Lady Penelope
master brummie
Even sadder, Morturn.
A great part of my early cinema visiting at least once a week was spent in here. Then we branched out and the choice was amazing.
The Maypole cinema, 1937 - 1961. Many happy Picture Club memories.The Mayfair opened on September 14th 1931 and closed on January 25th 1964, so only 33 years.
Lady PMorturn, the Pavilion is another example of how the boundary hops about. It's shown as 'Birmingham's Suburbia' but is actually in Sutton. I'm not sure whether the boundary actually changed or people just thought it was in Birmingham, According to today's areas it's nowhere near Wylde Green but Wylde Green has always been in Sutton. Bewildered?
I am sure there was a boundary marker in the vicinety of Chester Road Station. I think it may have been either in Knipersley Road maybe Bretby Grove
Hercules Films
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1959 Hercules
1960 Hercules Against Rome
1960 Hercules Unchained
1961 Hercules in the Haunted World
1963 Hercules Against the Sons of Sam
1963 Hercules and the Captive Women
1964 Hercules Against the Moon Men
1965 Hercules Samson and Ulysses
I suppose most people growing up in the 50s and 60s were cinema addicts
I went to them all in Aston and district, as I got older and went to work we used to go to town and the Bristol Cinema on Sunday afternoons.
Cinemas I recall
Astoria,
Aston Cross
Globe
Orient
Victoria Playhouse
Newtown Palace - never went there, it was considered a flea pit.
Odeon - Perry Barr
Birchfield
Plaza -Stockland Green
Clifton - Great Barr
We used to go two or three times a week. Some cinemas had the same programme all week, others Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, then changed for the rest of the week, but with a different film on Sundays, I think this was something to do with the archaic licensing laws in Brum.
I used to go to the Orient nearly every Sunday, I think they opened late afternoon because I used to come out of Sunday School at Christ Church,
Six Ways, take off my ankle socks, put on lipstick, and join the queue which ran down the side of the cinema into Rifle Crescent, there were usually three of four of us, and the queue was mainly made up of youngsters early teenagers upwards, we had a great time laughing and joking while we waited and it wasn't much better when we got inside, the films were very old like Jeannette McDonald & Nelson Eddy, Ida Lupino,
Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan, some of the stars I remember. In the interval we used to walk all round to see our friends, and try to catch the eye of any lads we were interested in. I bet the staff were glad to see the back of us.