Pictureville Cinema
Prince's View,
Bradford,
BD1 1NQ
Prince's View,
Bradford,
BD1 1NQ
8 people
favorited this theater
Opened in 1967 as part of a new library complex, the 395 seat Library Theatre was never very successful. The Playhouse Theatre attracted the cream of the available productions and in the late-1980’s it was offered to the Bradford Museum of Photography Film and Television which is situated alongside. After much controversy it closed as a theatre and was converted into the Pictureville Cinema with 306 seats in a single curved rake. The conversion cost £855,000
The cinema is very comfortable and has state of the art facilities capable of screening films in any format. I believe it is now the only cinema in Europe which can screen Cinerama using the original 3-projector system on a vast curved 51 feet wide screen. 16mm, 35mm and 70mm can also be screened with the screen masked to the correct ratios.
It is the centre of the annual Bradford Film Festival and often has ‘classic’ screenings. It is extremely popular and is now part of the National Media Museum.
Contributed by
Ian Grundy
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Wow have they been having new prints struck?
Thanks Dave I feel like making a visit now
Dave these films that have gone pink can they be restored to their original brilliant 50’s colors and what is the size of the screen? What would be the cost of restoring a three strip Cinerama film?
I understand a 70mm restoration could cost fromm $200,000 to $300,000.
Vincent: Another good source for information about Pictureville is at In70mm – http://www.in70mm.com/index.htm where you will find more photos of the interior.
RobertR: The figures you quote are about right. As Pictureville is part of the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television which in itself is part of the Science Museum, funds are limited of course. I believe attempts are bing made via various sources here and in Holland, the USA and elsewhere to persuade MGM to release new prints of all the three-strip movies. Anyone correect me if my facts are slightly adrift!
It’s always nice to see movies in 3D… but NOT on a white screen. At the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, they correctly drop the big SILVER screen for their 3D presentations; “Nightmare Before Christmas”, etc.
The Pictureville Cinema began life as the “Library Theatre”, built as part of the new Bradford Central Library constructed in the late 1960s.
Interesting that the National Media Museum’s two cinemas were both originally built as live theatres!