Odd Hour Cinema

92 Upper Parliament Street,
Nottingham, NG1 6LF

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Additional Info

Architects: Alfred John Thraves

Previous Names: Parliament Picture Palace, British Cinema, Regal Super Cinema, News House, News Theatre

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Odd Hour Cinema

Opened on 23rd March 1914 with 600 seats as the Parliament Picture Palace. The main entrance was on Upper Parliament Street, but there was secondary entrance on Wollaton Street. In 1931 it was renamed the British Cinema until in 1933 when it became the Regal Super Cinema in 1935. It was equipped with a British Talking Pictures(BTP) sound system. From 6th July 1936 it was the News House and from 1941 it was re-named News Theatre. It was re-named the Odd Hour Cinema on 30th June 1956.

It was closed April 1957 and sold off for redevelopment following the death of the owner and demolished in 1959. As its name suggests, it ran news, shorts and cartoons for most of its lifespan.

Contributed by grimbling

Recent comments (view all 7 comments)

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on February 25, 2018 at 7:18 am

Did it only operate at odd hours?

dave
dave on February 25, 2018 at 9:12 am

“Did it only operate at odd hours?” – I have always assumed the name was a reference to being the place to go if you had an odd hour and wanted something to do.

dave
dave on August 29, 2019 at 12:51 pm

From the Kinematograph Year Book; it was named ‘Parliament Picture Palace’ until 1933. In 1935 it was the ‘Regal’. From 1936 to 1942 it was the ‘News House’ and from 1944 it was the ‘News Theatre’. Despite its impressive frontage it was a small cinema with a 20ft proscenium, reduced to 16ft by 1945. As the Regal it had 550 seats. This was reduced to 300-303 seats from 1936.

dave
dave on June 23, 2020 at 12:30 am

According to Wikipedia, Alfred J Thraves designed the Regal Cinema, Parliament Street, Nottingham 1935.

rivest266
rivest266 on November 7, 2022 at 11:13 am

Opened July 10th, 1935 as the News House. Grand opening ad posted.

undercurrents
undercurrents on May 15, 2023 at 5:00 am

It was called the News theatre in 1941 as I have a news article from March 1 1941

Biffaskin
Biffaskin on August 5, 2023 at 2:52 am

According to The Ideal Kinema & Studio, Vol. III No. 32 (18th July, 1935), proprietors of the News House were Nottingham News House Ltd., of which H. C. Carlton is managing director.

Alfred J. Thraves FRIBA of Nottingham was the architect. 300 seats with an ultra-modern interior. Nothing of the Regal’s interior remains, the front has been entirely reconstructed.

Article uploaded, the interior must have been quite a surprise to patrons, as the façade was still very much as originally built. The front referred to in the article was front of house (foyers etc) rather than the façade itself.

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