Picture House
High Street,
Doncaster,
DN1
High Street,
Doncaster,
DN1
1 person
favorited this theater
When the Picture House opened on 28th September 1914 it was described as ‘sumptuous inside’ and it soon became the premier cinema of the town. It was designed by architect E.H. Walker.
It was taken over by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) from June 1929 and it became the first cinema in Doncaster to show ‘talkies’ when Al Jolson starred in “The Singing Fool” from 5th August 1929.
ABC continued to operate it until it closed on 28th October 1967. A new developement had been built in Cleveland Street which contained a new 1,277 seat cinema that opened as the ABC, replacing the Picture House. The Picture House was converted into a bingo club from December 1967.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
That was fast!!! LOL
Here is an ad for this former theater.
The Picture House was equipped with a second-hand Walker church organ which was thought to be of 1899 vintage. The console was fitted to the right of the stage and several pipes were unenclosed, as they would be in a church. A one time noted organist Bobby Pagan was the resident organist.
Is this a photo of this Picture House?
Thanks for the above photo Lost Memory, Nice try…. but NO, it is of the Picture House, 210 Great North Road, Woodlands (near Doncaster), not the Picture House in Doncaster city centre.
The Picture House had Egyptian style ornamentations in the auditorium, especially around the prosecenium arch. When cinemascope was installed here, these were covered up by the panoramic screen with its festoon tabs and border.I remember seeing Ursula Andress in ‘She’ at the Picture House and later Peter Cushing in the first Doctor Who film ‘Doctor Who And The Daleks’