, who would later become a director of the Portrush Majestic Cinema Ltd. This was the company which opened the Majestic Cinema in Portrush in 1939.
Proprietor James Menary never owned a cinema in the nearby seaside town of Portrush. However, in April 1939 he opened the Palladium Ballroom and Café there, in Causeway Street. The Palladium Ballroom was a go-to destination for a number of years until the arrival, during the 1950s, of the Arcadia Ballroom. Its popularity dented by the newcomer, in 1964 the Palladium Ballroom was put up for sale. The estate agent’s blurb said it was a ‘Former Cinema Building’ but where is the evidence that films were ever shown there? It was purchased by St. Patrick’s Church (opposite) who continue to use it as a church hall.
The Regal Dance Hall attached to the Palladium Cinema in Portstewart appears to have closed when Menary sold his cinema to Stross (there’s no sign of it in subsequent K.Y.B’s.).
The Kine Year Book for 1927 includes an entry for the Picture House, Portstewart and its proprietor and resident manager J. (James) McCrory. Only a few years earlier J. McCrory had taken over the Picture Palace, the town’s first cinema. By 1927 he had changed its name to the Picture House (see separate Cinema Treasures entry).
As told by his granddaughter Peggie Murray in a letter, James McCrory, born Portstewart 1865, emigrated to Australia but returned to his homeland in 1912. Within a few years he had built his cinema (later to become known as the Palladium) on the Promenade.
By 1931, the Kine Year Book was listing the Cinema (with a capital C), proprietor and resident manager J. McCrory. There was no longer an entry for the Picture House (former Picture Palace). By 1935 the Cinema had been sold to James Menary, who only recently had bought the Palladium cinema in Coleraine (four miles from Portstewart). The K.Y.B. (1935) indicated that a British Thomson sound system had been installed. By 1937 more big changes had occurred; there was a new name in place – the Palladium. Seating had doubled from 350 to 700 and attached to the cinema was another new attraction, the Regal Dance Hall.
Around 1944, Raymond Stross Cinemas took over the Palladium cinemas in Coleraine and Portstewart. Raymond Stross, best known as a film producer, didn’t hang on to either Portstewart or Coleraine for long, selling both to Irish Theatres Ltd by 1946.
Irish Theatres was sold to the Rank Organisation in 1955. The Palladium was not included in the sale of Rank’s Northern Ireland cinemas to Belfast Cinemas Ltd in 1974. Perhaps Rank sold it to the Shiels family which the Overview says operated the Palladium until at least 1974.
There are entries for the Orange Hall, proprietor H. Black, 300 seats in the Kine Year Book (1939, 1940 and 1942).
The Palladium Cinema was first seen in the Kine Year Book for 1945 (but no sign of Orange Hall). The proprietor was Raymond Stross Cinemas, College Square East, Belfast. There were 200 seats. This was repeated in the 1946 edition. To help explain the choice of name, by 1944 Raymond Stross owned cinemas in Coleraine and Portstewart (not that far from Bushmills), both of which were named Palladium.
The 1948 and 1950 editions have no listings for Bushmills.
When the Majestic opened in 1939 there was an agency office for the Ulster Bank on one side of the entrance and a café on the other side. The café was run by Mr. A. Forte, who also had concessions inside the cinema for ice cream, confectionery and cigarettes. The first film shown was ‘Pygmalion’ starring Leslie Howard. Shows were continuous from 2.30 with prices starting at 6d.
One former cinemagoer recalls a Mr. McKeown (he had a Scottish accent), who managed the Majestic during the Sixties. This commentator, while working in the town in 1966, remembers the Majestic’s manager but not his name or accent. This gentleman also managed Rank’s Avenue cinema in Belfast and had been seconded to the Majestic for the summer season.
An oddity was found in the Kine Year Books (1939 and 1940). There was no sign as yet of the Majestic (opened 1939) but there was a new entry for the Ritz, Portrush - proprietor W. James (no other details). The 1941 edition was not seen but in the 1942 edition an entry for the Majestic was in place; there was no sign of the Ritz. Could it be that W. James was in fact William James, a director of Portrush Majestic Cinema Ltd (see previous comment) and the Ritz was the intended name for the cinema which became the Majestic?
When the Majestic Cinema opened in 1939 the owner was Portrush Majestic Cinema Ltd. The directors were William L. James, Mrs. Bridget L. James and James Curran (head of Curran Theatres). Mr. J. McLeod was the secretary and manager while the architect was James Sheriff Kennedy of Coleraine and Portstewart. By 1946 James Curran has taken a controlling interest in the Majestic and by the end of 1948 it had been taken over by Curran Theatres (who had grown to become one of the largest cinema chains in Northern Ireland). In 1956 the Majestic was included in the sale of the Curran chain to Rank.
Rank closed the Majestic in 1970, according to the Overview on Cinema Treasures. This is slightly at odds with the article on discoverportrush.com which says it closed in 1974. The Belfast Telegraph (5th July 1977) reported that James Moran had turned the former Majestic Cinema, which he had bought 3 years earlier, into a complex. Spread over 4-stories, it included not only the cinema but a bingo hall, leisure complex and restaurant. Moran also changed its name to the Playhouse and appointed a new manager, Ken Gibbons. Despite of all these changes, by 1980 (or 1982?) the Playhouse had closed.
In 1987 the Playhouse was leased to George Rowan and Michael McAdam (his first cinema venture) but their length of stay seems only to have lasted until 1990 (Sunday Life, 15th April 2007). In 1990 Michael McAdam opened the first of his Movie House Cinemas chain (at Glengormley – see separate Cinema Treasures entry).
According to the Overview, the Playhouse reopened in 1993 and in the summer of 1997 a second screen was added. These developments were a result of Ken Gibbons, the Playhouse’s former manager (in the later 1970s) having taken it over. Ken Gibbons ran it until his death in 2004 after which his son Alan took over until it closed in 2006. In 2007 Michael McAdam returned to the Playhouse again, when he opened it for Easter, before taking a 10-week lease for the summer season.
Around 1934 or 1935, Mr. J. Menary, previously associated with the Adelphi Kinema, Bangor, Co. Down, bought the Palladium in Coleraine. Nine or ten years later (Kine Year Book, 1944), the proprietor was listed as the Coleraine Palladium Cinema Co., Raymond Stross Cinemas, College Street, Belfast. Raymond Stross, best known as a film producer, had, in the early 1940s, bought the Kelvin Cinema in Belfast city centre (see entry on Cinema Treasures for Classic Cinema, Belfast).
Shortly after his Coleraine acquisition, Menary bought a newly built cinema in the nearby seaside resort of Portstewart, which he renamed the Palladium. The latter he also sold to Stross. Stross didn’t hold on to either of these cinemas for long, selling them by 1945 to Irish Theatres Ltd.
The Coleraine and Portstewart Palladiums were included in a package of eleven cinemas sold by Irish Theatres (one of the largest cinema chains in Northern Ireland) to Rank in 1955. However, neither of them were included in the sale by Rank of its Northern Ireland estate to Belfast Cinemas in 1974.
As already noted in the current Overview, Shaun Henry was the proprietor of the Palladium, Coleraine in 1980. It may be the case that he acquired this cinema from Rank, by or around 1974.
The 1927 Kine Year Book listed it as the Picture Palace. In the 1933 edition the Picture House name had been reinstated. Even in its final years, tinkering with the name was still happening. In the Coleraine Chronicle, 20th September 1974, the Palace had once more become the Picture Palace.
Browsing the pages of the Coleraine Chronicle, we find an advertisement in the issue dated 23rd August 1975 which carried the programme to 30th August. It also announced that the Picture Palace would close for 2 weeks (reason not given). The last advertisement seen was on 13th September 1975, for the programme to 20th September. The paper was examined as far as 20th December 1975 but nothing further was seen about the Palace or the Picture Palace, perhaps an indication that it had finally closed.
Still browsing the pages of the Kine Year Book, the name of the proprietor, Coleraine Picture Palace Company Limited, kept recurring. Mention has been made in Comments of the involvement of the Christie family, which helps to explain why the patrons nicknamed it “Christie’s.”
According to NI Archive.org/Reflections on the Causeway Coast & Glens, Coleraine’s first cinema was the Orange Hall in Union Street. Did it justify the name cinema? That question remains unresolved; no date or other details have been seen. If it was the first cinema, it must have predated the Picture House.
First sighting of the Ballymoney Picture House in Main Street was found in the Kine Year Book 1927 (had no access to earlier editions). The proprietor and manager was P. J. O’Kane. The entries continued along the same lines up to and including the 1933 edition but after that the Picture House disappeared from sight. Had no access to the 1934 but in the 1935 edition the Cinema (no address given then or subsequently) was seen for the first time. Could it be that the Cinema was the successor to the Picture House and, perhaps, had taken over the latter’s Main Street premises? Unfortunately, the Provincial Towns section of the Belfast and Ulster Street Directory throws no light on this conundrum.
The Kine Year Book 1937 (and again in 1938) lists A. C. Cinemas Ltd as the proprietor of the Cinema (in other editions the proprietors were not shown). A. C. Cinemas was also the owner of the Cinema in Ballycastle around the same time.
First sighting of the Palladium was in the Kine Year Book 1939, which lists J. N. Crawford as the proprietor (400 seats). Other than the name, this Palladium had no connection with the Palladium cinemas in Coleraine or Portstewart. Perhaps Crawford just liked the name! He also owned the Castle Cinema in Belfast.
First sighting of the Picture House was in the 1927 Kine Year Book (had no access to earlier editions). The proprietor was McAllister Picture Hall Company, manager F. Blair (no street address). This was repeated in 1928 except that the manager was E. J. Fogarty. In the 1933 Kine Year Book the Picture House name had gone and now it was the McAllister Hall (other details as previous).
The Kine Year Book 1935 (1934 not seen) introduced the New Cinema but carried no further details other than 400 seats - subsequent entries did not reveal a street address. There was no sign of the McAllister Hall in the 1935 edition or subsequently. By the 1937 edition A. C. Cinemas Ltd had taken over the Cinema (450 seats, then 500 seats in 1938). By 1939 the New in the name had been dropped so it was just Cinema; the new proprietor was E. F. McCambridge (430 seats but in 1940, 400 again). These entries continued more or less along the same lines until 1954 (no access to Kine Year Books after that). A. C. Cinemas also owned the Cinema (later Palladium) in Ballymoney.
The Gate cinema closed on 12th August 2023 for major refurbishment, following a change in ownership. It was due to reopen on 15th December 2023 under its new name - The Arc Cinema.
Only a few years after the Alhambra had closed, the Belfast Telegraph (6 April 1964) reported that Belfast City Council had rejected plans to build a cinema, dance hall and bowling alley complex on a site at 30/36 North Street, almost opposite the Alhambra. The applicant was Compton Cinemas, London. Could this possibly have been the same company which operated an adult cinema in the heart of London’s Soho from 1960 to the 1970s?
A year before the Imperial opened its doors, the possibility of another cinema opening nearby was being contemplated. Provincial Cinematograph Theatres (PCT), having opened their Picture House in Royal Avenue in 1911, were looking at a second house in the city centre. To this end they had their eyes set on a site at 5/7 High Street (occupied by Hyams, clothiers and outfitters); the plan would have involved linking the rear of that building to an adjacent site which had its frontage at 12 Cornmarket (occupied by Linden’s “High class confectionery and pastry”) only a few doors away from the Imperial. Irish cinema historian and author Kevin Rockett says the project was considered too ambitious as it wouldn’t have produced an adequate return. It did not proceed.
Continuing with super cinemas which didn’t happen. In July 1946 it was reported that Rank had acquired the Picture House in Royal Avenue and adjoining property so a 5,000-seater cinema (the largest in the UK!), ballroom and café could be erected. A sum of £600,000 was said to be involved in the project. In August the same year, Kine Weekly gave the seating capacity as 3,000. However, the deal was not completed; reasons must surely have included post-WW2 restrictions on new building construction.
In March 1947 Curran Theatres acquired the Picture House; it was the local chain’s first incursion into the city centre. It’s been suggested that Curran’s subsequent refit, renovation and rebranding as the Regent was but stage 1 of a project which would eventually lead to demolishing the building and replacing it with a 3,000-seater. Stage 2, however, did not happen.
Frustrated with the lack of progress over the Picture House site, Rank cast its eye over other city centre sites. In 1948 planners, apparently, gave them permission to build a 3,000-seater cinema on an unnamed bomb-damaged site; this report proved to be unfounded. Nevertheless, in 1954 the Belfast Telegraph reported that construction of a 1,750-seater in Fountain Street (same site as 1948?) would commence in the autumn. This didn’t happen either! (Sources include ‘Cinemas and Cinema-Going in the United Kingdom Decades in Decline, 1945-65’ by Sam Manning, 2020 and ‘Standing Room Only’ by James Doherty, 1997.)
During the mid-1950s Rank’s acquisitions of the two leading local chains, Curran and Irish Theatres, changed their perspective on super-cinemas in the city centre. Instead of turning their attention back to the Picture House (by then the Regent) site, at the start of the Sixties Rank bought the Hippodrome and Grand Opera House which sat side-by-side in Great Victoria Street. These were turned into their flagship venues in the city centre. The outcome was that the Regent was, to some extent, sidelined. That said, they did spend money on it and changed its name to the Avenue in 1965.
Following-up on the last Comment, Irish film historian and writer Kevin Rockett said that Paramount’s attempt to enter the Belfast market in 1931 was unsuccessful. He quoted from a press report stating that its proposed super cinema was postponed due to the economic depression. Rockett didn’t give any details about the intended site and so it’s unclear if this was the same plan he was referring to in the following paragraph.
Rockett also writes that Paramount seemed to have become involved with the Picture House in Royal Avenue, with a view to erecting a super cinema there; this development would stretch onto an adjacent site. Progress on this plan was postponed. (Source: ‘Film Exhibition and Distribution in Ireland, 1909 - 2010’ by Kevin Rockett, Four Courts Press, 2011).
Further back, on 19 May 1925, the Belfast Telegraph, in a brief report, said that the Grand Central Hotel (the city’s premier hotel, which was close by the Picture House) was to be turned into a super cinema and restaurant. Nothing further came of that.
Belatedly responding to the comments of July 2, which I’ve only just seen - The idea of a cinema on this site was conceived by Strand Cinemas (Belfast) Ltd., a locally owned company. One of their directors, Harry Wilton, was already well-known in local cinema circles. The company purchased the site and plans drawn up by architect Thomas Guthrie were submitted to the City Surveyor on March 26, 1935. Around this time Union Cinemas took over the project. McBride Neil, who was already making a name for himself as a cinema designer, was appointed and his new plans were submitted and approved. Tt seems unlikely that McBride Neil would have borrowed from Guthrie’s ideas, but we shall probably never know as no trace of the latter’s plans have been seen. Harry Wilton was appointed as the new cinema’s first managing director.