Futurist Cinema

The Futurist Cinema on Lime Street Liverpool is real treasure. It must be saved. It was the first purpose-built cinema in Liverpool.

Currently it is being used as part of the Liverpool Bienial Arts Exhibition. The foyer is on view through a glass screen. This has brought back lots of happy memories as a frequent visitor to the cinema until it closed in 1982.

Does anyone know if there are any plans to restore it to its former glory.

i am about to view the exhibition. The futurist is a building that fascinates me, it closed when i was 6 and i have always wanted a sneeky peek inside of the interior. it must be restored, for sure!!!
samantha

I had the pleasure of going to the Futurist cinema to see 'Earthquake' with sensurround sound. This was a low decibel sound emitted from special speakers installed throughout the auditorium.
Before the film started I noted that the ceiling lights had netting installed underneath each unit. The film started and the earthquake starts in the film at a cinema!
It was very effective.

Exterior photo of the Futurist from 2003 here :-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/95751910/

...and the lobby here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jendavies/144693247/

Jen

Hello all...
Does anybody know who owns this site? I have a cinema launch event soon and the Futurist would be perfect. It would boost it's profile and attract further investment.
Warm regards
Andy j

the whole block is due for redevelopment, surprisingly a lot remains internally of the futurist, there are large holes in the roof that have destroyed some sections of the plasterwork in the auditorium but nothing that could not be repaired, if would be wonderful if the building could be retained as so much of liverpools historic buildings have been lost recently.
heres a link with pics of the the cinema in its heyday

http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/localhistory/journey/lime_street/cinemas/futurist.shtml

and heres a link to a performance on stage in 2004 (filmed by REPOMAN director alex cox) showing a remarkable complete auditorium contrary to reports that the whole ceiling has collapsed

http://www.yorkiestinyuniverse.co.uk/Pages/the%20futurist.html

Thanks for the nod on the pictures... would be exciting if the roof was still intact. But is the building council or privately owned?
Health and saftey fanatics on Liverpool council are unlikely to grant permission for it to be revived. AJ

This used to be one of the best equipped cinemas in the Northwest of England, it boasted 35 /70mm projection, Dolby sound / 4 /6 track mag sound, sennsuround.
The interior of the auditorium was fabulous, the projectionists actually cared about the show they were putting on for the audience.
It used to be a real pleasure to watch a film there.
There was a bridge that ran over the top of the jewellers shop at the side so the projectionists could have easy access to the box of the Scala cinema next door.

If I remember my days in the box the projector was a Phillips DP70 with Xenon lamp house,
Phillips amp rack, can't remeber who made the platter system.
If we showed 70mm, the short ads and trailers were on a 2000ft spool and the feature was on the platter.
The box was equipped with a cinemation system which involved foil strips applied to the print. This took all the boring bits off the operator in that it lowered house lights, faded non sync sound, opened tabs, changed masking, changed lenses etc.
If I can think of anything else will post it here.

The following is from in70mm.com

ABC Futurist (*»)
Opened 16.09.1912. 1029 seats. Taken over by FOX 1954. Taken over by ABC 04.04.1960 and reopened 10.07.1960 with Todd-AO installation, 870 seats and 36½ x 16½ ft screen. Closed 17.07.1982. DP70 junked.
I think that the screen was bigger than they state and was a lovely curve.

Just reread the last post from in70mm - the DP70 was taken to the ABC Forum across the road as that did not have 70mm facilities at the time of the triple refurb.
I will contact in70mm.com and let them know.

Liverpool desperately needs a Beatles theatre for putting on shows,talks and films for the 1000's of tourists who visit each year. Either the Forum or the Futurist seem like a no brainer to fulfill such a role. Why then are they in this state?!?

Hi there,
I am an interior architect student, looking to propse new developments for the futurist cinema. If anyone knows where i could obtain plans for the building it would be very helpful. Any information is appreciated. Thanks

Try the council or the fire brigade in Liverpool as they should have plans

Thats great, i tried the council but they dont seem to have anything, do you know the full address of the cinema? Also i could try the fire brigade, do you think they would actually have plans for the building or why they would hold plans at all?

The fire people hold plans for safety reasons

Chelle28 please email me douglas.kell@ntlworld.com as I used to work there

The Futurist Liverpool was originally equipped with Kalee projection equipment and Ashcraft carbon arcs. Later, when the little cinema started to show 70mm films with the fantastic six track magnetic sound, it was Philips DP70 machines doing the business. Most DP70 set-ups had the Mole Richardson carbon arc delivering the illumination. Because the Futurist was a small hall, Peerless Magnarc was used instead. For many years the chief projectionist was a Mr Eric Norgate, he was there at the time of closure. He retired several years ago, his last cinema being the six screen multiplex in Chester. I remember going to the Futurist on numerous occasions to watch such films as Paint Your Wagon, The Great Race and Ryan's Daughter.The once respendant cinema now looks in a very sorry state.

Here is another exterior view of the Futurist.

Nice to see this cinema is still held is such high regard. I helped install the the DP70's and such and, yes they were a wonderful crew in the box whom made me feel very welcome and part of the family during my short time there. Indeed we used Peerless and the fall off was just not there regardless of the 70mm frame. The screen size is about right, I have the size somewhere, but it was as wide as we could fit in across the width and still get a set of tabs up. We had to overlap all the bass bin wings to get the screen speaker sets in. Famous, like its partner, Deansgate Manchester, for people ducking during Oklahoma and knocking themselves out on the seat in front.

This is an exterior photo from 2000.

I see this great looking facade and I'm reminded of the glorious Carlton Cinema, Swansea.