Old Sheffield Picture Palaces

[lagerlil 11]

Does anyone remember the don on west bar? the unity cinema was on langsett road, near wood lane. according to my mum

[carosio 186]

lagerlil-just read back through threads, you'll find plenty on these cinemas.

[lagerlil 11]

ok thanks will have a look

[hillsbro 30]

Does anyone remember the don on west bar? the unity cinema was on langsett road, near wood lane. according to my mum

 

Yes - the Don was on the corner of West Bar and Paradise Street. When it closed it became the HQ of the Bradford Woollen Co. owned by the Swycher family - the firm eventually went bust. The building was extended at the left-hand side and (as "Progress House") it was an E.L.S. Furniture showroom for a while; it is now a branch of Armadillo Self Storage. If you loook at the Paradise Street side of the building you can see the fancy windows and decorative stonework of the old cinema.

 

Your mum is quite right about the Unity - it was next to Wood Street where the Mecca bingo hall car park is now. The odd thing was that you went in at the front and left via a side entrance on Gertrude Street.

 

is still there but looks very different

[babsy 10]

I believe the earliest cinema (picture house) was the one in Fitzalan Square (became Classic), it had an earth floor and wooden benches. This however was pre-dated by one on Bradfield Road, Hillsboro, located somewhere near the tyre fitting garage, possible that part of building is still there. Perhaps someone could further elucidate?

the one in Ftzalan square was previously called the News Theatre.

[Benbow 10]

Yep, the News theatre. I was a teenager in the early fifties and occasionally went there. They used to show, besides the news, shorts like The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, cartoons etc. No feature films and short continuous programmes.

Brian

[Benbow 10]

The Cinema House at Barkers Pool opposite the Gaumont has been mentioned. On Saturdays you invariably had to queue and when you finally got in you had to sit at the very front where your neck had to be almost at a right angle back as the screen was almost vertically above. The idea was that you then had to keep an eye open for a seat becoming vacant further back.

I now have a dvd projector on which I can show films in the comfort of my own home - 55 years later makes a big difference!!

 

Incidentally, at most cinemas then with a continuous programme, how often did we queue for hours and then get in just in time to see the final minutes of the main film and then have to sit through it all again to see the full story.

 

I lived at Gleadless then and often caught a bus into town to see one of the latest films. I remember seeing first cinemascope film in the city (I think), The Robe at The Palace, Union St. It was probably one of the worst cinemas to choose for cinemascope as it was an old cinema and you had to be careful where you sat in the stalls as there were pillars holding the gallery up blocking the view. Still, who cared!

 

I also remember queuing in the pouring rain in a huge queue outside the Hippodrome to see, I think it was Doris Day in Calamity Jane but it could have been John Wayne in The High and the Mighty. I was soaked to the skin but it was worth it. Great to be young eh!

 

Brian

[chrishall 10]

The News Theatre changed to the Cartoon Cinema sometime in the 50s

[Nigel Womersle 10]

the one in Ftzalan square was previously called the News Theatre.

 

It opened as The Electra Palace on 11 February 1911.

[Benbow 10]

I wonder what the Electra Palace became (if it changed) between 1911 and the early fifties? Anybody know?

Brian

[nathan009 10]

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[Texas 10]

It was the Electra until it became the News Theatre. I spent enough time and money in that place to own it. I think I've mentioned before, sometimes I'd go in there on Saturday morning, see the show, come out and walk uptown for an afternoon show at the Gaumont or some other place, and then go for an evening show somewhere else.