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Birmingham Cinemas

Interesting to know the actual dates these were on, Peyton Place was released in1957 and The Long Hot Summer in 1958, both 'steamy' for that time in our lives, Peyton Place starred Arthur Kennedy, Hope Lange, Lana Turner and Russ Tamblyn and The Long Hot Summer, the first film that Newman and Woodward made together and incidentally married that year also in the cast of note were Anthony Franciosa, Orson Welles, Lee Remick and Angela Lansbury. Both in their own way classics , the Paul Newman film based on the book by William Faulkner, and Peyton Place on the book by Grace Metalious. And yes we trooped into town to see them, hang the cost of going to the city centre movies, we had read the books and they obviously fitted in with the films we enjoyed, particularly some of the more obscure 'art' films as seen at the Cinephone ...'and god created Woman' aaah Brigitte je vous aime. The version of this shown in Germany was uncensored. How naïve and innocent we were all then in those far off days

Bob
 
Would anyone know the name of the cinema that stood in Hudsons drive Cotteridge or have a photo of it G
 
Would anyone know the name of the cinema that stood in Hudsons drive Cotteridge or have a photo of it G
According to a 1983 article by N J Staley available on Google, it was called the Picturedrome and there is a write up about it. I t is also recorded in the Cleggs book The Dream Palaces of Birmingham, which has it as the Cotteridge Picturedrome, but with very little information. It apparently opened in 1912 and lasted only a few years. Unfortunately there is no picture. Hope this helps.
Bob Davis
 
According to a 1983 article by N J Staley available on Google, it was called the Picturedrome and there is a write up about it. I t is also recorded in the Cleggs book The Dream Palaces of Birmingham, which has it as the Cotteridge Picturedrome, but with very little information. It apparently opened in 1912 and lasted only a few years. Unfortunately there is no picture. Hope this helps.
Bob Davis[/QUOTE
Further to the above, put Cottridge Picturedrome into Google and scroll down to Wickipedia and the cinemas entry. Does this help
Bob Davis
 
Would anyone know the name of the cinema that stood in Hudsons drive Cotteridge or have a photo of it G

According to Victor J Price on his book Birmingham Cinemas "The Cotteridge Picturedrome Hudson Drive, Cotteridge, Birmingham, opened on 1911 proprietor W H Mason. It was later taken over by Cotteridge Picturedrome Ltd and under the management of F W Pullin it has a seating capacity of 480. On Sundays it gave Grand Sacred Concerts, it closed in 1920.

I've added an advert for the cinema from that time, sorry no photos.

img721.jpg
 
Thank you Phil and Bob. Lovely piece of history. I actually lived in hudsons drive and worked in the factory that incorporated the old cinema. It was part of the store room which still had burned wooden beams showing from the fire in the cinema
 
Some wonderful stories, and photographs, of Birmingham cinemas.

However, no one ever seems to mention the 'still' photographs that were an integral part of the cinema promotion.

These photographs, usually in black & white, would appear in glass cases either on the outside cinema wall, or, as I often stopped to look at, out side the Picadilly Cinema on the Stratford Road. At the Picadilly, they were displaying in four cases place alongside the pavement, so easy to look at when passing.

The name of the film would be at the head of the hoarding glass case, and then about six photographs of the current film that would be showing.

The usual cinema programme in the fifties was 'Pathe' news, a 'trailer' for a forthcoming film, the supporting film, a break for ice cream, and sometimes, theatre organ music, then the main film, with huge masses of cigarette smoke lazily rising through the beam form the projection room located at the rear of the cinema, followed by the National Anthem, when everyone would make a quick dash to get out of the cinema, instead of standing in respect.

Oh how a cinema visit has changed !

Eddie
 
My uncle, Bernard Murphy was a cinema projectionist in the 1930s and 40s in Sutton Coldfield and Tamworth. It was a very skilled occupation.
 
1931.jpg
Does anyone know where this is. It was in a folder of old Birmingham bits and pieces but I do not remember where it came from..
 
I don't know where the cinema is but the film title 'Lottery Bride' intrigued me!

I just looked it up - it was a film from 1930
upload_2017-9-25_14-10-14.jpeg
 
View attachment 118313
Does anyone know where this is. It was in a folder of old Birmingham bits and pieces but I do not remember where it came from..
According to the book by Chris and Rosemary Clegg, this is the Villa Cross. This picture is in the book, I ploughed through the book page after page and the book is presented in Alphabetical order and there are not many cinemas after the letter V.
Bob Davis
 
According to the book by Chris and Rosemary Clegg, this is the Villa Cross. This picture is in the book, I ploughed through the book page after page and the book is presented in Alphabetical order and there are not many cinemas after the letter V.
Bob Davis

It is of course the Villa Cross that opened in 1915 as The New Picture House and it closed as a cinema in 1970, and served as a bingo hall and social club until demolished, it's now a car park I believe.

Lozells Villa Cross.jpg
 
Hi Eddie, thanks for the memories regarding the Piccadilly Cinema on Stratford Rd. This was our usual Thursday night family treat as Dad was a Head Waiter and this was his night off. Do you go as far back as when you bought ice cream there they had a large bowl in the foyer into which you donated a helping of sugar. Mom took ours along in a paper bag (a little one) and the bag was emptied into the bowl in full view of all present, most unhygienic but it made us what we are.
Regarding the pictures of those coming attractions I remember that often they were in glorious Technicolor but the actual movie was in black and white and this maybe the start of my distrust of the advertising industry.
My other memory is of standing in the queue that went way the corner and when you finally got to the front it was a case of "Standing Room Only".
Cheers Tim.
 
It seems strange that Nelson Eddy is not on that poster. Maybe that was before they teamed up.
https://maceddy.com/
Apparently Jeanette Macdonald was a star long before she met up with Nelson Eddy and it was only in a 1936 film, where he wore the mounties uniform that they first sang together, but even then they were not automatically coupled and she continued to make films in her own name and then in the forties they came together after she moved studios.
Bob
 
Hi Tim... I remember going to the Picadilly Cinema on Stratford Road Sparkhill to see the film Ben Hur.It was a school trip as part of our history lessons. I remember it as a nice day out of the classroom...It must have been about 1960....Roy
 
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