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Birmingham Cinemas

Chris B said:
Hi Mazbeth,
Do You mean the PLAZA at Stockland Green, the manager was Frank Rieago he worked for many many years in fact well past retirement age into his 70s I think.
Regards Chris Bryan
Click to expand...

Frank retired when the Theatre Closed.. I think he was 86................ I was the General Manager of "The Capitol Cinema" at Alum Rock That owned the Plaza Stockland Green
 
The Odeon Kingstanding was NOT.. designed by the Harry Weedons architects....... It was not a Built Odeaon...... Satchwell and Roberts... where the Architects.. The company that built it was "The Beacon Cinema (Kingstanding) Ltd...." Oscar bought a £100 pound worth of shares in the company. liked the design and got Weedon's to emulate it in further designs.

The Beacon Kingstanding was sold to Rank...... much later..
 
I would like to point out that the Warley Odeon was not built by Sidney Clift, of Clifton fame, but was built like most other Odeons by Oscar Deutch. According to Ned Williams Book "Cinemas of the Blackcountry" an excellent publication the details are "The original company that set out to build a cinema on this site included Sidney Clift and W.H. Onions. Their involvement presumably accouts for the fact that Roland Satchwell was the original architect" the book continues with further details thus......"

"At some stage the original company ran into financial difficulties and Oscar Deutch was invited to join the scheme. He became the chairman of the company and the Warley layed an important part in defining the emerging Odeon style"

As pointed out by Mike mosy of the comanies that supplied fittings and fixtures were payed by shares in each individual company and they seemed more thah happy to go along with this, electrical and projection equipment was always supplied by B.T.H for instance and I seem to remember reading somewhere that the "eagle Star" insurance company had shares but this needs confirming.

Effectivly Deutch built each cinema with very little personal investment. The "Warley" became "Warley Odeon" soon after.
 
The key players Was Sidney Clift and W H Onions ......(both Clift Onions and the usual Clifton investors still controled co.,) Oscar Deutch only had £100 shares in the site....... and stayed that way until it was sold to Rank.. B.T.H Projection was common to both Odeon and Clifton...... (there was a lot of co-operation between both companies) I believe Clift formed a number of Odean Compaies for Deutch) Eagle Star bought interests in Rank much later along with Wesylan and General.... In the Cinemas history it was only run by Clifton for a short time.....
The Ned Williams Book do's carry a small number of myths........ My knowledge comes from nearly 40 years being in the busniess plus my Familes 100 years of share interests in the main players and our own theatre interests So I got my knowledge from the horses mouth...

Both Kingstanding & Warley where most important designs the defind further Odeon Cinemas..

So Ronald Satchwell was the real creator of the Odean look and not Weedon

Trivia Moment... Satchwell also designed the Alexandra Theatre Birmingham (Leon Salburg was a Director of Clifton)
 
I have read your posts with interest Mike and did wonder where your knowledge came from. Your last post has answered this. Thank you for the informative posts there's nothing like family business knowledge from those who were there. I love the Alexandra Theatre and now know who designed it thank you.
 
Projectionist:

I was a projectionist way back in the 60's at the following cinemas:
Odeon Perry Barr (4th)
Plaza Stockland Green (3rd)
Cinephone Bristol Street (3rd & 2nd) then part time.
Beacon Walsal Road (part time)
Clifton Walsal Road (part time)

After that I just worked at Tucker Fasteners in the RF department.
Do you remember these places.
 
Greetings.
The Cinephone had the Drukers Coffee shop on the floore above the entrance, the special was beans on toast, it was close to Bristol Street Motors as recall, there is a short film of the opening on the Pathe News site.
 
I remember all of those cinemas, Andrew. I spent many Saturday mornings at the Odeon Perry Barr in the 40's, and as I grew up and the programme changed twice weekly I spent many an evening there. At one point of my childhood I lived in Hamstead and a friend of my mom was an usherette at the Beacon, in Great Barr, as most of the films in those days were U certificates I often sat in the back row on the end seat and would see the films through twice, courtesy of mom's friend. The Clifton and The Odeon Perry Barr are still standing, The Clifton is now a Bingo Hall, and I think the Odeon Perry Barr is Bingo too. The Plaza on Stockland Green was still there when I last drove past.
 
hi all
If I remember right the duke box in the Cinephone had a kind of built in television with moving pictures when a record played, I remember one band but not the name of the record, B. Bumble and the Stingers.
paul
 
I remember that video box, howmany times we had to repair the films on it, they were 16mm film an in very poor shape, it set by the front windows on the right by the stairs to the balcony. I was glad to see the ack of that thing. I would always work the weekends as 2nd as the chief was always off then, I would have to change the programs on Saturday night and make up all the films for Sunday afternoon, I never got the weekend off so I changed to working part time three evenings in week and working at Tucker Fasteners in the daytime.
Andrew.
 
My wifes mom was an usherette at the Clifton and Beacon and she lived in Hamstead, her name was Margaret Humphries, lived on Coniston Crescent, do you know the name at all, I think the manager at the Clifton was Mr Walls.
Andrew
 
hi all
I am glad someone remembers that video box the memory is going now and I wasn't sure if was correct or not I would sometimes pop in to the Cinephone just for a coffee, especially if I was with cadets at thorp st drill hall.
paul
 
The B Bumble record was probably Nut Rocker which, if I remember correc tly , was their version of the nutcracker suite
Mike
 
Maz,
The Futurist was in John Bright St,I believe it is now a lap dancing club.
How our standards have fallen.:rolleyes:
 
Does anyone remember the Paramount cinema in New St.it had large aquariums in the foyer,containing a variety of tropical fish...very posh...:)It later became The Odeon.
Dunno what it is now...probably a spearmint rhino,strip joint or some such horror.:rolleyes:
 
thanks mike of course it was, funny no matter how bad your memory gets if you hear a song or tune it immeadiatly takes you back with such clarity to the actual time and place, other songs for me are poetry in motion, jonny tillitson, timing, In dreams, roy orbitson, batchelour boy, cliff.
paul
 
sorry, I think I'm getting really mixed up
that wasn't called The Gaumont, was it, at some point...near the Police Headquarters..in that first pic it looks similar
EDIT: no forget that - just looked again and can see that exit from New St. station, so have placed it in my mind.
thanks.

and I've just had a mental block, what was the name of the cinema that used to be open really late on a Saturday night for midnight films etc?
must have been opposite what was The Night and Day nightclub at some point, but I'm blowed if I ...scrap last few words..Bristol St. of course...
still can't remember the name of the cinema though..was it Smallbrook Queensway/Bristol St.?

and did anyone else ever go to late night screenings there?

I remember I saw Tales from the Crypt there in about '76
scary...oh and a zombies in shopping centre film as well :shocked:
hate things like that now
 
Maz,The Gaumont was in Steelhouse Lane.
The cinema in Bristol St.was the Cinephone,never went in there,they used to show "arty"films.:rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
Maz,
You are really pushing my memory to it's limit bab.:(
In Station St. was "The News Theatre" and the "Tatler",they didn't show films, only shorts and news items.
 
to clarify
I mean the big one..I can't say it was on the corner, as it's curved, and may not [have been] be right on the end
but Googling and I realise it's called Horsefair, and Suffolk st [?]...not Bristol st. [sorry]
i.e. at Holloway Circus area

EDIT:
found it!!
Odeon Queensway
https://cinematreasures.org/theater/22098/

photo after it was closed
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/2037629864/

[so it was on the curve]

another one when it was still open
https://www.mawgrim.co.uk/cavalcade/birminghamor.jpg

nother one
https://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/74758788/
 
I wouldn't have known where Bristol St.ended and The Horsefair began,but it was all the A38.
and that's where the Cinephone was.
Have just looked at your photo.the time I am thinking of there was no such place as The Queensway.:rolleyes:
 
yes, Odeon Queensway
just found this
Screen 1 of the Odeon Queensway Birmingham
74758790

https://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/74758790/
 
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