Queen's Picture House

Located in the Holbeck district, to the south of the city centre on the corner of Meadow Road and Jack Lane. The New Queen’s Theatre was opened on 24th December 1898 with the pantomime “Dick Whittington” starring Clara Clifton as the principal boy. The American Biograph featured in part of the opening programme. It was operated by Dottridge & Longden who operated the Coliseum Theatre, Oldham. It was designed by Newcastle-upon-Tyne based architectural firm Hope & Maxwell. Seating was provided in Pit, Stalls, Dress Circle and Gallery, and together with standing room could accommodate 3,500. The proscenium was 32ft wide, the stage was 41ft deep and there were sixteen dressing rooms. It was wired for electric lighting. The Queen’s Theatre began as a legitimate drama theatre which later presented melodrama, music hall & variety and occasionally was used to screen films from 1909. Gracie Fields appeared here in 1918 in her first appearance in Leeds in a touring production of “Mr. Tower of London”. It closed with a variety show named “The Last Week” on 17th July 1924.

Architect Frederick W. Rhodes of Upper Wortley, Leeds, was employed by Holbeck Theatre Ltd. to convert the theatre into a cinema, which closed-off the gallery seating area, and removed the pit seating to re-seat the orchestra stalls. The Queen’s Picture House was opened on 1st December 1924 with Ernest Torrence in “The Covered Wagon”. In March 1928 the film bookings were briefly taken over by Gaumont British Picture Corporation, and later in 1928 film bookings were by J.F. Tidswell. Around 1929 a Western Electric(WE) sound system was installed.

In 1937 the cinema auditorium was radically altered when the Gallery and boxes were removed and the former Dress Circle was converted into a waiting area, which gave a reduced seating capacity of 916 in the former orchestra stalls level. By 1956 it had been equipped with CinemaScope. The Queen’s Picture House was closed on 19th October 1957 with Anthony Quinn in “Attila the Hun”. The building stood vacant for a while until it was demolished in the early-1960’s for a road re-alignment scheme and Jack Lane Light Industrial Units now occupy the site.

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