Some Liverpool Cinemas

[lindylou]

Yes, I am a bit mixed up now

I did think at the time that my recollection of the cinema was not of it being a corner building.

I photographed Solitaire and Bon Marche which are both next door to each other in Williamson st. I expect Philip will unravel the mystery

edit - as an afterthought, I think Solitaire have moved premises once or twice, so I am guessing that they may have been in a shop on Church st then moved around the corner to Williamson st ??
I wonder if anyone can remember.

[ChrisGeorge]

Hi Lindy

It looks to me as if the lower building that is at the right in the first color shot, next to the tall corner building, is the same one that is on the left hand side of the period black and white view showing the Tatler. The windows look the same.

Chris

[wsteve55]

Didn't it have a Kardoma cafe inside the foyer?

Well, I was only a kid,but I do remember an expresso machine,on a counter!

[Mollie]

Although blurred, here is the fountain/goldfish bowl, also the auditorium.
Taken April 1971

oh thank you so much Sirob, my dad will be made up to see these

[Sirob]

oh thank you so much Sirob, my dad will be made up to see these

Have two more then, the facade and the projection room

[PhilipG]

Great photos, Sirob.

The Tatler in Church Street.
The entrance was in Church Street, underneath the canopy, then you walked down a corridor the full length of the building till you came to the side of the auditorium, which led to Williamson Street.
I'm surprised nobody else has mentioned the very long entrance.

Here are some extracts from my history of the building:

"The plans of the Tatler News Comedy Theatre were received by the Building Surveyors' Dept, in August 1933 of the conversion of part of 25 Church Street which had been shops. The building is Victorian, and is listed. Photos exist showing it in 1886, looking very much as it does today (above ground floor level)."

.............

"The premises were L-shaped long before they became a News Theatre, certainly before 1890. At the rear of 25 Church Street the building turns left and continues to Williamson Street. This section contained the auditorium. The entrance in Church Street was just that - a long entrance."

............

"The former cinema, without many alterations, reopened in September 1974 as a trendy clothes shop called Solitaire."

............

Subsequently there were some rather tatty operators in what had been the auditorium area, which is now occupied by Bon Marche.
If Solitaire have reappeared they must be next door.


.

[lindylou]

Thanks Philip.

[ItsaZappathing]

Have two more then, the facade and the projection room

Nice one Sirob.

[Mollie]

Have two more then, the facade and the projection room

my goodness Sirob, you are a star! So great to see the facade and a bit of the old dairy building next door. The pictures was massive wasn't it? had a great atmosphere too, you felt like you'd really been out for a night when you went there.
When I was about 8 over there at the Saturday morning flicks, I ran and slipped and fell on the marble foyer floor banging my head on one of those pillars and cutting my forehead open good style. Got taken into the managers office and he sent someone over to fetch my mum. He told me off for running around even though I had to go and have quite a few stitches - you can still see the scar now 40+ years later! He told my mum I was bleeding like a 'stuck pig'! hahaa, I'll never forget that phrase

[taffy]

Hi I'm new here and am amazed at the wealth of information. People are really interesting.

I was just wondering if anyone had any photos of the inside foyer of the old Odeon on Allerton Road? My family lives nearby and my dad phoned to say the 'new' Classic had been closed down. What a shame, we spent many happy hours there and in the old cinema on the same site. I'd love to see some pics of the inside of the old cinema, it was all marble pillars with a goldfish pond in the middle - to a kid it was like a palace. We went to the Saturday morning pictures there for years.

Here's hoping !

Here's a photo for you. Source unknown

[Ross08]

It's a bit of a long-shot this one, but has anybody got any information on the building that is now the Mecca Bingo in Chester city centre.
It's probably been a cinema or theatre, I would think - and I'd say it's older than most (i.e pre-thirties)....

I'd be grateful if anybody could shed some light.

[Howie]

Crosby Plaza Cinema celebrates its 70th anniversary
Sep 3 2009
by Laura Sharpe, Liverpool Daily Post

A MERSEYSIDE cinema that has fought for survival for the last 70 years will celebrate its anniversary by showing a film that, like itself, was almost lost to the cutting-room floor of history.

This weekend, audiences at the much-loved Crosby Plaza Cinema will be transported back to when the cinema first opened its doors in 1939.

Cinema staff will be dressed in 1940s costumes for a special screening of the 70-year-old Wizard of Oz.

The film was almost destroyed after it was first shown because of poor reviews, but like the Plaza, it survived and is now an age-old classic.

The Plaza?s colourful history started with the shortest-ever opening.

It opened on September 2, 1939, but closed just hours later because of air raids.

It eventually reopened two weeks later.

Cinema manager Chris Halliday said: ?The Wizard of Oz seemed appropriate as it?s the same age as the Plaza and will look fantastic on the big screen.

?We want to reflect the history of the Plaza and all our staff will be in costume. We have an original Gone With the Wind trailer, sandbags and Union Jack flags.?

Over the years, the Plaza has had to fight for survival and once stood proudly among four other cinemas across Waterloo and Crosby.

Ironically, despite battling for popularity alongside multiplex cinemas, the Plaza itself played a part in the history of the multiplex.

In 1976, it was one of the first cinemas to become a triplex, after a ?100,000 scheme converted what was then called the Classic Cinema.

Continues >>

[Ged]

Eyes down at the Top Rank bingo hall in Dingle.

Seen elsewhere on this thread as a cinema.







.

[scouse smurf]

Wonder what they would make of todays bingo halls and prizes

[wsteve55]

Wonder what they would make of todays bingo halls and prizes

Are there many left,after the fag ban?