• Welcome to this forum . We are a worldwide group with a common interest in Birmingham and its history. While here, please follow a few simple rules. We ask that you respect other members, thank those who have helped you and please keep your contributions on-topic with the thread.

    We do hope you enjoy your visit. BHF Admin Team

Birmingham Cinemas

mariew. I lived between the two cinemas at one time and visited them both regularly. Here's a pic for you. The Beaufort was the best.
 
Marie most of the photos of Cinemas which have been put up on the Forum lately are still on these pages. Search is the Secret

You will find a lovely Photo from Aston of the Beafort posted 26th Juily 2006:)

Don't get upset I'm only telling you all off:D

Shavedfish has just beaten me to it. Its the same picture
 
Sorry should have included the jpeg image not the bitmap.
Do you remember old George the attendant at the Beaufort? Strange looking man reminded me of Lon Chaney Sr as the 1925 Phantom of the Opera, but George didn't have make up to look like that. No wonder kids were too frightened to try to get in for an X certificate with George on guard!
 
Thanks for the photo shavedfish49 I had forgotten what a lovely building it was, shame it's gone and replaced with a building that's modern and all glass, sorry I can't remember george but my brother always paid and I was painfull shy and didn't take much notice of people. Alf I should know to use the search button, it slipped my mind, sorry.
 
Bottom left of photo was a Caf'e where my mates and myself use to meet for a cuppa after we had finised our work for the day as Reps. We also met in the morning for Breakfast at the Caf'e next to the Cinema. I have a photo of the three of us outside, I post it later in the day, Thanks for the memories:)
 
Beaufort Cinema

Hi There,
the Beaufort from another angle, I can't remember Johnny Cole at the Cap' I actually worked there for the last couple of years of its existance, helping out on Sundays to give the operator a day off I used to project the films, the joke was if you could get a film on the screen at the Capitol you could get a film on the screen anywhere, the equipment was shot to ribbons, 1 or may be 2 of the projectors had come out of the Beaufort when it closed and they were getting past their sell by date then, If I say THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH (the film) that will give you some idea, but itwas good fun and a challenge at the same time.
Regards Chris B
 
cinemas

Does any one remember the cinema on the Bristol Road, i think it was near to Bristol st. motors, it only showed continental films. I saw a film called ,The Wages of Fear, it was french with sub titles. Was the cinema called the Cameo.
 
Yes Postie thats it, where a crowd of mates & me got every Friday afternoon after finishing work, after went home to tea.:)

Or the Bristol re-named later
 
Yes Postie thats it, where a crowd of mates & me got every Friday afternoon after finishing work, after went home to tea.:)

Or if not the Bristol re-named later
 
Cinephone

The pictue House on Bristol St was the Cinephone, a mate of ours used to be the projectionist there, he used to have to censor the continental films before they could be shown and had set up a projector at home that shone on to the neighbours wall and he used to show us the cersored bits!
 
cinemas

Thanks for that Postied, I thought the name began with C, i also remember seeing Brigitte Bardot there, can't remember the name of the film, something steamy, The boy friend i was with that night, never stopped gaping at the screen all through the film.
 
re bristol st/rd

I went to that cinema on the bristol rd,to see a film very much like zulu.i kept asking my dad "IS IT NEARLY OVER" i thought it would never end.
Yarn yarn. pete
 
Was there another cinema on the Bristol Road, called The Bristol. Did we see The Fly there in cinemascope? Time plays tricks with your memory, so I am probably way out.
 
There were 3 cinemas within about half mile of each other. The Scala was on the corner of Smallbrook Queensway and Bristol Street. Later became the Scala Superama where I saw 'How the west was won' where 3 projectors were used to create a super-wide picture.
Next was the Cinephone which has had several names. Previously known as the Broadway, later renamed the Gala and finally the Climax!
On the corner of what is now Lee Bank Middleway (who thinks of these names?) and Bristol Road, was the Bristol later simply the ABC.
 
cinemas

Talking of cinemas, has anyone heard the discussion on Jeremy Vines radio show about the young man who was refused admisson to a cinema, he bought his own sweets and drink. The prices that were quoted were a rip off, I must say i have'nt been to a cinema for years, so i did'nt realise what they got up to now.
 
re cinema

williams yes i listend to that,i went to the uci and got some sweets to take in the woman sed £18 please,what a dear night that was.dont forget DO NOT TAKE YOUR PHONE IN THE CAR.
 
I read about the man taking the sweets into the cinema and unfortunately you have to be crafty as a rule to get in with your stash from an outside source. The prices are outrageous everywhere for snacks to eat in the cinema but this is how the chains make their money.

People mostly pay for this luxury...can't call it anything else but... other people who are against the chains making money in this way will buy their own snacks and hide them under bulky clothes. I'm not sure what happens in the summer though.:) With 21 screens at our local cinema they make plenty of money.
 
There used to be a little sweet shop next to the sheldon cinema where we used to buy our sweets and drinks to take in to the cinema, it was called the bon bon, no trouble taking stuff in in the old days.
 
Too true Arthur about the "old days" and taking goodies into the cinemas to eat while the films were on. Cinemas didn't sell sweets and chocolates when I was growing up and people generally took their own goodies with them. What did cinemas sell is the question? I can remember the ice cream tubs, the choc ices, Butterkist popcorn and Lyon's Maid Ice Lollies, which I could hardly ever afford when I was small unless Auntie or Uncle gave us extra money for the Saturday matinee:) Did some cinemas in Birmingham sell cigarettes as well?
 
The Bristol Cinema

Hi All,
The Bristol Cinema, situated on the Bristol Road was NOT named after the Bristol Road, it was named after the BRISTOL SAILING SHIP. The interior themed decor was of a nautical nature, the interior doors were likened to the doors on a liner of the day with a porthole, and in the alcoves either side of the proscenium arch there was a model of the BRISTOL SAILING SHIP which were backlit when the house lights came up.
Regards Chris B
 
sorry

sorry chris b, only just picked up your reply, you say sheldon you come from,
i lived in kelynmead rd worked at the garage on sheldon heath rd hung about round the poolway went out with a girl in hengham rd and two girls who live in kents moat not at the same time one adds thanks for your reply is,nt it strange the things you forget untill somthing jogs your memmory?
at this momment in time and i see you,re on line, i,m on skype to my mate in texas, he lived round chelmsley as i did at one time we were chewing the fat about when we were younger.
happy days regards dereklcg.;)
 
cinemas

I lived in Knowle Road Sparkhill from birth in 1938, and recall many cinemas in the area as I grew up.
The Springfield Cinema on Stratford Road was bomb damaged during the war, and not re opened until the early fifties, the seats had all been removed and we were able to just walk in and use the floor for roller skating. The building still survives.

Upon reaching teenage years, I met a girl from Tyseley, and we used to frequent the Tyseley Cinema, locally known as the 'bug hutch', it still remains on Warwick Road, now as commercial premises.

The Rialto Cinema in Hall Green had an Organ that rose up through the floor, played by Foley L Bates, a wonderfull sound.
Bill Haleys film Rock around the Clock resulted in the teddy boys [and girls]jiving in the aisles, which got out of hand and lots of seats were pulled out, ending up in a police raid to break it up. I know I was there.

The Robin Hood Cinema in Hall Green was a meeting place for teenagers on a Sunday, the films were immaterial, we strutted around in our drainpipe trousers and drape jackets trying to attract the girls.
These cinemas have gone , now supermarkets, happy fifties.

Other cinemas were; Warwick, Clifton, Piccadilly, Adelphi, and many more
each with there own story.
 
Meldrew Welcome plenty of Cinemas mentioned on the pages you are on.

Enjoy:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top