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Birmingham Cinemas

Diane1947 said:
I must admit when I was around 16 went to a party, and was invited on a date to go to the Odeon cinema at Perry Barry.
Was stood up he must have got a better offer lol, but I never did see the inside which look impressiv.

In recent years have been to the Electric Cinema in the heart of Birmingham. Tickets were a gift, that was lovely inside.I do believe that it’s now closed for good not because of Covid, but something to do with the end if their lease its a shame.
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Oh dear, I'm very sorry to hear about the Electric Cinema. It is (was) the longest running cinema in the whole of the UK, slightly older than the Electric in Portobello Road, London which has just reopened I understand.
I do so hope something can be done to keep it going, it's Cinema history.
 
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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My Mom took me to see DICK Barton Special Agent at the Green lane Cinema. I persuaded her to take in a school friend as well as it was A rated.
Ernie
Barr_Beacon said:
The News Theatre, Birmingham...

News Theatre in Birmingham, GB - Cinema Treasures

Located in the city centre on High Street at Dale End between New Meeting Street & Carrs Lane. The Cinematograph Theatre was opened 29th July 1910 ...
cinematreasures.org
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Barr_Beacon said:
The News Theatre, Birmingham...

News Theatre in Birmingham, GB - Cinema Treasures

Located in the city centre on High Street at Dale End between New Meeting Street & Carrs Lane. The Cinematograph Theatre was opened 29th July 1910 ...
cinematreasures.org
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I used to go to the News Theatre, it was good value we could watch the program twice and was good night out with my girl friend. Is it still operating? Someone let me know, please
Ernie
 
My father would take me to The Cartoon Picture House (The Jacey) in Station Street in the mid sixties. The funny thing was as well as showing Looney Tunes cartoons, it used to show Flash Gordan (with Buster Crabbe) and Batman which were 'shorts' and shown as a series and The Three Stooges. All of these were filmed in the 1930s and 1940s. As a child I wasn't aware of this and derived a lot of enjoyment in watching them.

Batman and Robin (1949)

Batman and Robin (1949).jpg
 
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A Sparks said:
Oh dear, I'm very sorry to hear about the Electric Cinema. It is (was) the longest running cinema in the whole of the UK, slightly older than the Electric in Portobello Road, London which has just reopened I understand.
I do so hope something can be done to keep it going, it's Cinema history.
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hi sparks so we have the oldest cinema in the uk...quite a claim to fame but i doubt very much if the powers that be will be tripping over each other to save it...certainly looks closed now looking at street view...so sad

lyn
 
Barr_Beacon said:
My father would take me to The Cartoon Picture House (The Jacey) in Station Street in the mid sixties. The funny thing was as well as showing Looney Tunes cartoons, it used to show Flash Gordan (with Buster Crabbe) and Batman which were 'shorts' and shown as a series and The Three Stooges. All of these were filmed in the 1930s and 1940s. As a child I wasn't aware of this and derived a lot of enjoyment in watching them.

Batman and Robin (1949)

View attachment 162325
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Good morning I have a boxed set of the original Batman , one of the actors is J Carroll Nash who acts as the evil Dr Dakar . Turning people into Zombies , of course it all works out well in the end with Batman being there .
 
thanks jan...copied and pasted what the web site says...i could be wrong but reading it it seems to me that the cinema could be owned by the council...or at least the ground its on...would be interesting to find out...if it turns out its council property/land then i do fear for the cinema

The Electric Cinema Birmingham​

​

The future of The Electric Cinema Birmingham faces an even bigger issue than that of Covid due to the impending end of its 88 year lease.
As the freeholder has yet to make a decision about its plans for Station Street, we are not currently in a position to reopen the cinema.
This uncertainty has also meant we have been unable to apply for the Cultural Recovery Fund or other financial support to assist us financially through the period of closure.
 
32334656563_f027b13c1f_c.jpg
 
Astoness said:
thanks jan...copied and pasted what the web site says...i could be wrong but reading it it seems to me that the cinema could be owned by the council...or at least the ground its on...would be interesting to find out...if it turns out its council property/land then i do fear for the cinema

The Electric Cinema Birmingham​

​

The future of The Electric Cinema Birmingham faces an even bigger issue than that of Covid due to the impending end of its 88 year lease.
As the freeholder has yet to make a decision about its plans for Station Street, we are not currently in a position to reopen the cinema.
This uncertainty has also meant we have been unable to apply for the Cultural Recovery Fund or other financial support to assist us financially through the period of closure.
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I remember going there as a kid , while I realise we have to move forward it is sad to think that this landmark might disappear
 
The Ashsted Cinema, Ashsted Row.
My oldest brother was the projectionist at the Ashsted in early mid 50s and I was allowed up to the projection room to watch him working. It seemed exciting the first couple of times but I soon got bored watching him doing very little. He would load the film, sometimes it would break, everybody would boo, he would fix it and get it running again and everybody would cheer. It closed in late 50s and he went to another one cant remember which one.
I did google before posting and there is a great photo on there but I did'nt copy and post it because I dont know who owns it.
Ken
 
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Christmas won’t be the same without our yearly Christmas visit to the Electric Cinema to see “It’s a Wonderful Life”, sad times.

The wife and I have been going there for a few years now, it’s part of our Christmas tradition, along with going to watch ”The Nutcracker” at the Hippodrome.
 
Barr_Beacon said:
Fingers crossed...

www.birminghammail.co.uk

Electric Cinema to reopen 'before Christmas' under new ownership

The UK's oldest working cinema has been taken over on a permanent basis by the owner of a slightly younger 104-year-old Picture House in East Sussex
www.birminghammail.co.uk www.birminghammail.co.uk
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A Sparks said:
Excellent news!
Slightly different report from the BBC website....
www.bbc.co.uk

The Electric: One of England's oldest cinemas set to reopen

The new owner of Birmingham's Electric Cinema wants it to be a 'go-to' place for film lovers.
www.bbc.co.uk
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Brilliant! There’s hope for the continuation of our tradition then
 
tim eborn said:
Dont think I ever went to see a film there but a few of us from The Birmingham Scooter Club used their coffee bar, situated under the balcony.
We had been evicted from The Midland Red Depot, Digbeth who explained they weren't going to keep their cafeteria open after 11pm to serve 7 coffees.
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I remember going to the scooter club. I seem to remember that it was called the Cherubs.
 
Barr_Beacon said:
My father would take me to The Cartoon Picture House (The Jacey) in Station Street in the mid sixties. The funny thing was as well as showing Looney Tunes cartoons, it used to show Flash Gordan (with Buster Crabbe) and Batman which were 'shorts' and shown as a series and The Three Stooges. All of these were filmed in the 1930s and 1940s. As a child I wasn't aware of this and derived a lot of enjoyment in watching them.

Batman and Robin (1949)

View attachment 162325
Click to expand...
yes looney tunes is already pretty much outdated like this photo. My daughter was looking at something fresh the other day))
may like it
 
Foleyan said:
I remember going to the scooter club. I seem to remember that it was called the Cherubs.
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Well that's a suprise! The Cherubs was my idea. We were trying to come up with something for a banner to put on the scooters to advertise our presence at rallies etc.
I suggested Cherubs as a sort of pun on us being a small version of Hells Angels ! Another member was into something in advertising and we got a picture of a crash helmeted Cherub going flat out in a black silhouette on a yellow background.
Had a great social time as females were very welcome and we competed well against other two wheelers in events like The ACU 1000 miles. Non of that Mods and Rockers rubbish and a few of went to Austria for a trip in 1960.
 
Mike Blakemore said:
Hmm.. The Olton Cinema was really the more up market then the Robin Hood and Rialto. Having worked for ABC and later was a part owner of the Oltons Parent company... The Olton Cost more to build then the other 2 put to gether. Had the more modern projection system eg Philips. was the first to have the FP7's that went back to the Philips in Holland when it closed.. (They paid us more then we paid for them to start off with.. The Olton Had the groups board room in and always had the money spent on the Theatre.. The Theatre had a full repaint every 10 years and cleaning coat every 5years. Unlike the Robin hood and the Rialto that had the same coat of paint and the same seats as when it closed as it opened... AS B.T. Davis the Chairman lived near by it had to be right....
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Mike, I am doing some research on local cinemas in Acocks Green, Olton and Solihull and wonder if you are able to enlighten me further on their history. One point that I am not clear on with the Olton is the name of the last film shown. There is information stating it was Samantha Eggar and Oliver Reed in “The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a gun” however I have seen another report in a 1972 copy of The Birmingham Daily Post referring to a film called “Red Sun” I wonder if you could throw any light on this? I hope you do not mind me reaching out to you.
 
Foleyan said:
Mike, I am doing some research on local cinemas in Acocks Green, Olton and Solihull and wonder if you are able to enlighten me further on their history. One point that I am not clear on with the Olton is the name of the last film shown. There is information stating it was Samantha Eggar and Oliver Reed in “The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a gun” however I have seen another report in a 1972 copy of The Birmingham Daily Post referring to a film called “Red Sun” I wonder if you could throw any light on this? I hope you do not mind me reaching out to you.
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Check it out here

Olton Cinema in Solihull, GB - Cinema Treasures

Located in Olton, Solihull, Warwickshire, to the south-east Birmingham. The Olton Cinema was on the corner of Warwick Road and Brookvale Road. It...
cinematreasures.org
 
Foleyan said:
Mike, I am doing some research on local cinemas in Acocks Green, Olton and Solihull and wonder if you are able to enlighten me further on their history. One point that I am not clear on with the Olton is the name of the last film shown. There is information stating it was Samantha Eggar and Oliver Reed in “The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a gun” however I have seen another report in a 1972 copy of The Birmingham Daily Post referring to a film called “Red Sun” I wonder if you could throw any light on this? I hope you do not mind me reaching out to you.
Click to expand...
Red Sun a western with a Japanese twist released in 1972. Charles Bronson starred
Bob
 
Mum still mentions her time as an usherette in one of Aston's cinemas in the 1950s (don't know which one though). She's 89 now but reminisces often. Could have been the Astoria.
 
cba said:
My uncle, Bernard Murphy was a cinema projectionist in the 1930s and 40s in Sutton Coldfield and Tamworth. It was a very skilled occupation.
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Hi there do you have any more info on your uncle as I think he was my grandad and I have been trying to trace my family tree for years
 
Hi
He was born in 1923. he had a son called Paul possibly born in 1952. His wife was Irene Grace. Bernard died in late1955.
If this fits with him being your grandad send me a private message and we can exchange information.
Carolann
 
cba said:
Hi
He was born in 1923. he had a son called Paul possibly born in 1952. His wife was Irene Grace. Bernard died in late1955.
If this fits with him being your grandad send me a private message and we can exchange information.
Carolann
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I am new to this I can’t see how to private message you
 
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