My mother said it was referred to as ‘The Flea Pit’ when she used to go there in the 50s. I only ever saw one movie there when I was a kid - the 1966 Batman' movie with Adam West & Burt Ward - unforgettable. Once again, it was a place you could tell was on its last legs. Stood vacant for some time after it closed, I believe.
Was there for the final screening and a friend got us in to the projection booth. Sadly and needlessly missed. The operators tried to negotiate rent, but the owners didn’t give a toss about cinema history and refused, which led to it and every business in the complex vacating, with the whole place empty and up for sale for a very long time (great business savvy, guys!).
Went there for a few Saturday afternoon kids' matinees a couple of times. Saw ‘Sandokan’, though there were a lot of popcorn fights, etc going on, keeping the poor ushers busy trying to keep order. Saw Sound of Music (under protest), Let it Be and Yellow Submarine there. It was a lovely old place and I was sad even as a kid to see it in decline. Remember going past and seeing posters for shows like The Band’s ‘The Last Waltz’ and you could tell the place was struggling.
My mother said it was referred to as ‘The Flea Pit’ when she used to go there in the 50s. I only ever saw one movie there when I was a kid - the 1966 Batman' movie with Adam West & Burt Ward - unforgettable. Once again, it was a place you could tell was on its last legs. Stood vacant for some time after it closed, I believe.
Was there for the final screening and a friend got us in to the projection booth. Sadly and needlessly missed. The operators tried to negotiate rent, but the owners didn’t give a toss about cinema history and refused, which led to it and every business in the complex vacating, with the whole place empty and up for sale for a very long time (great business savvy, guys!).
Went there for a few Saturday afternoon kids' matinees a couple of times. Saw ‘Sandokan’, though there were a lot of popcorn fights, etc going on, keeping the poor ushers busy trying to keep order. Saw Sound of Music (under protest), Let it Be and Yellow Submarine there. It was a lovely old place and I was sad even as a kid to see it in decline. Remember going past and seeing posters for shows like The Band’s ‘The Last Waltz’ and you could tell the place was struggling.
Late in its life saw Sid & Nancy, and Yessongs, which usually got a fair crowd.