From his first experience of Saturday morning kids’ shows at the pictures, Rick Wilde became hooked on not only films but on how cinemas worked. Beginning his career in 1953 as a four teen-year-old, he worked as a projectionist until 2006. When he joined the business there was 52 picture houses around the city: from the crude conversions of the early 1900s, the gilded Victorian palaces of the 1910s, the art deco continentals of the 1930s, the sophisticated twin and triples of the 1960s and 1970s, to the multiplexes of today - he’s seen it all. A walking encyclopedia of Notts cinema shares his knowledge with us...
1. Victoria/Moulin Rouge - Milton St
Nottingham’s first purpose built picturehouse was opened in March 1910 with 500 seats. It was later enlarged, and much later still renamed Moulin in December 1960. Visited by the Kray twins in 1967 for a midnight screening of The Blue Movie, and Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in 1968. The doors closed in February 1970 and the building was demolished.
2. Pringles/Picture House - Goldsmith St
The second purpose built cinema opened November 1910 with 700 seats. It had a relatively short lifespan of 31 years, closing in October 1941. Converted for live theatre, it opened as Little Theatre in 1947, and became home to the city’s first Playhouse in 1950 until a relocation to Wellington Circus in 1963. It is currently home to Spanky Van Dykes.
3. Empress Pictures - King Edward St
Converted from a skating rink that burned down in 1910, the cinema opened in January 1913 and seated 1,200. Its doors closed in December 1927 to make way for the open market that was moved from the Marketplace, which in turn made way for the new Slab Square.
4. New Empress - St. Anns Well Road
Built to replace the Empress (above), it was the nearest available site to the original cinema. Opened in October 1928 it seated 1,500, it closed in November 1960 to become a bingo hall. The builidng was demolished in 1988 and the site is now home to a mosque.
5. Hibberts Pictures - Shakespeare St
A converted church, it opened as a picture house in March 1910 with 600 seats. It went through two enlargements, and was renamed Lounge in April 1920. The house closed in September 1937 to enable the YMCA extension to be made.
6. Regents Hall - Mansfield Road
This unusual cinema opened in March 1913, seated 650, and was also a church. During the week it ran as a cinema but, with the help of a mobile altar, font and lectern, it was converted to a church on Sundays. The scriptures had film posters on the reverse, side lighting used red globes all week, replaced with white for Sunday, and Bible and prayer book racks were placed in front of pay-box for services. This rigmarole was done twice weekly for 28 years. It temporarily closed in February 1941, and re-opened after the war, but not for film shows. The building was demolished in 1960.
7. Picture House - Long Row
Nottingham’s first luxury entertainment house contained not only a 600-seat cinema but three cafes (one of which was basically a smoke room). Opened facing on to the Great Marketplace in November 1912, it had a civic send-off. Balcony patrons were served with afternoon tea and biscuits before and during WWI years. The cinema closed in January 1930 due to the owning company acquiring the Hippodrome.
8. Hippodrome/ Gaumont - Goldsmith St/Wollaton St
Built in 1908 as a music hall over three floors, it became a cinema in November 1927. Although it had 2,500 seats, only 2,400 were suitable for viewing pictures. The main entrance was on the corner, and the gallery entrance was in the side yard off Wollaton Street. Re-styled and renamed Gaumont in February 1948, it was to close in January 1971. The grand building was demolished to make way for an office block with a nightclub in the basement (McClusky’s, Mode, then Halo).
9. Picture Palace - Parliament St/Wollaton St
Opened in March 1914 with 600 seats, the main entrance was on Parliament St, but there was secondary entrance on Wollaton Street. After a few changes in ownerships and names it became known as the News House in July 1935 until July 1956 when it was renamed Odd Hour Cinema. It was closed April 1957 and sold off for redevelopment following the death of the owner. As its name suggests, it ran news, shorts and cartoons for most of its lifespan.
10. Mechanics Hall/The Academy - Milton St
Built for the Mechanics Institution in 1869 for illustrated lectures and readings, the large hall was converted into a full time cinema in March 1916 with 1,200 seats. The ground floor wasn’t raked (sloped) and the pillars holding up the balcony obscured the screen for many, while side-seating on the curved balcony wasn’t used because of the distorted views. Another common complaint was that the hard-wood seats clattered when anyone stood up, and as performances were continuous from around 1pm to 10.40pm every day it kept a lot of patrons from returning. The cinema closed and was demolished in June 1964. Burbeck House sat on the site, but this has since made way for the present shopping centre completed in 2009.
11. Elite - Parliament St
Opened in August 1921 as a 1,450 seat auditorium complete with restaurant, three cafes and a ballroom spread over four floors. It became the number one spot in the city, being the first to show a full-length talkie, after which it went back to silent films for another six months. Sadly it was reduced to playing ‘off-circuit’ material, revivals and second runs to the Carlton/ABC and, more latterly, a home for cheap sex productions for the raincoat trade. It closed in April 1977, and has since been internally rebuilt and is now home to Gatecrasher, while the original foyer area is numerous shops.
12. Carlton/ABC Nottingham - ChapeI Bar
Originally opened in October 1939 as a 2,100 seater, WWII prevented its proper completion and plans for a restaurant were never realised. In December 1959 it was renamed ABC Nottingham, and between November and December 1974 it was made a triple screen centre. It then became a Cannon, then an MGM, then a Virgin, before reverting back to ABC in May 1996. It closed in July 1999, and was demolished in 2001. A hotel, bars, restaurants and shops now cover various parts of the original cinemas footprint.
13. Ritz/Odeon - Angel Row
Opened in December 1933 with 2,500 seats and a restaurant facility, changes in ownership in 1944 resulted in the name change to Odeon. In July 1965 it made history as the first ‘twin’ in the country. Upstairs became screen one with Sound Of Music while downstairs ran with Mary Poppins, so for the first time patrons had a choice. Well, kind of; Julie Andrews, or... Julie Andrews. Later in 1973 came screen three,with screens four and five opening in 1976, and finally screen six in 1988. The Odeon closed down in January 2001, and was finally demolished in 2013.
14. Scala/Classic/Tatler Club - Market St
Built 1875 as the Alexandra, it had skating rink on the ground floor and a shooting gallery in the basement. Converted into a music hall called the Talbot in 1876, changing names to the Gaiety in 1889, and again in 1901 to the Kings. It became a full-time cinema, Scala, in March 1913. In April 1964 it became the News and Cartoon cinemas showing a diet of news, shorts and cartoons. In November 1967 it became the Classic and became a three screen cinema in 1972 - screen three becoming the Tatler Film Club with fifty seats. This later became Club 2000. The whole building closed in September 1984 and was reconstructed in 1985-86 to become a medieval banquet hall. This failed and the building was demolished in 1988. The old cinema entrance is where the pedestrian entrance to the multi-storey car park that now sits on the old site.
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