Picture House

Leyburn, North Yorkshire, England

Railway Street

, Leyburn, North Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom DL8 5EH

(map)

Status:	Closed
Screens:	Single Screen
Style:	Unknown

Function:	Unknown
Seats:	173
Chain:	Unknown

Architect:	Unknown
Firm:	Unknown

Recent exterior view of the Leyburn Elite (circa August 2002)

Photo courtesy of Ian Grundy

The Elite Cinema opened in the early-1930's with a seating capacity of 500 and is situated in the North Yorkshire market town of Leyburn. It is a small independent cinema showing a varied programme of films from "Art House" to "Hollywood". There are also occasional theater and music events staged. There is a comfortable bar.

The auditorium seats 173 people on a single level and there is disabled access to the auditorium and the foyer from the street. There are 2 permanent wheelchair spaces and more can be made available with 24 hours notice.

Kept in a very good condition the Elite has a small stage, still used for live shows on occasions. The proscenium is 20 feet wide and the stage 12 feet deep. The Elite is also often used for filming when a 'period' cinema is required, the British TV series 'Heartbeat' has often filmed there.

The Elite Cinema was closed on 6th May 2007 when it screened its last film; Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal".

However, it soon re-opened as the Picture House and is run by volunteers, who also choose the film programmes. Sadly closed in October 2008.

Contributed by Ian Grundy

YOUR COMMENTS

I filmed this in one of my cinema heritage videos in 2000. Nice venue with a committed staff. Had Dolby stereo even in the early days. The projectionist travels quite a distance to run the show - open usually Thursday, Friday and Saturday each week with a diverse programme of films - arthouse and mainstream. - Terry Ladlow

posted by Terry Ladlow on Apr 30, 2005 at 3:42pm

The Kine Yearbook 1937 edition gives a seating capacity of 500 for the Elite Cinema.

posted by KenRoe on Jul 27, 2005 at 4:55am

A fairly recent photograph of the Elite Cinema as seen on a rainy day:
http://www.moviebunker.com/elite_cinema_leyburn.htm

posted by KenRoe on Sep 3, 2006 at 11:47am

According to this January 4, 2008 article, the Elite Cinema is open again. It is now known as The Picture House.

posted by Lost Memory on Feb 2, 2008 at 6:19pm

The Elite is indeed open again for movies and stage performances in 2008, it has now been renamed the Picture house and is enthusiastically run by a team of volunteers. It has two performances daily on Thursday, Friday and Saturday as a general rule.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/2386409915/

posted by Ian on Apr 4, 2008 at 1:30am

Sadly the venture was short-lived and the Picture House closed again on 31st October 2008. It had been relatively successful, but costs were set to rise and the organisers could not afford to subsidise, even in the short term, a loss.

posted by Ian on Aug 21, 2009 at 1:35am

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