Danilo Stourbridge
29 Hagley Road,
Stourbridge,
DY8 1QH
29 Hagley Road,
Stourbridge,
DY8 1QH
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Danilo Cinemas, Essoldo Circuit (Contol) Ltd., S.M. Super Cinemas, Ltd.
Architects: Ernest S. Roberts
Firms: Satchwell & Roberts
Styles: Art Deco
Nearby Theaters
The Danilo Cinema was the last of Mortimer Dent’s small chain of Danilo Cinema’s to open. It opened on 13th May 1940 with Kenneth Kent in “At the Villa Rose”(House of Mystery).
The building was set back from Hagley Road and had a forecourt in front. The façade in rustic brickwork had white stone dressings around five tall windows containing leaded glass panes. Above these were three square windows and on each side of these were a circular window, all edged in white stone. The name ‘Danilo’ was placed on top of a white stone ledge. Seating in the auditorium was provided for 970 in the stalls and 410 in the circle.
By 1947, it was operated by the Southan Morris S.M. Super Cinemas Ltd. and it passed onto the Essoldo circuit in February 1957.
The Danilo Cinema was closed on 21st December 1963 with Jacqueline Ellis in “The Yellow Teddy Bears” and Barbara Steele in “The Terror of Doctor Hitchcock”. It re-opened as an Essoldo Bingo Club on 27th December 1963. Later becoming a Coral Bingo Club which continued until June 1995.
In August 1996, it was converted into the Picturehouse Nightclub. A single storey extension was built on the forecourt at the front of the building. In 2007, it was presenting lap dancing. In 2009, it was Screens wine bar which has since closed. On 3rd May 2021 there was a fire in the vacant building which was confirmed as an arson attack. In July 2021 it was prepared for demolition to build flats on the site, and demolition came in early-August 2021.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
This was my favorite cinema in Stourbridge, Ned Williams book Cinemas Of The Black Country has two new photos of the cinema.
This was a fine example of an 1930’s Earnest Roberts cinema .Bold red brick exterior with a vast art-deco streamlined auditorium.The site is excavated into the hillside with the front stalls and stage being ten feet below ground level.This resulted in a very low rear elevation but a high handsome frontage.This was ruined when a unsympathetic extension was built onto the front, hiding the tall stained glass upper foyer windows. This had the shortest life of all of the Stourbridge cinemas, a mere 23 years. People remember it more now from its Bingo and nightclub days that followed the closure. In a very reconstructed and altered form the building at the moment is still there in Hagley Road.
The Interior is virtually the same as The Clifton Perry Barr The difference was the paint effect
Upon a recent visit, I discovered that the building is due to be demolished. I’ve uploaded an image of its current state.
Danilo now demolished, another part of the history and character of Stourbridge gone forever!