Astra 1 & 2 Cinemas

When Rank changed its distribution arrangements in 1959 the Gaumont became the National release outlet with the Rank release going to the Odeon. Strangely, Psycho, which was a Rank release, was given to the Gaumont as its final offering, rather than going to the Odeon. During its final summer the Gaumont had a four week roadshow run of South Pacific, advertised as being “in 35mm on the wide screen”, which was a way of saying that it was not in Todd-AO with stereophonic sound (the only cinema in Halifax with stereo was the Theatre Royal, which had been the home of Fox CinemaScope films).

The last film to play at the Gaumont in 1960 was Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’ and staff at the ABC told me that on the very last night the queue was round the block.

A vintage photograph of the Gaumont Theatre in September 1949:
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