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Cinema Name - Balsall Heath Road

B

Bobbyweaf

Guest
Hi,

Can anyone tell me the name of the Cinema that was at the bottom of Balsall Heath road please?

Bob W
 
Cinema Name

The Cinema at the bottom end of Balsall Heath Road, near the junction of Longmore Street was "The Luxor".

Cheers,

pmc1947
 
Shame on me! how could I have forgotten that!

Many thanks
Bob W
 
Hi Jill,

yep! the same for me between the Luxor and the Imperial, I was matinee bound every week! I lived in Vincent Street so the Imperial was nearer but I made a number of trips to the Luxor.

I also managed to get in the X rated horrors at the Moseley Road "Fleapit", plus many visits to the Alhambra.

Bob W
 
The Luxor was previously known as The Balsall Heath Picturedrome when it was opened in October 1913, it changed it's name to The Luxor during the 40's.It closed about 1961 and was leased as an Asian cinema and renamed Starlight in the early 80's.

Colin
 
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Bobbyweaf said:
Hi Jill,

yep! the same for me between the Luxor and the Imperial, I was matinee bound every week! I lived in Vincent Street so the Imperial was nearer but I made a number of trips to the Luxor.

I also managed to get in the X rated horrors at the Moseley Road "Fleapit", plus many visits to the Alhambra.

Bob W
Click to expand...

Yes, but did you ever venture into the dark depths of the Triangle? Now there was a fleapit if ever I saw one! Jill
 
Ye Jill, but only about twice. I can still picture the outside of it as my mother got my school stuff from Gooch Street. I remember the overhead rail in Foster Brothers shop, which took the money to the Cashier.

I can still taste my treat, which was apple pie and custard at the British Restaurant. Cost 6d.

Bob W
 
Cinema Name.

If you remember the Luxor and the Triangle, then you must remember The Moseley. Known to one and all as "The Bughole".

Heres a picture of the Triangle, not a very good one I'm afraid.

cheers

pmc1947
 

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Bobbyweaf said:
Ye Jill, but only about twice. I can still picture the outside of it as my mother got my school stuff from Gooch Street. I remember the overhead rail in Foster Brothers shop, which took the money to the Cashier.

I can still taste my treat, which was apple pie and custard at the British Restaurant. Cost 6d.

Bob W
Click to expand...

Bob, I'd forgotten about Fosters and the overhead rail until you mentioned it. We often used the British Restaurant in school (Hope Street) lunch break and shopped in Woolies after. We also went to the Moseley and Alhambra but the Alhambra seemed a bit more posh! I lived in Longmore Street and my grandfather had the fruit shop in Clevedon Road. Jill
 
Hi Phil,

I knew the Moseley as "The Fleapit".

Hi Jill,

I too always felt that the Alhambra was "the Posh one". If I remember right, the last film I saw there was Tom Thumb. It was released in 1958 but I must have seen it later in a re-run as I'm sure I was there later than 58.
 
Re The Triangle

I spent many hours in that fleapit,cheap seats fourpence a tanner if you were rich, Mrs Marnie was the lady cashier she lived over the road by the doctors on the corner of Conybere St and William Edward St,who remembers Dr McGregor, Dr Wand and Dr Sanderland.
 
malta

Dr McGregor was our family doctor for years, I can remember coming out of the surgery and going around the corner to Gooch St with the prescriptions to the chemists the one with the 48 bus stop outside.

After handing over our shilling and the prescription we would be given a huge bottle of foul liquid called " The Mixture" I dont know what it was but it must have been a cure for everything the amount of times it was prescibed.

I think I moved out of the district before the surgery moved over the road to Gooch St.

Our local bughole was The Moseley but as they had no Saturday matinee there, we went to the Alhambra on a Saturday morning and The Imperial on the afternoon if we had been well behaved during the week.

pmc1947
 
pmc 1947

We used to go the Moseley to see the H films, we would go to the exit doors and when the first house turned out we would walk in backwards we got away with foe ages till they caught on Happy days
 
the alhambra. was our saturday sixpenny crush. and the mosely was our venue at easter for the talent contest. we would win prizes, mostly easter eggs .our house backed onto the lane in belgrave road ,our neighbour worked there ,and would sneek us in through the curtain in the intervals. my sister won the hoola hoop competition. and brother won yo yo comp . great fun as money was hard to come by. they made sure we had our easter eggs .do you remember the easter eggs only came in pretty tin foil no fancy boxes.this was around 1960:Dharley
 
Hi Harley,

I don't remember the easter talent contest at the Moseley Picture House, must have missed that, mind you I am void of talent so I wouldn't have entered it anyway.

The lane at the back would have been Orchard Rd wouldn't it. I used to have a mate who lived down the same terrace as you. He used to drink in the Belgrave pub next to the Moseley.

pmc1947
 
re cinema the moseley no it was called belvue, belgrave road. there was a builders yard at the top, and the cinema backed on to the lane. there were a lot of familys lived there, we were more or less facing the exit doors .the rats that used to come running out of that place was unbeleivable .it was overrun with them.im talking now in the1960s.the lane was also the back entrances to all the shops down from the cinema going towards moseley. i do remember the moseley pub . lots of irish ,and fighting on weekends. us kids would go in the mornings, and pick up the money the brawlers would lose in there scrambling ha ha. we would sit out side guyfawking as it was rich pickings, when they had all had a few drinks :Don pay days.we would often find teeth where the scrambling fighters lost there gnashers too.so a good night was had by all ha ha.
 
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harley

Now you come to mention it, you are right it was not Orchard Rd that was further down. Did the alley at the back of the picture house and shops join up with Orchard Rd before it reached Sherborne Rd at the back of Oliver Tullets car showroom.

Here's a snap you might remember.

Phil
 

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My mom and my aunt both worked for Doctor McGregor at different times, before and after WW2.
 
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They say that everyone can remember where they were when President Kennedy was assasinated. Mention of these cinemas brings that evening to mind. I was in the Alhambra Picture House watching the film "Heavens Above" starring Peter Sellers. First a note was scratched on the screen..."President Kennedy Has Been Shot." Later another note: "President Kennedy is Dead." November 22nd 1963.
 
Hello!
A film called 'Prostitute' (filmed in 1979, released in 1980) directed by Tony Garnett includes some scenes filmed in Balsall Heath, including (briefly) Cox Street West ... (I've posted this message in another thread which asks for info about Cox Street West) ... and other unidentified nearby streets ... including Balsall Heath Road, specifcally featuring the exterior of the Luxor Cinema ...

prostitute_2.jpg


... I have sent a copy of the film to the excellent www.reelstreets.com website, where I am told it will be added to their film list within the next few weeks. That's an excellent website anyway ... worth a visit ... but there is a small registration fee required before you can get into the main information zone.

Incidentally, the film does contain a few rather unsavoury sequences, so if you do find a copy, make sure your maiden aunt is out of the room before you check it! There are a couple of street names mentioned in one of the court scenes, but I think they were fictitious.

Best wishes,

Terry
 


Can you remember "The Carlton" cinema just round the corner in Taunton Road? What great Saturday afternoons i spent there with my frozen Jubblie, muddy knees, football socks and boots tied together over my shoulders, what an icon I must have looked. It used to be full to the rafters except for the first few rows on the flat. If you where unlucky and sat there you would have neck ache looking up at the screen. Ah those where the days.





 
The Carlton was too posh for me Bob, I was more at home in the Olympia.

Phil

Sparkbrook Taunton Rd Carlton.jpg
 
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Well done Phil after you've had a few gins we can still rely on you to come up with the goods!Its great to see that Carlton entrance although the rest of the place was pretty bland in comparison.
I wonder why they knocked it down as the land there is just a grass strip now and you would not believe it stood there once upon a time unless you went there!
 
My grandfather, Roy Andrew, had a lucky escape while working there during the early stages of the war, aged 24. He worked as a projectionist, part-time, I believe, and one day in 1940, he had to swap shifts with his colleague as he had an appointment. On that fateful day, on Friday, October 25, an incendiary bomb fell on the orchestra pit of the Taunton Road building, killing 19 or 20 and injuring 20 more as they watched the latest film release, Typhoon. Roy had a lucky escape, and it is believed Roy’s colleague, the projectionist, perished in the explosion. Rescuers described how front-row filmgoers had their eyes open as if still captivated by the film but were all actually dead. Before the devastation, an air raid warning flashed on the big screen, and while some tried to act on it, others didn’t. However, it made little difference, as death came seconds after the warning. There are several photos on the internet showing the devastation. Very sad.
 
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