Oriental Cinema

Oak Lane,
Bradford, BD9

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Additional Info

Architects: William Illingworth

Styles: Art Deco

Previous Names: Oak Lane Picture House

Nearby Theaters

Oriental Cinema

Located in the Manningham district in the north of Bradford. The Oak Lane Picture House was opened on 18th November 1912 with “The Pseudo Sultan” and “Philip Steel”. It was a conversion of a former horse-tram shed. It had seating for 519, all on a single level with a gradual slope.

In 1920 it was re-named Oriental Cinema. In 1936, it was closed for alterations to be carried out by architect William Illingworth, which included the addition a a balcony which increased the seating capacity to 744, the side walls were raised and a new frontage and neon sign were added. Now sporting an Art Deco style, the New Oriental Cinema opened on 25th January 1937 with Shirley Temple in “Captain January”. The auditorium was now illuminated with a Holophane lighting system.

A CinemaScope screen and stereophonic sound was installed 1955. The Oriental Cinema was closed on 19th December 1958 with Kirk Douglas in “The Vikings”. It was demolished and a supermarket was built on the site.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 1 comments)

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on November 3, 2012 at 11:06 am

The is additional historical detail related to and a picture of the Oak Lane Picture House/Oriental Cinema on this webpage.

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