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Philip,
regarding the Cabbage Hall
Cinema, you may appreciate this story I posted to another forum last year....
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This story is strange but true.
I
had to do a bit of business in Old Swan on Tuesday and parked up in one of the side streets. As I was going back to my car, I noticed a building that looked
like an old cinema on Prescot Rd. Decided to take a pic. Just before I took one, I asked the first person I saw if they could confirm whether it was a cinema
or not.
[This is when it gets weird! ]
The gentleman confirmed that it was. It used to be the Curzon Cinema, Old Swan. It turned out that this
chap was the manager of the Abbey Cinerama for 30 years before it closed down in 1979! Previous to that, he was also the manager of the Cabbage Hall Cinema
which is now the LFC Supporters Club. Previous to that, he was the manager of the Stella cinema in Seaforth!
The gentlemen's name is Ambler Ramsden.
The "Ambler" was his mother's maiden name. He's 85 years old and appears as fit as a fiddle. However, he told me I caught him on one of his good days,
healthwise. He'd just returned from the Royal after having a fitting for a hearing aid and had recently recovered from a mild stroke. He informed me that on
his "bad" days, he can barely string a couple of words together.
Forgot to include the pic I took of the Curzon in my previous
post.
http://www.liverpoolpictorial.co.uk/curzonoldswan.jpg
The Abbey at Wavertree Clock was a class place inside. The public areas were really ritzy with a large Busby Berkley staircase. I
wonder if it is all still there.
Anyone got a picture of old Plaza in Allerton Rd? Demolished in the 1970s.
The Curzon
Theatre
Built in 1936, and designed by Earnest Shennan, the Curzon was one the few cinema's where 3D films could be seen. The short lived novelty
of 3D would soon be replaced by Cinema Scope and Magnetic Stereophonic sounds pioneered by Twentieth Century Fox.
The grand opening of the Curzon was
at 2.30 pm on the 10th October 1936. The ceremony was performed by Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor R.J.Hall. The auditorium has 1750 seats, upholstered
in amber and a fully carpeted floor that sloped to a crossover gangway from the main stage. The orchestra pit featured the handsome console of the computer
organ that incorporated all the modern advances including the electronics unit. The organ chamber was behind the screen and the large projection room housed
two Kalee projectors, Western Electronic wide range sound system, spotlight lanterns and electrical equipment.
The prices were 6d, 9d, 1s with reduced
rates in the afternoon. The Curzon closed on the 20th August 1960.
Following it's closure, the building was reconstructed into a row of shops. A
similar use of the building continues with the upper parts of the building relatively unchanged from it's days as a
cinema
http://www.mersey-gateway.org/server...ConWebDoc.1416