Palladium Cinema

Located in the Hockley district in the north of Birmingham. Originally opened on 15th November 1911 as the Hockley Picture House, it had 506 seats. It was re-built and enlarged to the plans of architect L.L. Dussault, re-opening as the New Palladium Cinema on 8th November 1922. The opening film was Isobel Elsom in "The Game of Life". The 3-storey building had a tiled mansard roof on top of its façade. Inside the auditorium, there was an elegant decorative scheme and seating was locating in stalls and circle levels. The projection box was located beneath the circle, above the rear stalls seating area.

From 22nd October 1936, it was taken over by the Associated British Cinemas(ABC) chain, and was re-named Palladium Cinema. It continued to operate successfully as an inner city neighbourhood cinema for many years.

The Palladium Cinema was closed on 13th February 1965 with Gerald Hatray in "The Spy" and Francoise Arnoul in "Daggers Drawn"(A Couteaux Tires). It became a bingo club, which operated until closing in the late-1970’s. The building then lay empty and unused for many years. By 2023 it was used for storage, but this has since ceased and by 2026 the vacant building is gradually falling into a state of disrepair.

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