The Healey International Car Centre was opened on July 3rd 1963 according to a report in Autocar magazine of July 12th. The opening ceremony was carried out by Alec Issigonis, designer of the Mini.
To clear up any misunderstandings, there were no pop concerts at the ABC in the 1960’s, or any other stage presentations. When the cinema was converted for Todd-AO in February 1959 the new 70mm screen was erected in front of the original proscenium and as it was not moveable the stage was rendered unusable from this time on.
Aerial photographs on the Historic England website show views of the Super in 1946 with the bulk of the auditorium roof intact (with some damage on the Ley Street side). A June 1947 view shows the auditorium roof having been removed. This is the state I remember from visits to my grandma who lived in the first surviving house at the top end of Ley Street (number 13, numbers 7, 9 and 11 having been destroyed in the V2 blast).
I see that the overview has been amended, but with the wrong closure date. The Royal closed in 1966, not 1956. From mid 1954 to 1958 the Royal was the Halifax home of 20th Century Fox CinemaScope films and the only cinema in town with 4 track mag. stereo sound. The last film advertised in stereo was a revival of Mary Poppins from Dec 26th 1965, but the early February 1966 revival of The King and I was probably the last film in stereo.
The Royal (as it was advertised in its last decade or so) closed on Saturday February 26th 1966 after a seven day run of the revival double bill Ivanhoe and Tarzan and the Mermaids. The cafe appears to been open to the end.
The Alexandra was the first cinema in Coventry with CinemaScope. It closed from Saturday September 25th 1954 to Saturday October 2nd 1954 for installation of CinemaScope and 4 track mag. stereo sound. On Sunday October 3rd The Robe began a three week run.
Silk Stockings played the Regal from Sunday August 18th to Saturday August 24th 1957. The supporting film was Anglo-Amalgamated’s The Key Man, made at Merton Park Studios.
When Rank changed its distribution arrangements in 1959 the Gaumont became the National release outlet with the Rank release going to the Odeon. Strangely, Psycho, which was a Rank release, was given to the Gaumont as its final offering, rather than going to the Odeon. During its final summer the Gaumont had a four week roadshow run of South Pacific, advertised as being “in 35mm on the wide screen”, which was a way of saying that it was not in Todd-AO with stereophonic sound (the only cinema in Halifax with stereo was the Theatre Royal, which had been the home of Fox CinemaScope films).
A report in The Guardian on Sept. 28th 2023 states that Birmingham Council have voted to demolish the whole Smallbrook Queensway development and replace it with housing.
The Cannon (ex Futurist) closed on Thursday September 5th 1991. The final films were Soapdish in Screen 1 and Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves in Screen 2.
The large scale Ordnance Survey mapping on the National Library of Scotland website, dated 1962, shows this cinema as the Capitol Picture Theatre, so the name was changed earlier than 1969. it is also nowhere near 44 Market Street.
According to the report in the Edinburgh Evening News, the fire that closed the Gaumont broke out around 6pm on Wednesday May 30th 1962 during the second showing of that week’s feature film, A Pair of Briefs. There were around 150 patrons watching the film who were safely evacuated (some apparently taking the time to enquire about a refund on their way out). The fire began above the screen (the Gaumont was a back to front cinema, the screen was at the entrance end), and spread to the whole roof which collapsed into the auditorium. There was not much likelihood that Rank would rebuild the Gaumont. They also had the New Victoria (soon to be renamed Odeon) and due to allocation of product rules didn’t even play all of the Rank releases (many of which went to the Playhouse).
The Plaza closed as a cinema on Sunday January 6th 1962 and reopened as the Plaza Casino on Thursday January 10th with the opening ceremony being performed by actress Pat Phoenix (Coronation Street’s Elsie Tanner). In October films returned following subdivision of the auditorium. Unusually the circle became the “Casino” (i.e bingo club), while the stalls was used for films retaining the original stage. Films returned on Monday October 21st with The Quick and the Dead, advertised as the Manchester premiere, but after that it was almost always second runs and revivals.
It simply isn’t true that the Gaiety had to rely on double bills and films from smaller studios. It remained a first run cinema to the end and in its last six months it played a highly successful eight week run of Room at the Top, a number of other circuit releases like Auntie Mame and The Black Orchid and finished up with three weeks of Look Back in Anger followed by three weeks of Al Capone (a surprise UK box office success). These were all exclusive Manchester premiere runs. I suspect that it closed because its owners received an offer for the site that they couldn’t refuse.
This photo would have been taken during the 1969 re-issue of The Longest Day. The Renault 10 parked outside was not introduced until 1965 and in 1962 Sean Connery would not have had his name on the canopy!
Odeon 2 closed from April 13th 1969 for the installation of a new “Cinerama” screen. Similar screens were being installed in other Rank cinemas around this time, including the Astoria Charing Cross Road, the Odeon Merrion Centre, Leeds, the Odeon Market place, Leicester and of course were installed in the upstairs screens during the rebuilding of the Gaumonts Sheffield and Bournemouth. Odeon 2 Nottingham re-opened in June 1969 with a road show run of Ice Station Zebra in 70mm Cinerama.
The Odeon closed for twinning from Tuesday November 17th 1964. The last film presentation was Goldfinger which completed a six week run on Sunday Nov. 15th. On Monday Nov. 16th was a final stage show featuring The Searchers, Dionne Warwick and The Zombies. Less than two weeks earlier, on Thursday November 5th The Beatles had performed to sell out audiences. Rank announced in its advertising that the new twin cinema would open in the spring of 1965, but this target was missed.
The reference to automation in the article above refers only to Odeon 2, with its Cinemeccanica projectors. The Phillips DP70s which were retained in Odeon 1 from the old theatre were not able to be automated.
The UK (and World) premiere of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was on October 26th 1960 at the Warner in London. The film opened in Nottingham on November 13th at what was advertised as the Provincial Premiere. There was a personal appearance by Shirley Anne Field at the ABC Nottingham on the opening Sunday evening, although the film had opened in the afternoon and was showing concurrently at the ABC Metropole Nottingham.
The New Victoria’s role as the outlet for 20th Century Fox films was brief. In November 1954 ABC equipped the Elite with CinemaScope and Fox gave the larger cinema all the first runs in spite of it having only mono sound. The New Victoria was reduced to showing second runs of Fox films in between its foreign film runs. It usually emphasized in its advertising that it was the only cinema in Nottingham with 4 track magnetic stereo sound.
Not November 1952, nor 1962. Carry On Constable, supported by Road Racers played the ABC Nottingham for one week from February 29th 1960. There was no second run at the ABC.
This is most certainly not the Rio/Odeon, which had an auditorium sideways on to the f.o.h. and a single staircase leading up to the circle at the right hand end of the entrance foyer. I was Assistant Manager there for five years, so am rather well acquainted with the layout of the place! This is, perhaps, the Heathway, Dagenham.
I believe that this is actually the Rio/Odeon Barking. The side wall decoration differs from that at the Heathway and you can see the long central laylight that remained in use at Barking until closure.
The Healey International Car Centre was opened on July 3rd 1963 according to a report in Autocar magazine of July 12th. The opening ceremony was carried out by Alec Issigonis, designer of the Mini.
According to the Evening Telegraph newspaper the change of name to Odeon appears to have happened on Sunday March 16th 1959 rather than May.
To clear up any misunderstandings, there were no pop concerts at the ABC in the 1960’s, or any other stage presentations. When the cinema was converted for Todd-AO in February 1959 the new 70mm screen was erected in front of the original proscenium and as it was not moveable the stage was rendered unusable from this time on.
Aerial photographs on the Historic England website show views of the Super in 1946 with the bulk of the auditorium roof intact (with some damage on the Ley Street side). A June 1947 view shows the auditorium roof having been removed. This is the state I remember from visits to my grandma who lived in the first surviving house at the top end of Ley Street (number 13, numbers 7, 9 and 11 having been destroyed in the V2 blast).
I see that the overview has been amended, but with the wrong closure date. The Royal closed in 1966, not 1956. From mid 1954 to 1958 the Royal was the Halifax home of 20th Century Fox CinemaScope films and the only cinema in town with 4 track mag. stereo sound. The last film advertised in stereo was a revival of Mary Poppins from Dec 26th 1965, but the early February 1966 revival of The King and I was probably the last film in stereo.
The Royal (as it was advertised in its last decade or so) closed on Saturday February 26th 1966 after a seven day run of the revival double bill Ivanhoe and Tarzan and the Mermaids. The cafe appears to been open to the end.
Tuesday January 21st makes it 1964.
The Alexandra was the first cinema in Coventry with CinemaScope. It closed from Saturday September 25th 1954 to Saturday October 2nd 1954 for installation of CinemaScope and 4 track mag. stereo sound. On Sunday October 3rd The Robe began a three week run.
Thursday November 11th makes it 1965. Presumably Syd and Eddie are Little and Large.
Silk Stockings played the Regal from Sunday August 18th to Saturday August 24th 1957. The supporting film was Anglo-Amalgamated’s The Key Man, made at Merton Park Studios.
When Rank changed its distribution arrangements in 1959 the Gaumont became the National release outlet with the Rank release going to the Odeon. Strangely, Psycho, which was a Rank release, was given to the Gaumont as its final offering, rather than going to the Odeon. During its final summer the Gaumont had a four week roadshow run of South Pacific, advertised as being “in 35mm on the wide screen”, which was a way of saying that it was not in Todd-AO with stereophonic sound (the only cinema in Halifax with stereo was the Theatre Royal, which had been the home of Fox CinemaScope films).
A report in The Guardian on Sept. 28th 2023 states that Birmingham Council have voted to demolish the whole Smallbrook Queensway development and replace it with housing.
The Cannon (ex Futurist) closed on Thursday September 5th 1991. The final films were Soapdish in Screen 1 and Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves in Screen 2.
The large scale Ordnance Survey mapping on the National Library of Scotland website, dated 1962, shows this cinema as the Capitol Picture Theatre, so the name was changed earlier than 1969. it is also nowhere near 44 Market Street.
According to the report in the Edinburgh Evening News, the fire that closed the Gaumont broke out around 6pm on Wednesday May 30th 1962 during the second showing of that week’s feature film, A Pair of Briefs. There were around 150 patrons watching the film who were safely evacuated (some apparently taking the time to enquire about a refund on their way out). The fire began above the screen (the Gaumont was a back to front cinema, the screen was at the entrance end), and spread to the whole roof which collapsed into the auditorium. There was not much likelihood that Rank would rebuild the Gaumont. They also had the New Victoria (soon to be renamed Odeon) and due to allocation of product rules didn’t even play all of the Rank releases (many of which went to the Playhouse).
The Plaza closed as a cinema on Sunday January 6th 1962 and reopened as the Plaza Casino on Thursday January 10th with the opening ceremony being performed by actress Pat Phoenix (Coronation Street’s Elsie Tanner). In October films returned following subdivision of the auditorium. Unusually the circle became the “Casino” (i.e bingo club), while the stalls was used for films retaining the original stage. Films returned on Monday October 21st with The Quick and the Dead, advertised as the Manchester premiere, but after that it was almost always second runs and revivals.
It simply isn’t true that the Gaiety had to rely on double bills and films from smaller studios. It remained a first run cinema to the end and in its last six months it played a highly successful eight week run of Room at the Top, a number of other circuit releases like Auntie Mame and The Black Orchid and finished up with three weeks of Look Back in Anger followed by three weeks of Al Capone (a surprise UK box office success). These were all exclusive Manchester premiere runs. I suspect that it closed because its owners received an offer for the site that they couldn’t refuse.
This photo would have been taken during the 1969 re-issue of The Longest Day. The Renault 10 parked outside was not introduced until 1965 and in 1962 Sean Connery would not have had his name on the canopy!
Odeon 2 closed from April 13th 1969 for the installation of a new “Cinerama” screen. Similar screens were being installed in other Rank cinemas around this time, including the Astoria Charing Cross Road, the Odeon Merrion Centre, Leeds, the Odeon Market place, Leicester and of course were installed in the upstairs screens during the rebuilding of the Gaumonts Sheffield and Bournemouth. Odeon 2 Nottingham re-opened in June 1969 with a road show run of Ice Station Zebra in 70mm Cinerama.
The Odeon closed for twinning from Tuesday November 17th 1964. The last film presentation was Goldfinger which completed a six week run on Sunday Nov. 15th. On Monday Nov. 16th was a final stage show featuring The Searchers, Dionne Warwick and The Zombies. Less than two weeks earlier, on Thursday November 5th The Beatles had performed to sell out audiences. Rank announced in its advertising that the new twin cinema would open in the spring of 1965, but this target was missed. The reference to automation in the article above refers only to Odeon 2, with its Cinemeccanica projectors. The Phillips DP70s which were retained in Odeon 1 from the old theatre were not able to be automated.
The UK (and World) premiere of Saturday Night and Sunday Morning was on October 26th 1960 at the Warner in London. The film opened in Nottingham on November 13th at what was advertised as the Provincial Premiere. There was a personal appearance by Shirley Anne Field at the ABC Nottingham on the opening Sunday evening, although the film had opened in the afternoon and was showing concurrently at the ABC Metropole Nottingham.
The New Victoria’s role as the outlet for 20th Century Fox films was brief. In November 1954 ABC equipped the Elite with CinemaScope and Fox gave the larger cinema all the first runs in spite of it having only mono sound. The New Victoria was reduced to showing second runs of Fox films in between its foreign film runs. It usually emphasized in its advertising that it was the only cinema in Nottingham with 4 track magnetic stereo sound.
Not November 1952, nor 1962. Carry On Constable, supported by Road Racers played the ABC Nottingham for one week from February 29th 1960. There was no second run at the ABC.
This is most certainly not the Rio/Odeon, which had an auditorium sideways on to the f.o.h. and a single staircase leading up to the circle at the right hand end of the entrance foyer. I was Assistant Manager there for five years, so am rather well acquainted with the layout of the place! This is, perhaps, the Heathway, Dagenham.
I believe that this is actually the Rio/Odeon Barking. The side wall decoration differs from that at the Heathway and you can see the long central laylight that remained in use at Barking until closure.