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Birmingham Cinemas

maggs said:
Paul, I thought the Gaumont in Brum was beautiful. Those luxurious waiting areas, with the sofa's and film star pictures all around. Oh what nostalgia. I think possibly I only went once and can't remember what I saw.
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Maggs I bet it was The Sound Of Music. It ran for years at the Gaumont I think a lot of us on here went!:D
 
hi maggs
I am not so quick these days but I have been talking to a lady who now lives in cambridge, like me !! this is the lady i was thinking of
kind regards to all
paul stacey
 
hi maggs
if your the ex brummie who like me lives in cambridge, (cottenham)? then yes maybe we could meet up in town at starbucks in borders for a coffee and yarn about our mis spent youth in brum
kind regards
paul stacey
 
Paul & maggs there is enough members in around Cambridge to start your own Brummie Group.:)
 
I lived in eastfield rd and went to the ritz from 1930s to the early 50s. memories of the saturday crush, tom mix, great days.philcarr.
 
Organist : Wilfred Gregory, Wylde Green Pavilion, & Forum New Street

Back in the 1930's and 1940's : Wilfred Gregory was a cinema organist at: (1) Walsall Picture House, (2) Wolverhampton Gaumont, (3) Pavilion at Wylde Green, (4) Forum in New Street, (5) Tower at West Bromwich.

Does anyone have any photo's of Wilf or adverts/programmes mentioning him.

Also does anyone have a photo of the Wylde Green Pavilion, or New Street Forum. (I have photos of the others cinemas).

Many Thanks
Glen
 
Glen if you put what you are looking for in the Search box at the top of the page there is a chance that you could find it. If you are looking for Cinema organs use the word. Don't think Wurli is in it. It you get my jest:)
 
Thankyou for your search suggestion.
"Wilfred Gregory" took me back to my original posting only.

So, if any of you have any photo's of Wilfred, please could you share them with me.

Many Thanks,
Glen
 
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To coincide with the showing on ITV at the moment of the series of films from the "On the Buses" stable, I thought I would present a saved advertisement from the period especially for Forumers to delight in the number of Birmingham cinemas, but which sadly are no longer with us.

Look at the mention of the ABC Birmingham-three weeks!! That's the ABC Forum in New Street by the way. The ABC Coleshill Street was after the first week showing a return of 'My Fair Lady' if i recall, since that particular ABC had the special equipment for showing the wide-angle movies.
 
hi all
thanks for the reminder "richie", but I think the prices on the advert say it all, brings back happy memories though.
regards
paul stacey
 
Here you are Richie, as promised The Birmingham News Theatre High St. Though I suspect as many people will be pleased of the reminder of the Oxford Restaurant as well.

Phil
 

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Smashing photo Phil! Takes me back to when I was a little girl and if we were in town, my Dad would often take me to the News Theatre which had a continuous programme of cartoons and news. Great to see it again.

Judy
 
Great the picture of the Oxford Restaurant,brought back a lot of Memories.
In the 50's I used to work in Edgbaston street,and used to go there for Pie & Chips,lovely food & reasonable price.
Thanks.
Jemina
 
Phil has put the picture on for me to reveal some more of my discoveries from my contacts in the cinema trade, on this occasion of the News Theatre itself. Due to circumstances here in Wolves i may not have chance to put the link on before next weekend, but be assured it will be a spot-on all-its-glory series of photos.

Richie.
 
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Let me see. I arrived in Brum in 1970, and I remember there were several city centre cinemas.

There was the Odeon, New Street of course though it was more rock concerts than films back then.

Then there was a big Odeon on Smallbrook Queensway (or Ringway?) where I saw Fellini's "Satyricon" (weird weird movie)

Near there was also a small art house cinema showing high class Continental films - can't remember its name.

There was the Gaumont which I remember as being a very big sumptuous old-fashioned cinema even then - huge pleated-curve red curtains and big deep seats.

Higher up New Street there was a compact ABC (somewhere near Woolies); I THINK it was a single screen but there is a nagging feeling it may even have been more than that (but I don't see how it could have been really, given the space).

Then they built that ABC triple-screen at the city end of Pershore Road. Even that's gone now.

Down near the bus station below New Street there were - I think - two more cinemas (though one of them may have been a bit higher up the road?) of which one showed soft porn movies in the 70s. One of those cinemas was the Futurist. Was the other called The Electric or something like that?

There was another cinema showing "similar" films :D on Bristol Street - was that the Jaycee?

The only out of town cinema I remember was up at Quinton, where I went in the early 80s. That could have been an Odeon but it could also just be a lucky guess!

Of all those city centre cinemas, I know most have now gone, but did any survive?
 
Welcome Tid the one by Woolies was the Forum New St. it had various names over the years.:)

If you go to the Top of this tread a and type what you want in 'Search this thread' theres a chance you will find what you want, by the way there is 800+ posts on this tread
 
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Alf said:
Welcome Tid the one by Woolies was the Forum New St. it had various names over the years.:)

If you go to the Top of this tread a and type what you want in 'Search this thread' theres a chance you will find what you want, by the way there is 800+ posts on this tread
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Thank you Alf. I guess the Forum was taken over by ABC towards the end of its life? We always knew it as "the ABC New Street", but that may have been only for a year or two.

I do find that reading all the threads as a new member of a forum, is overwhelmingly something I have not the time or energy for! :shocked: I will try out your Search suggestion - thanks again. :)
 
Forum Cinema-opened 1st November 1930 as The Forum which later became the ABC Forum in 1961.

Always remained a single screen picture house until it closed for good on 9th April 1983.

The building prior to 1930 was originally a Masonic Hall, hence the wording of the link on this site here:-

www.oldcinemas.com/birmingham_masonic_hall.htm

If you use the back arrow to the home page on there you will get a bumper expose on a vast majority of the Birmingham AND West Midlands past picture houses on there. Some brilliant photos.

Alf, if you've not seen this site, you'll be giddy with it. Pictures of The Cinephone I've never seen....

Richie.
 
Richie said:
Forum Cinema-opened 1st November 1930 as The Forum which later became the ABC Forum in 1961.

Always remained a single screen picture house until it closed for good on 9th April 1983.

The building prior to 1930 was originally a Masonic Hall, hence the wording of the link on this site here:-

www.oldcinemas.com/birmingham_masonic_hall.htm

If you use the back arrow to the home page on there you will get a bumper expose on a vast majority of the Birmingham AND West Midlands past picture houses on there. Some brilliant photos.

Alf, if you've not seen this site, you'll be giddy with it. Pictures of The Cinephone I've never seen....

Richie.
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Wow, as late as 1983? Shows how unreliable memory is - I returned to Birmingham in 1982 and I'd thought it was already closed then. Just goes to show.

Thanks for the link - looks like some wonderful stuff there.
 
Thanks for that Richie, thats sorted me for a couple of hours Sunday:)

Tid the last film shown at the Forum April 9th 1983 was ET
 
Alf said:
Thanks for that Richie, thats sorted me for a couple of hours Sunday:)

Tid the last film shown at the Forum April 9th 1983 was ET
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Alf, the site seems to belong to, or at least connected with, The Mercian Film Society of many years ago. In which case, they have gone into the space age now!:biggrin:
 
Yes Richie and it looks like it needs a good face lift, so much could be done to make it more attractive:)
 
Jerry said:
As most of you know I was brought up in Small Heath and that area was particularly well off for cinemas when we were kids. Within walking distance of our house there was
The Grange
The Coronet
The Kingston
The Green Lane
The Era

and just a short bus ride away there were
The Adelphi
The Tivoli
The Sheldon
The Waldorf
The Piccadilly
The Rock
The Ritz

Very often I'd go to the pictures three times on a saturday, I'd go to a morning matinee at one cinema, an afternoon matinee at another and our mum would take me to pictures on saturday night while the old man went for a drink - Mum didn't drink :wink:
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I was also born and bred in Small Heath(Cattell Road).It was interesting to see your list of cinemas,i think i have been to them all at some time or other in the 40s,50s &60. Do you know why on Sundays they would always show old films? I thik it was somethink to do with the law. Again many thanks for the memories.:D:D
 
hello Joe
The cinemas we went to were the palladium in hockley.the Villa cross in lozells Then when we moved to Erdington the Palace cinema.When i met my wife we saw The Young Ones with Cliff Richard and the shadows at the Forum or the ABC new street this was 1962 so i,m not sure what the cinema was called at that time.Then we used to go to the Sheldon cinema mainly on Wednesday afternoon as we worked in Halfords and Wednesday was half day.The Odean new street was the other cinema we went to that is where we saw Louis Armstrong and company nice bit of jazz very nice 1962 or 1963 not sure.
Roystonp123
 
Hi

Im sorry but this will get me into trouble. All this
talking about Picture house has sent me into a bit of a spin.
Happy days.


Mike Jenks
 
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