Ritz Cinema

Flowergate,
Whitby, YO21

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Star Cinemas

Previous Names: Waterloo Electric Theatre, Waterloo Cinema

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Located in the seaside town of Whitby, Yorkshire. The Waterloo Electric Theatre was opened in either late-1912 or early-1913. It was located close to Waterloo Market in the centre of the town. It was operated by the London Bioscopes Co. and was closed sometime during World War I. It was converted into a sales room, and then a ballroom.

In 1930, it was equipped with a British Thomson Houston(BTH) sound system and re-opened as the Waterloo Cinema. It was taken over by the Leeds based Star Cinemas chain in June 1968, and after refurbishment, was renamed Ritz Cinema. Taken over by an independent operator (together with the towns' Empire Cinema) in the 1970’s. The Ritz Cinema was closed by 1980.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 2 comments)

Ian
Ian on February 27, 2013 at 12:14 pm

The Ritz was turned into an indoor market, this too closed and after a period of dereliction the building was demolished at the end of the 20th Century.

WATERLOO CINEMA

JohnGn
JohnGn on February 28, 2013 at 2:46 pm

Thank you Ken Roe for posting this entry on the Waterloo. Today I visited Whitby library and as a result can add the following information. Star do not appear to have taken over the Waterloo untill June 1968. The previous operator closed it on 1st June 1968. Star then appear to have taken it over and reopened within a few days, the first advert for it as a Star cinema appears in the local newspaper the following Friday showing “Tobruk” as showing then. It contined to operate as the Waterloo until 22nd June when Star closed it for eleven days for modernisation re-opening it as the Ritz on Thursday 4th July. I have not yet found if it closed that winter, but in subsequent years, it opened during the summer only. I am uncertain of who operated the cinema before Star, but the 1964 Kine yearbook lists it as MBC Cinemas of Workington.

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