CONFESSIONS OF A CINEMA EMPLOYEE

[Chris B]

Hi All,
here is a little saga about the good old days when I worked at the Sheldon Cinema On the A45 Coventry Road Sheldon.

CONFESSIONS OF A CINEMA EMPLOYEE.​

Chapter one.
A PART TIME JOB.​

As the Chief Operator once said to me in a fit of temper because he found me having a chat with the kiosk attendant, who he had a “soft spot“ for, “You might think you have done everything in this place, but you have never pasted up the big poster outside.” And he was indeed correct, because by the end that was the only job I hadn’t done in the cinema. But lets start at the beginning I was saving up to get a deposit on a house and get married, so being employed in the retail trade in the position of Assistant Manager at Lewis’s Department Store, lots of prestige but not much money, I decided to get a part time evening job, I wasn’t struck on working in a pub so being keen on films and the fact our local cinema The Sheldon was advertising for a part time usher for the princely sum of £2-2-0 (£2.10 in modern money) for 3 nights from 7pm to closing approx 10-35pm. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, one week and Friday, Saturday, Sunday the next week, I applied and got the job. The first Manager I worked for was named Mr Charles Aston known as Charlie Aston in the business, he was the second Manager since the building had opened in 1937 with Deanna Durbin in 3 Smart Girls, The first being Mr Sydney Last, employed by the board of directors for “his vast knowledge of the cinematograph trade.” The Sheldon was a typical 1930s cinema, it seated about 1500 in the stalls and balcony / circle, it was a horseshoe shaped balcony which was suspended on an enormous girder that spanned the building with ribs stretching back to support the seating area, the girder had to be transported down the Coventry Road on a Sunday on a Pickfords low loader , and it had to come the wrong way around the island at the Swan at Yardley because of its enormous length but it gave the stalls patrons a totally uninterrupted view of the screen, no columns in the stalls supporting the balcony. The projection equipment was Weststar Heads with Peerless Magnarcs carbon lamp housings and Westrex valve sound amplifiers, the front of the building had beautiful stained glass windows at the balcony lounge level and to enhance it at night there was a series of red and green neon lighting illuminating the building, it looked attractive without being garish. Charlie Aston was the epitome of a cinema manager, he was a big fellow and quite rotund, you could always tell when business was good as when you came on duty he was on the front of house puffing on a big cigar greeting the patrons, when it was quiet he could be found in the office picking the greyhounds for his flutter on the dogs at Hall Green stadium. I always remember a story Charlie told me about his early days as manager, the company that owned the cinema was a building company called Morris & Jacombs, although the premises had been constructed by Bryants the builders, the Chairman of the board was Harry Morris, and on one of his Saturday evening calls as he was “just passing” he asked Charlie how business was? Now Charlie being young and keen at that time had put up some shelves in the spacious pay desk and filled them with bags of peanuts, because in those days you got your eats and sweets from the shop next door as there were no kiosks in the cinemas and the Sheldon was no exception with the “Bon Bon” run by two middle aged ladies being adjacent to the cinema, now Charles thought this move was going to be a feather in his cap, so his reply to Harry was “ We’ve sold 500 bags of peanuts tonight Mr Morris,” to which the reply came “We are here to sell pictures Charles, not peanuts,” which is in sharp contrast to today’s theory of acres of confection and fast food and tea shirts, film related material etc and oh by the way there is film showing in the back room if you are interested. Initially I was taking tickets and patrolling around the building checking the exits telling the yobs to “belt up,” the other two people on the team was an older man who worked at the G.E.C. In the day time and a somewhat limp wristed character who was in his element helping the balcony usherette shining the torch and generally poncing about rather than sorting out the yobs.

To Be Continued

Regards Chris B

 

[Chris B]

CONFESSIONS OF A CINEMA EMPLOYEE Chapter 3

Hi All,
the next episode for the cinema saga.

CONFESSIONS OF A CINEMA EMPLOYEE.​

Chapter two
We Learn As We Go​

Another story Mr Aston told me was about the relief Manager who was named Mr Stanford, he was a touch more of an aggressive character and he was formerly manager of the Coronet cinema in Small Heath, Now just a bit of information before the point of the story. For those who may not realise it all cinemas are licensed premises and the manager is usually the licensee, every 12 months the premises have an annual inspection for the license renewal, and in those days it was quite an event, two or three city of Birmingham limousines arrived at the premises containing the licensing justices, people like Dame Cadbury (Cadbury’s Chocolates), Lady Bower and others dignitaries and their clerks etc, plus a senior fire brigade and police officer, and they were all involved in inspecting the premises. Now prior to this event you had to have an electrical inspection to ascertain the condition of wiring etc, and once every five years or so you had to have a ceiling inspection to make sure that the plaster was going to stay up there and not land in in some bodies lap while James Bond was blowing up the villains headquarters, all this had to be done by qualified personnel from specialist firms who then issued a certificate if all was found to be well. This certificate had to be produced at the inspection. Now back to the story, the inspection of the Coronet took place and on this occasion the officials found that there was no toilet paper in a couple of the ladies cubicles and Mr Stanford was reprimanded. Now 12 months on at the next inspection Mr Stanford moistened a few sheets of the paper and stuck them high up on the wall of the toilets out of reach so when he went round with the justices he was able to say there was always paper in the toilets, they were not amused and he had another ear wigging. Another point of interest was that the guy who had been employed in the job some time before me was a character called “Big Jim,” his main employment was with Spillers the Millers so he was used to picking up heavy things and throwing them about. Now it was not a good night for Jim if he hadn’t got to throw anyone out, so if there was not any trouble he got bored and he would go and provoke some likely yob so that he could open the exit doors with his head as he carried him out bodily by his collar and the seat of his trousers. After one lively Saturday night when Jim had put a few out he went home across the recreation ground, and hidden in the bushes were his old adversaries and they leapt out upon him and a few stiletto heels and fists found their mark. When Jim reported for work on the Sunday he had a few band aids and some bruising, and he said to Charlie Aston “if you see anyone going passed or coming in with bandages on there heads let me know” and with that he pulled out the cosh that he carried in his back pocket which was covered with dried blood and tapped his hand with it. Oh well it takes all sorts.

Now back to the job, things carried on very much on a routine basis and having an enquiring mind I was drawn to wanting to have a look around the projection room as I had never seen one before, but the Chief who was one of the old school and he wouldn't allow “unauthorised people in the box” but he wasn’t there seven nights a week, and I had become friendly with the 2nd and 3rd operator who would let me go up to the projection room when it was the Chiefs night off or he was on holiday, and over a period of time I learned how to lace up the film, put new carbons in the arc lamps, and do changeovers. Now the projection suite in an old 1937 cinema is nothing like it is today, you had a series of rooms across the width of the building, one was the rectifier room which contained as the name suggests a rectifier, which converted the incoming AC current to DC to supply the carbon arc lamps for the light on the screen, the room was like something out of Frankenstein’s laboratory with a couple of large glass containers of a peculiar shape containing mercury all dancing about with a blueish light, then you had got the non sync room which contained a record player for the interval music (non synchronous music nothing to do with film), then there was the dimmer room which contained the backend of the dimmer banks that controlled the house lights and the foot lights and the battens around the proscenium arch surrounding the screen, then you had the main projection room and finally the rewind room for rewinding the film after it had been projected. The reason that the rewind room was separate from the projection room was that nitrate film stock was highly inflammable, but after the mid fifties safety film was invented, so you could rewind in the projection room. In the projector lamp houses written on the casing by the Chief was the instruction “Burn up Your Bits” this referred to the short ends of carbon rods so that you got full value from them, and there were holders made so that you could burn the rods practically down to the end, the only trouble was that if you miscalculated the length and the rod came to an end before the end of the reel at best you got a poor light on the screen, at worst you had no light at all and you had to hastily replace the carbons whilst the audience had a foot stamping and hand clapping session. It was usual to use the bits on the kids Saturday matinee as they had a number of short films in the programme. On the door of the projector heads the Chiefs message read “8 in the Gate,” this of course referred to the number 8 on the film leader, and when you laced up the film the number 8 had to be in the aperture so that you gave the audience a “seamless” changeover of the reels, if you were to put 4 or 3 in the gate you could save a minute or two on each reel and over the length of a feature film you could finish the show 10 minutes early, which if you were a drinker meant that you could get to the pub before last orders were called.
When a new young cashier was employed Charlie told her to keep away from the projection room, but eventually curiosity got the better of her and on her meal break she went to have a look at where the film came from, when she returned to the job Charlie said to her “I thought I’d told you keep away from the projection room” “I haven’t been up there” she replied, and as she followed the downward gaze of Charlie’s eyes she saw two embarrassing dirty hand marks on the top of her light coloured dress.

To Be Continued.
Regards Chris B

 

[Chris B]

This is Chapter 3 sorry made a mistake with last numbering

Hi All, here is the next bit.

CONFESSIONS OF A CINEMA EMPLOYEE


Chapter 3

Staff Matters.​

At this time besides we three “chuckers out” on the floor staff there were usherettes / sales girls of various ages and two door men, both strangely enough called George, one was Full Time George and the other was Part Time George, for the purpose of this tale referred to as F.T & P.T. Now for a start these two never got on, at the weekends F.T George would do the car park attendant duties because it was the busiest period and the tips were good, he used to stand or sit in his little hut by the entrance to the car park and in the days when the boilers were coke fired in the winter he would have his brazier blazing away fired with a couple of shovels of red hot coke from the boiler with a billy can on it for his tea, and when it was quiet inside we lads would put a wedge in one of the outer side exit doors and go and have a chat with George and stand and have a warm by the brazier and then go back inside to keep an eye on things. One of George’s other duties on a Saturday night was as soon as the feature had started he would come in and change the front of house posters and stills and put the new programme on the category board using the magnetic letters, the information for this was on a piece of paper from Mr Aston printed in block capitals, the other job he had to do was to sign the fire book at the close of business to say that the building had been inspected for any signs of burning material, (most people smoked in those days) now the writing of his signature was appalling, you will see the reason for this comment and the previous information shortly. One Saturday night all was quiet in the stalls and it was time for my tea break, I came out into the foyer to make my way up to the staff room and F.T George was changing one of the posters, I looked up and said “they’ve spelt that poster wrong,” it was Maximillian Schell in something, (I just can’t remember what,) the poster company had missed one of the “Ls” out of his name, I continued up to the staff room and had my break. On my way back down I could hear voices raised in the Foyer and there was George waving his arms about and pointing here and there vaguely at the poster, it turned out that he had gone into the office and told Charlie Aston that the poster was spelt wrongly and Charlie had come out to look and he asked George “where,” I didn’t realise it at the time until Mr Aston told me but George couldn’t read or write and he’d failed to ask me what part of the poster was wrongly spelt. Unfortunately things for poor old George were to take a bit of a downward turn over the next couple of years. But before we come to that we’ll look at another bit of fun,
Sundays was the change of programme, and also “yob” day and one of F.T. George’s favourite tricks was to patrol down the gangways in the stalls dressed in his best uniform with the epaulets and the shining capital letter “S” (for Sheldon) on his peaked hat, on his travels some likely lad would shout some remark to him as he passed, he would remonstrate with the youth only to be told *ollocks, he would then turn to face the back wall where Harry and I were standing, draw himself up to his full 5ft-6” height and with a wave of his arm he would summon us, when we got there to see what he wanted he would utter these immortal words “I’ve told this lot ‘ere that if they don’t belt up YOU’LL throw them out” and with that he would turn on his heel and with a measured tread march off with his hands clasped behind his back. Thanks George.

Charlie Aston was on holiday and Mr Stanford was relieving, I had left the premises on my break, it was at this time that he’d had a hip operation and he strode up and down the foyer on two sticks, and as usual he started on group of youths who were a bit lively and it ended up with him ordering them off the premises, they reluctantly left but as they were going down the front steps one of them turned and grabbed one of his walking sticks, thus ensued a tug of war with Stanford shouting to Marie to phone the police, but unfortunately the phone hadn’t been switched through from the office, he then shouted “get George, get George,” who at the time was on his break so one of the usherettes ran up the stairs and said to George who was sitting in the staff room with his peaked hat on the back of his head sipping a mug of tea with his feet up on the chair opposite, “come quick Stanfords having trouble with a load of yobs” to which George replied “I am due to retire in 18 months and I aint going to get me head kicked in for him, tell him you can’t find me.” Anyway by the time the girl had got back down stairs Marie had pretended to phone the police and although she was only having a one way conversation it was enough to make the yobs think that the law was on its way so they beat a retreat and threw the one stick they had got off Mr Stanford on the floor.
The next problem for F.T. George was the old coke fired boiler was converted to oil, so when the winter came a large heap of coke that had been in the boiler house bunker had been thrown in the corner of a run down part of the car park, what poor old George didn’t realise was this coke was industrial coke and needed to be draft fed to start it burning with an intense heat. So Saturday night came and George took up position in his hut with his brazier and armed with newspaper, cardboard, and a couple of bucketfuls of damp coke he endeavoured to make a fire, he fanned it, poked it, put more paper on it and when I looked out of one of the exits all you could see was clouds of smoke and very little of George or his hut. 9 o’clock came and George came in to do the poster change, looking very down in the mouth, “all right George” said I, he replied “no I effin well aint, I’ve been out there an hour and I’m effin well froze and I cant get a decent fire going,” not only that but he reeked of smoke as if he’d just escaped from a kipper factory, he climbed up and down the step ladders unrolling the posters into their frames, mumbling and muttering under his breath “effin this” and “effin that.” I honestly felt sorry for him.
It was at this time that I had left the department store and got a job in a small shop fitting factory cutting up sheet materials (blockboard, Formica, etc,) this move was made in the ever desperate need to get more money for my house deposit, I could work overtime and there was a production bonus scheme of 3d per hour. (Old money) The company was A.J. Gupwell Ltd who had premises in Bradford St’ just on the outskirt of Birmingham City centre, as a member of staff it was a perk of the job for staff to have any off cuts of timber for their own use, there were lumps of mahogany, oak, obeche, deal, etc, and I thought that some of this material would be great for George’s fire bucket, so I loaded a sack full up and tied it across the rear carrier of my motor bike and on my way home I dropped it in the cinema bin house for which I had a key as it was where I parked my motor bike when on duty, so when I went on duty and told George there would be a constant supply of timber to burn in his brazier his eyes lit up just like old Tom in the Smallest Show On Earth when they got him his uniform.

To Be Continued.
Regards Chris B

 

[Chris B]

More Confessions

Hi All,
Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Times They Are A Changin’​

By now I had managed to save enough money for a deposit on a house, and my Mother was planning to move to a bungalow and I asked her if I could buy the house off her, so luckily she helped me by letting me have it for less than what it was worth on the open market, which was a great help to me and my fiancé, so I was then able to get married. June my wife said “now that we’ve got the house you’ll be able to give up the cinema job wont you” to which I replied “no the money will come in useful for the central heating system I am going to install, and that’s how it went on over the years, to pay for the car, to pay the petrol etc etc, as you will see later on I managed to get June interested in the cinema business, but back to the “burning” problem.
During the time that I was bringing the timber for F.T George’s Fire Bucket, P.T. George was having a dip in the sack as well so that he could have a fire on the nights he did car park duty, this of course had the effect of demand outstripping supply, I could only get one sack slung across the back of my motor bike and if that shifted when you went around a bend you felt it, there was nothing else for it, F.T. George had to address the problem himself, he hid the sack of wood somewhere else on the premises where P.T. George had no access. That cured the problem, so P.T. George started bringing with him in his car an Aladdin Blue Flame paraffin heater, so there he sat nice and comfortable and warm without having the trouble of lighting a fire. So this is how it went on for a period of time F.T. George would hide his timber, and P.T. George would take his paraffin heater home in his car at the end of the night.
One Sunday I arrived on duty and there was a bit of a panic on, the film “The Blue Max” had not arrived, but the sister cinema The Kingston, situated at the top end of the Coventry Road on the back end of town which belonged to the same company was also showing it, so yes you’ve probably guessed, get your motor bike out Chris and go to the Kingston, by the time you get there the first reel will be coming off. So there I was racing up and down the Coventry Road with a spool of film strapped to the carrier of my bike, thankfully it was before the days of towers and cake stands, and yes we managed to keep the show on the screen without a break, and I didn‘t get nicked for speeding. I wasn’t overly happy at the shop fitters, it wasn’t a bad job, and I had made some good mates there but it wasn’t my cup of tea really, it was just a means to an end, so I started looking for something else and I applied for a job in the Co-Op department store in the city centre as a section Manager and got the job, these were the days when you could leave a job on a Friday night and start somewhere else on the Monday following, so now I was leaving town at 5-30pm getting home at about 6-15pm having a bite to eat, a wash and change, and round to the Sheldon Cinema to be on duty for 7-00pm. The limp wristed guy had left by now, I don’t know if it was because the 2nd and 3rd operators who were a pair of wags had filled the pockets and the arms of his overcoat with cast iron brackets that the seats swivel on, and when he took it off the coat hook it nearly went through the floor, or joking apart I think he had changed his day job and couldn‘t get to the cinema at night for the 7.00pm start, so we had another fellow named Arthur on the strength who worked at Cadbury’s in the day time, he was great, he brought us cheap chocolates from Cadbury’s staff shop. F.T. George had started to have time off ill so we fellows were asked to do extra nights to cover his absence, this carried on for some time and I had to say to Mr Aston that it was getting to the stage where what with the day job and the night job I was paying for a house I was never in only to eat and sleep. (He laughed, but the wife didn’t.)
During a performance of the film Zulu one night when Harry and myself were on duty we had some noisy yobs in the stalls, and we couldn’t make out who the ring leader was, so Harry quietly sat a few rows back and I said I would go up to the balcony and stand in the shadows at the side and look over, by doing this you could see everyone in the stalls picked out individually by the reflection of the light from the screen but they couldn‘t see you, as I approached the balcony lounge the usherette met me and said that she had got a woman acting peculiarly inside, the usherette had asked the lady to come and sit on the lounge for a bit if she didn’t feel well and she would get her a drink, but the lady was very short with her so she asked if I could have a word with her. I went into the balcony and the woman was standing right at the rear of the circle muttering away to herself. So I approached her and asked if I could be of assistance, and would she come outside to the lounge area as she was disturbing the other patrons. All of a sudden she started waving her arms about and shouting “I know what you want, you want to get me into the men’s toilets! Get away from me,” and proceeded to take a swing at me with her handbag. So in the interest of keeping the noise down and my head on my shoulders and knowing what a reputation the young fellows had in that day I decided to go and get Harry who was about 15 years my senior. I went down the stairs to the stalls two at a time and as I came to the office in the foyer where Charlie Aston was sitting I put my head my round the door and said “screaming mad bird at the back of the balcony, I‘m just going to get Harry,” he replied “I’ll meet you up there and we’ll get her out through the rear emergency fire doors, I’ll get the key.” (Just to explain, there were two ordinary sizes doors in the rear wall of the circle with break glass access from the auditorium, but you could open them with a sort of key from the other side.) So I rushed into the stalls to get Harry, who because of the shouting, and the way it echoes around a large 1937 auditorium, thought someone was being attacked in the front stalls ladies toilets and he had gone there to investigate, on finding nothing he was just on his way back when he saw me signalling that I wanted him. While we were on our way back up to the balcony I filled him on what had happened, and I said I thought it would be a good idea if he were to make the next contact with the woman him being an older man, so I stood back in the shadows whilst he made his approach, it was just a repeat performance of what I had received, so I leapt forward and grabbed one arm while Harry grabbed the other, the woman was shouting things like “I don’t care if my house is dirty, I know you want to take me in the men’s toilets” and other comments which I can’t remember. Now picture the scene, the Zulu’s were charging over the hill at full tilt, by now some members of the audience were shouting shut the row up at us, plus other sundry “pleasantries” the yobs who were performing in the stalls were all standing across the front apron below the screen looking up and cheering us on as we struggled to man handle this woman out (she was no lightweight), there was no sign of Charlie Aston, so whilst we had a good grip on her we decided to continue down the horse shoe side of the balcony and get her outside through the public exit, on our way she claimed we were hurting her, so we relaxed our grip and she promptly sat down on one of the steps and refused to move, so we hauled her to her feet and finally got her out onto the car park where she gathered herself together and promptly threw a bar of chocolate at us and walked off. So we two rushed back inside secured the balcony, the yobs were still going full bore in the stalls, down the stairs we went, Charlie Aston was in the foyer and asked where the woman was and where we had been we pointed her out going past the front of the building as if nothing had happened, a patron emerged from the stalls and said “can’t you do something about the row in here?” The Zulu’s like Harry and I, were regrouping for another charge, we went in the stalls and the yobs saw us coming and promptly left by the front side exits, after making sure there were no further problems we returned to the foyer to have a breather when another patron emerged, and I thought oh no what now ! but he just made the comment “all that in the middle of the film was very disconcerting you know,” to which I replied “not half as disconcerting for you as it was for us.” As a man once said, “why us”? To which the reply was “cause we’re the only ones here lad, that’s why.” As you know films used to be run two or three times before T.V. had them in those days, it was strange that whenever we ran Zulu there were always some problems that week. Watching the film whilst standing at the back of the stalls on one occasion a chink of light in the darkness caught my eye for a moment, it was coming from the side exits in the balcony, now when someone leaves the premises they open the door wide as they going about their legitimate business, and when this happens you get a large amount of light, but when someone is trying to get in without paying you only get a chink of light as they try to ascertain where the usherette is so as to get to seat undetected. So on this basis I went up to the balcony with all speed as I approached the doors the yobs had obviously seen me coming so they all put their shoulders against the doors to stop me coming through, I put some force to the door in an effort to get through and the door opened and I grabbed a yob in each hand, as they took to their heels they went either side of the central hand rail which left me spread-eagled so I had to let one of them go, but I hauled the other one down to the Managers office so that his face was known for future reference he was then thrown out of the building. A similar incidence occurred not long after this one, so being determined not to be caught out a second time I approached the doors at speed applying my foot to the centre at what I considered to be the right moment, the doors flew open like a shot from a gun, I went through, stood there a few seconds, no one ! As I turned the doors were slowly closing, the one opened into a small recess and it closed it revealed a youth standing in the recess as white as a sheet with his cigarette smashed into his face. Needless to say another one added to the banned list.

To Be Continued
Regards Chris B

 

[Chris B]

Confessions cont'

Hi All,
Chapter 5

Chapter 5
Even More Changes! Some Good Some Bad.

By this time June had become a casual member of the usherette staff, and used to help out on high days and holidays, and Mr Aston had been promoted to General Manager of the group of cinemas on the retirement of Arthur Dowding who had his office at the Kingston. All that was left of the original group of theatres was The Beaufort, The Sheldon, and The Kingston and it was about this period that Mr Aston asked me if I could take June and Myself and work for two or three nights at the Kingston as it had leaked out that the Kingston was to close shortly and be turned into a Bingo Hall, the result of which was that the staff were deserting the sinking ship. I agreed to help out so June and I set off to man the helm at the Kingston, we were met by Jack Attwood the Chief Operator who was a gentleman, he found me somewhere secure to park my motor bike and gave me a key for further use as I was going to be there for some weeks. The cinema was built in 1935 and the front was very similar in appearance to the Sheldon, basically the interior had the same layout with the exception that you went down a few steps to enter the stalls, this was due to the land configuration I think, the only exterior difference was that the crush hall on the side of the building was just overhead cover
whereas at the Sheldon built two years later it was an integral part of the building. The building was situated at the back end of Small Heath, not the most salubrious of areas, and as I stood by the usherette looking at the film I noticed some small black dots on the screen, I said to the usherette “has someone been flicking bits at the screen?” “no” she replied “those are airgun pellet holes where the kids in the front row shoot at the cowboys on the screen during the Saturday matinees. That gives you some idea of what prevailed in this area. The cinema was close to Birmingham City Football ground and the doorman and the 2nd operator had a good wrinkle on, when there was a match being played they roped off a couple of the car park entrances so that when the football supporters arrived they could control the cars using the car park and “sell car parking spaces.” (keep the beer fund up) There was always some yobo trying to get in the side exits, and I was forever chasing them out. One week there was a film showing that had a delightful young lady getting her kit off in one scene, and every time it came to this part there was some interruption and it was nearly the end of the week and blast, I hadn’t managed to see it properly, so on the last performance of the week I sat myself down in the middle of the stalls well down in my seat so no one could see me, and I thought no matter what happens I am going to see this part! The girl on the screen was just getting into the swing of discarding her garments and there was an almighty BANG, CRASH, WALLOP, in one of the side exits, I didn’t flinch from my position, I saw the whole scene, right I thought I had better go and see what’s happening, and on going through the exit doors lying in the passage was one of the posts from the perimeter of the car park, it was some five foot in length and the yobo’s had uprooted it got the outer doors open and hurled it up the passage and the bang I heard was it hitting the inner doors, so I dragged it back out and put in the bin house, another eventful night over. Eventually the cinema was turned over to bingo and the cinema manager was not deemed suitable to operate the bingo hall so
Mr Aston managed it initially and June and I went back to our jobs at the Sheldon. It wasn’t long before we had a new manager, but for one reason or another he didn’t last long!!!. One incident that did occur was that when F.T. George came to change the category board for the new manager, on that night I came out into the foyer and there was George up his steps with his peaked hat on the back of his head fiddling about with the letters and putting his glasses up and down his nose, “how you doing George” I enquired, “I need to get my glasses changed” was the reply, so I said to him you go and make the tea and I’ll finish the board, the problem was the new manager had written the information in double writing not block capitals, when George had gone I went and told the new manager that he would have to do the titles in block capitals because the doormancouldn’t read or write. There was a new manager appointed at the Kingston so Mr Aston came back to the Sheldon, but unfortunately a sequence of events was to alter things dramatically. By this time we had had a change of cashier, Marie who used to read the cheap 6d or 1/0d paperback romances just like “Mrs Fazackerly in Mr Spencers day” had retired, and we had a new cashier who looked a bit like a poor mans Zsa Zsa Gabor both Georges had also finished and we had another car park attendant named Len, but no doorman, apart from the Chief, the projection room staff had also changed, we now had a second operator who was a bag of nerves, and no 3rd operator economies were creeping in to keep down the cost of the operation.

Now Charlie Aston hadn’t driven a car for many years, but on his appointment as General Manager he found he needed a vehicle to do his job, he also moved house from Small Heath to a better area, Olton on the border of Solihull so at this time things were looking good for Charles, but fate sometimes takes a hand. The car he was driving was a Morris 1100, but as Charlie was a big fellow he had a job squeezing behind the wheel, and he had decided to change it for a Cortina but unfortunately the showroom hadn’t got the colour he wanted in stock, and he had got a holiday booked and he was travelling down by car with his wife and her two sisters plus all the luggage, now I don’t know if any of you have had any experience with this particular model of vehicle, but they suffered badly from under steer, which if you were taking a corner at speed especially with a load on board you had a job keeping the car into the left, it had a tendency to drift across the road no matter how hard you tried to steer into the left, and this is what happened to Charlie, and unfortunately there was another vehicle travelling in the opposite direction at speed which resulted in a head on collision, and because the steering wheel rested on Charlie’s stomach he was killed instantly, his wife survived for a few days then she passed away, the two sisters although injured did survive. Now of course we had to have a new manager at the Sheldon. Mr Stanford had also retired and the relief managers job had been given to the chief operator, who had not had any management training, and one night at about 8-30pm he received a phone call saying “der is a bomb in der cinema and it will go off at 9-00pm” we had 30 minutes, now the Chief was in a bit of a panic and wanted to empty the place immediately, but I had noticed a crowd of boyo’s over the road by the telephone box on the corner of Horseshoes Lane, it was a filthy night pouring with rain, while we were having a discussion on what to do the 2nd operator arrived on the scene and he nearly chewed his nails down to his elbows on hearing about the bomb threat, so I promptly told him to get back up to the projection room and keep the film going, and if the building went up he at least would be at the front of the queue at the pearly gates as he was on the top of the building to start with. Now if you think about it a large cinema is an easy place to search, exits, toilets, passages, and looking along the rows under the seats with a torch for any packages. So the usherettes, myself and Arthur carried out this task and by 8-55pm we had found nothing, so we stood by and 9-00pm came and went, the little group of idiots over on the corner crept off back down their rat holes and we finished the performance as normal.

Very shortly the Chief operator took one of his weeks vacations, and when I arrived on duty on the Saturday night the new manager asked if I could relieve the 2nd operator for a break as he had been up and down several times to see when someone would be available to cover his tea break, I went to the projection suite and he couldn’t get away quick enough, and as he left with starting chocks under his heels he assured me that he would return before the interval, so I plodded on running the support film and I had laced up the last reel and was just thinking to myself the 2nd will be back in minute, so I laced up the ads’ and trailers and the last reel was getting smaller and smaller, and I was thinking “oh gawd, what do I do next,” you see I had never opened or closed a show, I had only done the “bit in the middle,” anyway the end came on and still no sign of the 2nd so I managed to get curtains closed, house and foot lights up and the interval music playing, I felt quite chuffed, but still no sign of the 2nd, the time ticked on and I could see the manager looking up at the port holes from the circle, as if to say get on with it, so I thought here goes, curtains, lights down, fade the music out, fade up the sound track, NOTHING ! no sound, there was Nelly Gwynne walking across the screen extolling the virtues of Kia Ora orange totally silent, I stood there for a minute thinking “don’t panic Mr Mannering” and it suddenly came to me I had finished the last reel on the other projector and I hadn’t switched the sound over to the one in use now, got it ! Everything was o.k. and the 2nd came back, he’d fell asleep in the chair at home. Another incident springs to mind, Harry and I were up in the staff room and some little urchins were lobbing stones up at the windows, so we sprung off down the stairs and straight outside to pursue them, Harry went after the ones that went off across the recreation ground opposite, I pursued the other couple up the Coventry Road, as I was in a collar grabbing position the one kid zig zagged into the road, not a clever thing to do on the main A45, but it threw me and I was nearly spent anyway so I stopped, to regain my breath and I could see Harry was nearly finished also, so I called over to him to forget it, as we walked back to the cinema we spotted the kids up a side road and they had all regrouped, there was about four of them, I said to Harry “ I’ve got an idea, lets get back to the cinema and get my mini van,” (I had traded up from the bike more comfort) so we jumped in and set off patrolling the streets, after a short time we were just about to give the job up because we couldn’t find them when I spotted them down another side road, so I turned the van around and we roared off down the street screeching to halt just in front of the kids, and before they realised what had happened we flew out of the van before it had stopped and grabbed hold of them, (Starsky & Hutch eat your heart out) we bundled them all into the back of the van and took them back to the cinema (the parents would “shout” at you today for putting your hands on them) and the manager phoned the police who took them back to their homes to see their parents, job done. Another incident similar to this happened later on, I had got a Hillman Super Minx Estate car by now, a rather big beast, I chased after another trouble maker in the car, it was dark and the youth turned and ran up the drive that went to the rear of the houses and it was just wide enough to drive the car up, “got him” I thought, with the headlights blazing away on full beam, WRONG, he climbed over the fence at the top and escaped into the next road, (that didn’t happen in the movies) and to make matters worse I had to back the car down this passage in total darkness with only a dim reversing light to guide me, egg and face come to mind.

To Be Continued


The Kingston Front

The Kingston Interior

Regards Chris Bryan​

 

[Chris B]

Charlie Aston at the opening of The Kingston Bingo

Charlie Aston

Harry Arthur Myself & Gwen (The Kiosk Lady)on the night she retired

One Of The Sheldons 1930s light fitting over the front stalls

 

[Langstraat]

A fascinating insight into the inner working of a cinema. It was thought that the TV would see the end of regular cinema visits but I understand that it's more popular now through Multiplexes than it ever was.

Which were the block busters in your day Chris and which were shown the most?
My locals were the Beacon and Clifton with the occasional excursion to the big city Gaumont or the Kings in West Bromwich

 

[Chris B]

Blockbusters

Hi Langstraat
the crowd pullers during my time at the Sheldon were the early Bond Films especially Goldfinger, Most of the re-issued Disney classic cartoons like Bambi Snow White etc, also Mary Poppins used to pack em in for the kids holidays. then you had got The Sound Of Music, When The North Wind Blows, which was I think the first time a film company had used commercial T.V. to advertise the film, (using TV to help the cinema , and it did they came in droves for the Northwind) The Towering Inferno, When 8 Bells Toll, theres probably loads more but I can't just bring them to mind we are delving back some 30 to 40 years.
Regards Chris B

 

[Chris B]

The Final Part

Chapter 6
The Last Hundred “Painful” Yards.​

By now Morris and Jacombs had sold the cinemas off as I think they had cash flow problems, the new owners were Bryants the builders, who had actually constructed the Sheldon and possible the Kingston in the first place, now they owned them, it was obvious as time rolled on that they had only purchased them for property speculation, ( as old Tom said “they weren’t interested in running the old Bijou I mean Sheldon“) If I remember rightly the Government of the day had made it illegal for property developers to hold on to plots of land for long periods waiting for the price to escalate, if this was found to be the case the Government could confiscate the land, but if you had a legitimate business running on the site you could hang on until the price was right, and then cash in. So the Sheldon limped along, there seemed to be a problem getting films booked early so we were trailing behind and people had already seen what we were screening. There was also a certain amount of apathy from the cinema management which didn’t help with customer relations. I spent many hours and a lot of effort writing to various people in an effort to stave off the inevitable, the last few months were a bit miserable, it was in the winter and the oil for the boilers was being kept to minimum and on one occasion it ran out and we were having to wear cardigans under our suits because it was so cold, and advise the patrons of the situation before they got their tickets so that could go elsewhere instead of sitting in the cold to watch the film. The roof started leaking and the Chief put buckets in the roof void to catch the water, sometimes the bucket would fill up to quickly and topple over and you had water running down the walls in the balcony, all in all a sorry state. Bryants kept patching the roof up but it leaked somewhere else soon after. Closure came on the 26th November1977 and the last film was “Orca The Killer Whale.”

Over the thirteen years I had worked there I had in fact worked in the projection room, relieved in the kiosk and the pay desk, helped the ice cream lady, which reminds me of another amusing story, I used to help the ice cream lady in the stalls when it was busy, I would take extra stock down from the fridge room and stack it in the exit by the crush hall, and I would work with her and fill up the tray as it emptied, and I also had the paper money off her as she didn’t have enough pockets in her overall for all the denominations of coinage, then when the queue had finished she would do a lap of the gangways and serve anyone who wanted seconds or who hadn’t been to the tray. On this one occasion the tray was refilled and she was just about to sail off when she stopped suddenly and turned to me and said “the elastics gone in my knickers, and I don’t think I can make it to the toilets before they‘re round my ankles,” so I said “lets go into the exit and you can remove them” so we went into the exit and I held the ice cream tray while she got them off, “here” she said “you’d better have these and put them in your pocket, if I have them in mine and pull them whilst giving change I’ll never live it down.” So off she went and when she had finished I was waiting at the back of the stalls, and just as I was giving her the money, and her draws out of my pocket who walks in but Charlie Aston, well you might know It was me that never lived that one down for ages. One of the staff even sent me a Bamforths post card off their holidays where an usherette is asking a couple in the back row if this pair of knickers she has picked up is the young ladies, to which the reply from the young man is, no I’ve got hers in my pocket. Another little thing that happened several times to me, was when I worked in the Department Store you would be working away and you could feel someone studying you, you’d look round and a man and woman were having a quiet little discussion, and then the lady would come over and say “excuse me, can I ask you a personal question, do you work at the Sheldon picture house?” to which I replied “yes,” then off the lady would go and say to her husband who was standing there looking fed up, as men do when dragged around shops, “ there you are Fred, I told you it was him, I was right.” To continue the list of jobs, I had worked on the front of house, been an usher, changed the interior publicity material, bumped cars in the car park over to let others out that were blocked in, unblocked the toilets, changed spent light bulbs, but no, I never did paste up the big poster that stood on the front facing up and down the Coventry Road. (It might have been a 48 sheet? I’m not sure.)


After the last night all the projection and sound equipment was stripped out, I had some seats and other odds and ends, but we’ll come to that later, the building was boarded up waiting for the demolition company. On one occasion the former 2nd operator and I had a wander round one Sunday evening and of course the inevitable had happened, someone had broken open one of the exits, so we got a couple of large torches from our cars and ventured inside, whoever it was had gone so we made our way to the switch room and thankfully the electric was still connected so we put on one or two lights discreetly and started to wander around and reminisce about the good old days, like when one projectionist hadn’t rewound the last reel of the Three Musketeers and when he took the change over the characters were upside down and riding backwards across the top of the screen and of course no sound, we stopped in the balcony and it reminded me of the time during a re- run of the Sound Of Music that a patron came out and said “it’s the scene where Maria goes back to the abbey and we haven’t had the ball room scene and the intermission yet !!!” the operator had missed a reel out. Although it was winter time we were in the middle of a mild spell, by now all the windows in the balcony were broken but as we stood and talked you could see our breath hang in front of our faces, it was one of the most weird experiences I have had, my colleague made the comment that it was that night that the building died, we carried on upward, looked in the projection room, just a lot of old wires hanging out of the conduit, and a couple of old arc lamps from when the building first opened, my colleague told me a story about the Chief operator who was employed there when he first started, he was a bit of a keep fit fanatic and on one occasion he decided to do some exercises standing between the two projectors, he used the back of the arc lamps to raise himself up and down on, what he didn’t realise was his weight had slightly moved the whole assembly round on its base, then the phone rang and it was Charlie Aston who said “what’s the matter with the film it’s shining on the clock,” our last stop was the roof, and it isn’t until you look across the vast expanse of roof that you realise just what an area of ground one of these picture palaces take up it’s like a football pitch so you can see why they are valuable for the price of the land they stand on. We were just about to retrace our steps back through the hatch when my colleague said “hey there’s a dog looking at me !” then a voice rang out “come quietly its the police” so down we went to the lounge area where they frisked us and there was the site foreman who they must have fetched out of the pub to let them in as we had closed and secured the exit behind us, he wasn’t impressed ‘cause the beer he’d left was getting warm, it appeared that someone had seen our silhouette on the roof skyline and dialled 999, I had still got my old staff pass to identify myself, and so they read us the riot act about trespass and told us to go away, or words to that effect. Well when we got outside you couldn’t believe it, there was two paddy wagons, three police cars, plus dogs and their handlers, all for us two, my colleague said “I hope they don’t stop me and look at my mini van because I’ve got a bald tyre on the nearside back, off we went home and fortunately we didn’t hear any more about the incident. On one of my journeys home from work in town I thought I just call and see what was happening, as I passed the front
it all looked very much the same, so I pulled around the back onto the car park and the sight that greeted me was only the beginning of things to come, the oil tank for the boilers had gone, and the back wall where the horn chamber was housed behind the screen was just a gaping hole, and the beautiful festoon screen curtain was hanging at a crazy angle and flapping about in the rain and the wind, there were a handful of children messing about on the heap of bricks and as I stood looking at this very sorry site one of them came over to me and said “ you used to work here didn’t you, you used to be inside where the films were, not outside with the servers” (meaning foyer area, tickets & kiosk) “yes” I replied, “that’s right son” and with a tear in my eye I got back into my car and drove off home to tea. On another visit to the site which I told my wife would only take 30 or 40 minutes, I assured that I would be back prompt for my dinner as I was only going to take some photographs and to see what the current state was, while I was there I was asked by someone visiting the area also taking photographs if I knew anything about the cinema, so we went back to his car which was parked across the other side of the Coventry Road in Horseshoes Lane, leaving my car parked in Lyndon Road alongside the half demolished cinema, well doesn’t time race by when you are having fun and a chat, by this time an hour had elapsed and my wife was getting a little concerned, and you’ve guessed it the dinner was going down the pan along with what was left of my already tarnished reputation. She did no more than hot foot it round to the site and got the Irish chappie to stop his work with the ball and chain because she was convinced that I’d fell somewhere inside and was lying there under a pile of rubble, because, as she said in fear and trepidation “look his car is still parked in the road and he should have been home 30 minute ago and there’s no sign of him,” (seen to many films) so all work ceased while the labourers and the crane driver manhandled her over the rubble and up what was left of the balcony staircase, by the time they had reached what was left of the balcony I had finished my chat and got in my car and headed off for home, as June looked out of the wrecked side of the building she said to the navvies “Oh his cars gone,” so they helped her back down to the ground her best coat covered in dust, and her high heels scratched and dusty as well. By this time I had docked at home, realised what must have happened and took off back round to the cinema and met madam marching purposefully along the pavement on her way back home with a face that could have stopped traffic, but after a few minutes we had all made up and went back home to a cheese sandwich as the dinner was done to death. (Like I nearly was) When the contractors exposed the large girder that spanned the building for the main balcony support, this held up proceedings as it took some torching to cut it up for removal, but eventually the site was cleared, in fact some of the cinema still remains there as they used a lot of the brick in a gobbling machine and then used it for hardcore on the site. The site became another bog standard supermarket development, and where the car park and some houses next door were, the supermarket now stands, and where the cinema building was is the supermarket car park, so now you can park your car in what was Charlie Astons office, the foyer and auditorium.​

History.​

Sheldon Cinema Opened 10th October 1937.
Opening Film THREE SMART GIRLS starring Deanna Durbin.


I started working part time there in 1965.


Mr & Mrs Charles Aston died 13th September 1970
In a car crash.


Bomb planted in the cinema balcony 30th July 1974
(Thought to be one the IRA had left on their way home
To the airport after setting bombs in 3 city centre cinemas,
Fortunately it didn’t go off)


Closed 26th November 1977.
Final Film ORCA - KILLER WHALE.


Finally below is a copy of an “obituary” written by a resident Bob Vickrage
This was printed in the resident’s magazine.


THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES.

So they finally did it then! Rolled up the silver screen, locked the kiosk and invalided the usherettes out of service. No more drinks on a stick, no more popcorn, and no more Saturday matinees. They’ve boarded up the doors of the old Sheldon Picture House and left it with that “seen better days” look and gone to that cinema employee’s rest home to fade away gracefully.

For a movie freak like me, closing it down was like a relative dying, only I wasn’t invited to the funeral. It didn’t leave a will, just a store of happy memories. In this age of quick profits I suppose it would have been too much to have hoped that someone could have kept the projector turning a few more weeks so that the old Sheldon could have closed its doors after the Christmas holiday when it would have been bursting at the seams with children hooked on Bambi, or the Jungle Book. Instead it went down all hands lost, under the weight of Orca - Killer Whale! Those dumb actors will keep working with animals.

I saw Robert Newton roll his eyes through Treasure Island there, and Mario Lanza burst his tonsils in the Great Caruso there, John Wayne and John Mills both won the Second World War there - it’s true, I saw them do it. Richard Todd died twice there in my youth, on Glynis Johns’ bosom in Rob Roy, and in the Sacred Heart, remember that one? Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, Rin Tin Tin and Lassie, The Marx Brothers, Flash Gordon, and the original Batman all played their part in shaping the world I thought really existed, where good always triumphed over evil, where you knew who the good guys were because they always rode white horses and the bad guys wore black hats. A world where you respected your heroes enough to sit through the soppy bits where there was a girl involved who kept slowing down the action by getting upset or captured.

Do you remember how you still kept on going, even though you had to meet a stiff haired young lady in the back row? She always wanted to watch the soppy bits and sent you off for ice creams when the action started. When the curtain fell she rushed you off to the “Seagull” for fish and chips, and the last of your money went on bus fare which left you walking home reliving Rock Hudson’s roll in King Of The Khyber Rifles.

I’ve danced, swinging on lamp posts all the way to the Wheatsheaf in a vain attempt to duplicate Gene Kelly’s Singin’ In The Rain, and actually queued to see West Side Story for the umpteenth time.

I hadn’t been so much in recent years, a house, family, and inflation saw to that. The last time was to see the Slipper And The Rose with my daughter. The old Sheldon was cold and had lost its magic, so they’re going to pull it down to make way for another supermarket and offices, (they’ll be as empty as the Sheldon of late no doubt) another architects dream designed with Lego to scale then constructed to size in concrete with all the necessary doors and windows for writing on with spray cans. You know, I don’t know if you have noticed, but even though its been empty the Sheldon hasn’t been subjected to vandal art in the way that National Centre House has for instance. Architects take note.

Well goodbye Sheldon Cinema, thanks for the memories, and if I could write your epitaph it would read:-


So now you’ve empty seats,
You gave much pleasure to kids both great and small,
But you can rest in peace at least,
They could have turned you into a Bingo Hall.
Bob Vickrage.



And as for me, well because I thought I would never find a job in the Cinema Industry again I went on to showing movies at home on an old Eumig projector initially in the front room, with two cinema seats mounted on castors, that is until the wife said “how much longer are these curtains going to be closed people will think we’ve got a funeral here every week.” But to be fair and joking apart, it was a lot of work setting it all up and then having to put all the equipment away afterwards, so I constructed a permanent purpose built cinema which we called The Palace in my back garden with twelve cinema seats from the Sheldon balcony, the proscenium arch and colour scheme is similar in design to the Sheldon. The official opening date of The Palace was January 1979 and the first feature was Hannie Caulder on super 8, and from then until now we have regular twice monthly film shows for friends and film enthusiasts, also we run regularly for our own enjoyment, no phones or adverts to interrupt the film, and I went on from super 8mm to 16mm and then to video projection (DVD). Just after this was all up and running in February 1979 I got a job as Manager of the Warwick Cinema in Acocks Green Birmingham, and I left the department store, but that’s another story and another thirteen years of working in the movie business, ending up with the dubious title of being the last single screen suburban cinema manager in Birmingham.


THE END.

Regards Chris B

Post Card sent to me (you know why)

June In The Balcony (sheldon)

Palace Cinema Screen End (1)

Palace Cinema Screen End (2)

Palace Cinema Rear Wall & Entrance

 

[jennyann]

Well done Chris. What a wonderful saga from beginning to end and I am sure that any of us who frequented those Palaces a few decades ago can relate to your feelings about the Sheldon. They were such an important part of our life in the late l940s onwards for most of us. They were our entertainment before TV came and changed everything at home. They were the place where we went to the Saturday matinees and watched so many memorable films that we remember most of them today. When we grew up we went with our dates and blind dates, etc. some of whom escaped when they were unhappy with their set-up partner

My local cinema was the Plaza on Stockland Green and I can remember people opening greaseproof packets and handing each other sandwiches without even taking their eyes off the screen and unscrewing hidden flasks that contained tea and coffee and maybe more. Then there were the people whispering to each other...This is where we came in....and then a series of Excuse me s as the patrons all inched along the row in order to leave. In those days they played the performance over several times and people actually could sit through the shows unless it was a blockbuster and then the house lights came up and the place was cleared. I know some people who used to hide in the lavs so they could see the big film again. I also remember oranges and apples escaping and dropping down the different levels step after step until they could roll no more.

Being late for the big film and seeing a lonely male or female waiting for their date and suspecting that they had been stood up. So sad.

I remember being bought Paynes Poppets and Clarnico mints to eat during the films and I know Cadburys Tray was a big treat for many people also.
There was no popcorn that I remember just Ice Cream tubs with little wooden spoons,Choc Ices, that ruined many a dress and suit as they melted in the dark when you bit into them and Lyons Maid Orange Ice lollies that tasted so good. Also, Newberry Fruits...they were delicious. Thanks for your stories Chris. I absolutedly loved the ending where you were well ahead of the present trend of big screen..home cinema set ups. Before I came on line I was looking at the flyers inserted inside our local paper that arrived today and they had on the back page of one of them an advert for five super special arm chairs with a place to put in your drink, simply for putting in your Home Theatre room, the epitome of comfort for a good price..the price was over one thousand pounds. Cant just sit on anything to view the big screen at home anymore not even a couch will do. Thanks again Chris

 

[Jayell]

I really enjoyed your 'Confessions' Chris. I know my Dad, Alex Tuck, would have loved to have read them as well. He worked in cinema all his life, starting as a Projectionist in Selby, Yorkshire, before the 1914-18 War. He was a Lieutenant in the Royal Flying Corps, and after an air crash and being hospitalised he was sent home for six months' sick leave. After this he left the Flying Corps and jointed the Government National War Aims Committee, touring England recruiting for the Forces by showing films on large screens erected in each town they visited. Before going on tour they were in London where a screen was erected at the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square, where Dad showed films to thousands of people. They travelled around the country in a large lorry carrying all their equipment and when they arrived in a town, had to erect a screen in front of a prominent building, usually the post office. This was a terrible job in wet weather but didn't deter the crowds. In many places there wasn't a cinema and their show was a great novelty. They were playing at the Princess Theatre, Llandudno, when news came through that the war was over.

After the War Dad went back into the Cinema business as a Projectionist and electrician working for New Century Pictures. He worked around the country at the opening of new cinemas.

By 1935 he was managing the Tudor Cinema in Kings Heath, and this is where he met my mother, Winnie Hanson, who also worked at the Cinema as Cashier.

After this he joined the Clifton Cinema Circuit, and managed 4 of their cinemas, eventually becoming Supervisor to the whole Clifton Cinema Circuit in the Midlands. When I was born Dad was manager of the Clifton Cinema, Walsall Road, Great Barr. At the end of the year the Second World War had started and when there were air raids we all used to shelter in the cellars of the cinema, which was over the road from where we lived.

The cinemas were always packed in the days before TV and especially at weekends there were queues waiting to get in to see the film.

 

[Chris B]

How interesting Judy,
when I was courting my girlfriend (wife now) and I went to the Tudor a few times, it was a bit out of the way for us because we worked in Birmingham city centre at Lewis's I lived at Sheldon and she lived at Pype Hayes, more importantly her dad was strict and she had to be in by
10-30pm or else! so most times we went to the cinema we saw the end before the begining. The Clifton is still there on Bingo, the last Manager was Ernie Hedge (Not sure how you spell it) he used to be a bit of character, I have got a photo of Sir Sidney Clift somewhere, wasn't he a lawyer by profession ? Thank you very much for your kind comments and I'm glad you enjoyed the article.
Kind Regards Chris B

 

[Chris B]

Hi Jennyann
thanks very much for youre kind comments, about the article, yes you are quite right about the importance of the cinema in the old days, peoples standard of living was considerably poorer than today, in fact to call it basic is putting it mildly, and then you went out to this magnificent building all lights and neons, wilton carpet on the floor, plush seats, and MOVING PICTURES, Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers in lovely dresses and suits, great music and a nice story, you forgot your troubles for a couple of hours.
You mention the sweets etc' didn't the cinemas you visited ever have
BUTTERKIST Popcorn (already done in sealed bags). You have got some great memories there, you are right about the choc ices !
Regards Chris B

 

[jennyann]

Hi Chris: Oh how I remember the Butterkist...the best...simply the best in it's category. However, it was a very rare occasion when I could afford to buy a bag and it was a very special treat indeed same with the Orange Lyon's Maid Ice Lollies. I think they were sixpence each. The little ice cream tubs were cheaper I think. If going to the Plaza at Stockland Green for the matinee
we would go to a shop close by called The Fondella and buy our sweets to eat in the cinema usually financed with taking bottles back and a small
pocket money allowance

 

[ChrisM]

A wonderful contribution to the forum, Chris B, and thanks for it. A story full of historical detail, told with humour and affection and describing a world which seems like only yesterday to some of us but is now just part of social history.

Chris

 

[Chris B]

Thank you ChrisM for your kind comments, I am glad you found the article interesting and entertaining.
Kind Regards Chris B

 

[Di.Poppitt]

I did enjoy your posts Chris, thanks for sharing your memories with us.

 

[Chris B]

Thank You Di for your kind words, I am glad that you found the article interesting and entertaining
Regards Chris B

 

[carole-fordy]

The Clifton

I used to go to the Clifton every weekend in the early 70's, I knew Ernie and his lady friend I think she was, Doreen I think, they had golden retrievers, they used to let me and my friend in on "complimentary tickets" I saw Ben-Hur, Battle of Britain and What's up Doc with Barbara Streisand, to name a few.
I dont like the pictures now, one its far too pricey,no poppets, and theres no ice cream lady.

 

[Chris B]

I would add it is also too loud usually, but You would be ok in my cinema at home, its not to pricey, granted we don't have poppets or an ice cream lady, but the lady here comes round in the interval with tea and biscuits.
Regards ChrisB

 

[Chris B]

Just a pics of the Sheldon as they seem to have vanished

Regards Chris B

 

[jennyann]

Hi ChrisB: The pictures of the Sheldon are still there. It seems that there are two threads about cinemas. I expect Rod will sort it out later.

 

[Rod]

Only yesterday I was in contact with ChrisB. I'm going to seperate it all into areas so they include thier own cinemas, just need to think it out first.

 

[michaelwileman]

Hi Chris,

I read you article with great interest,i worked at The Beaufort as Projectionist under Jim Goring he was the Cheif when i started in 1961,when The Manager Mr Jackson died Jim became the manager his wife Hazel also worked there,also remember George the Doorman anyone who remembers The Beaufort seems to remember him he had been there for many years part of the fixtures he looked quite smart in his uniform,Violet was in the Cash Desk,and Brenda in the sweet Kiosk,as most cinemas we had a resident Ghost,i never seen anything i did hear footsteps in The False Roof once,went up no one to be seen,and once i glimpsed someone walking behind me in the porthole glass only one way up investgated no one there either strange,Jim always use to say one day he was down in the rectifier room and someone was sitting on the steps he hit them on the head with a newspaper and it went straigh through them,to this day i dont know whether he was winding us up,also we had a trainee we use to send him for packets of changover dots and to the dairy for upside down milk,and Jim sent him one day to the newsagents for a german edition of The Birmingham Mail poor devil HA! HA!,it was a criminal act they demolished that building as it was really nice Tudor Design,as far as i knew The Projectors went to the Capitol when that went Muti Screen, also worked at the Capitol,Plaza Stockland Green, and the Kingston with Jack Atwood i went to his flat near the Swan many times very nice person he was,all the people you mentioned i knew very well,it wasnt untill i saw photo of you at the Kingston i suddenly realised who you were i worked at The Warwick under i think his christian name was Alan but his surname was Pope i will always remember the day myself and him were fixing the Tabs when he collapsed on stage,and Died i bet you remember that as you were The Manager at the Time,he was Cheif and i then got promoted to Cheif not a nice way to do it i must admit,anyway my Second was Ted cannot think of his surname but he was The Cheif at The Sheldon for many years,and we had a Part Timer i remember he was called Charlie,i can still see you sitting in your office as though it was yesterday,time flies dosnt it,i now live in Plymouth,anyway hope you are well nice article you wrote all the very best.

Michael Wileman.

 

[Alf]

Welcome Michael I was a employed at the Mayfair Cinema Perry Common 1952 as a 15 year old.

 

[Mike Blakemore]

Hi Chris.. I remeber a Special Late Night Show at the Sheldon, when the Cashier retired... I was Invited to attend being the Manager of "The Capitol Cinema" the Film was "The Smallest Show on Earth" It was a very good night

 

[Chris B]

Hi Michael,
glad you enjoyed the article, yes you are quite right we did have the Kiosk ladies retirement do showing Smallest Show On Earth, in one of the pics in the article I think you will find it might be you coming out of the gents toilet in the background. Hope you are keeping well.
Kind regards Chris Bryan

 

[Mike Blakemore]

Hi The Westar Projectors out of the Beaufort Cinema went into Screen 1 of the Capitol. The westrex amp went Screen 3. One of the Beaufort Projectors is behind a false wall at the Savoy Theatre in Monmouth awaiting restortation.

 

[Mike Blakemore]

I also had the Sheldon picture heads in the Capitol stores but lost track were they ended up..

 

[michaelwileman]

Hi Mike,
Thanks for that,i often wondered where the Projectors from The Beaufort went,i knew The Capitol had them,but often wondered where they went from there,at least ive tracked one down,spent many hours on them,i didnt know you had the Amp though.

I did read somewhere the Compton Organ from The Beaufort ended up at Abbey road (The Beatles),i also managed to track a Projectionist down Robert Wilde who was second under Jim Goring in 1961,and also found Jims wife Hazel ended up at The Cinema at Birmingham Airport cant think of the name of it though.

Also found out the Oak Staircase went to America.