Elite Picture House
116 Soho Road,
Birmingham,
B21 9DP
116 Soho Road,
Birmingham,
B21 9DP
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Star Cinemas
Architects: Thomas Silver
Styles: Neo-Classical
Nearby Theaters
Located in the Handsworth district of Birmingham on Soho Road between Thornhill Road & Stafford Road. The Elite Picture House was opened on 30th September 1913 with “Bread Cast Upon the Water”. The building had an attractive façade with a central entrance flanked by a shop unit on each side. Seating was provided in stalls and circle levels. It had a 30 feet wide proscenium. It was owned and operated by Mr. H.W. Burrell.
It was closed to regular films around 1966, and was taken over by the Leeds based Star Cinemas chain, and reopened as a Star Bingo Club. On Sunday’s it began to screen East Indian films for the Asian community. Eventually these took over from bingo, and the Elite Cinema became one of the first cinemas in the city to screen Asian (Bollywood) films. It continued to screen these for into the early-1970’s, operating as a cinema club to avoid licencing rules. When the availability of this type of film was available on video it caused it to close. The building then lay derelict until at least 1984.
It was later demolished and in 2008, the site was an empty plot of land.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
I’ve recently purchased a set of 6 chairs maybe from the elite, but with all these things I’m not totally sure. Does anyone remember what the Seats were like? Colour, look? Would be fantastic if someone has a photo showing them- but probably that’s too much to ask!
@ Davi1152… They probably would be made by William Turner of Northfield Birmingham. If You send me a picture of the seats I could possibly tell what they are. .co.uk