Imperial Cinema

In Oldham, Lancashire, the Imperial Picture Palace opened on Monday 21st October 1912. The principal opening films were “The Trapper’s Bride”, described as “a dramatic picture with a film footage of over 2,000 feet”, and “The Lion Tamer’s Revenge”, “a drama of circus life”. Burton Hollins, a “well known baritone”, provided musical entertainment.

If not from the beginning, certainly from the 1920’s, until closure, the Imperial Picture Palace was operated by the Palatine Cinema Company.

When the talkies arrived, a Western Electric(WE) sound system was installed. By 1934 it had been renamed Imperial Cinema.

The cinema was affectionately known as the “Imp”, although, in his autobiography (“If I Don’t Write It, Nobody Else Will”) comedy writer and actor Eric Sykes, who was born and raised in nearby Leslie Street, recalled that everyone gave it the more usual affectionate moniker of “fleapit”! He had been born in 1923, and said his mother used to give him 2d so he could sit in the best seats at the Saturday morning pictures, so he didn’t have to mix with the “scruffbags” in the 1d seats. However, he and his best friend used to sit with the ‘untouchables’, allowing them to spend the penny they thereby saved on toffees.

The Imperial Cinema closed suddenly on Thursday 22nd October 1959, with manager F. Lamb blaming falling attendances on the arrival of television. One of the final week’s films was “How to Rob a Bank”, starring Tom Ewell and Mickey Rooney, rather ironic given that lack of funds was heralding the cinema’s closure!

It is assumed the building has been demolished.

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