Ritz Cinema

The Ritz Cinema opened on 15 May 1939 with Jackie Cooper in “Gangster’s Boy”. Built for the Associated British Cinemas(ABC) chain, it was designed by the noted firm of Percy L. Browne, Son and Harding who were fairly prolific in cinema design in the north east of England.

It had total seating capacity for 1,636, with 1,092 in the stalls and 544 in the circle. It was in the Art Deco style with sinuous lines of curving plaster and decorative grilles around extraction vents. The proscenium is 40 feet wide and there is a 20 feet deep stage.

The Ritz Ccinema closed on the 8th September 1962 and was converted to bingo club operated by Mecca Bingo. The Mecca Bingo Club was closed on 9th October 2011.

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

Ian on July 5, 2009 at 12:26 am

Photos of the building can be found here (taken in 2009):–

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3687893617/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3688696302/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3688696110/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/3688695888/

JohnGn on February 20, 2013 at 7:08 am

I don’t think that it was ever renamed ABC. From it’s press advertising, it would appear to have retained the Ritz name until the end. The last film to be shown was “A Kind of Loving”.

Ian on February 20, 2013 at 9:22 am

I think you may be right JohnGn – it was referred to as the ABC Ritz, but it closed about the time the circuit was rebranded with the sole ABC name.