Regal Cinema

The Regal Cinema stood on Staniforth Road in the Attercliffe district of Sheffield on the eastern edge of the city. It was a rebuild of the former Theatre Royal/Royal Picture House (which has its own page on Cinema Treasures) and occupied the same site, with some of the original external walls retained in the new build. The architect was Harold J. Shepherd and building contractors were George Longden and Son Ltd. The Regal Cinema was opened on Monday 14th October 1935 with the film “The Dictator” starring Clive Brooke and Madeleine Carroll.

For the first ten weeks it ran as a cine-variety house, although the new stage only had a depth of 11 feet. It was then leased to the Manchester based J.F. Emery circuit in January 1936, and they dropped the variety acts.

The Regal Cinema had an imposing façade with extensive use of glass. The entrance door architraves were constructed in toughened black glass with primrose squares with green decorative horizontal lines above them. The canopy fascia was treated in red and primrose Vitrolite and a double ‘Regal’ neon sign was mounted above the canopy. The interior work was supervised by Kalee Ltd. under an all in contract including fibrous plaster work, decoration, electrical fittings, seating and stage and door drapes. A new balcony was constructed in the rebuild and total seating was for 918, slightly less than the former Theatre Royal. Glass was also used for auditorium decorations in the form of green mirrors and black skirting. The projection suite was situated at the rear of the stalls with Kalee 11 projectors and Western Electric sound system.

The Regal Cinema suffered some damage on the second night of the Sheffield blitz in World War II and did not reopen until 10th March 1941. Sunday opening was introduced in August 1944.

In March 1955 the Leeds based Star Cinemas circuit took over, and in May that year, the Regal Cinema was closed for a week for modernisation and installation of CinemaScope. Closure came on 27th May 1961 with the film “Hypnotic Eye” being the last shown. The Regal Cinema was converted into a Star Bingo Club, but subsequently demolished in around 1962.

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