Norfolk Picture Palace

In the Sheffield suburb of Park Hill, just to the east of the City Centre, at the junction of Duke Street and Talbot Street. The Norfolk Picture Palace opened on Thursday 24th December 1914. (This had not been reported in the Sheffield press but, remarkably, a poster advertising the opening show was uncovered, many years later, when a billboard was removed.)

It was a substantial brick building with a “veranda” (canopy) running the whole length. The interior decoration was white with green panels. A modest stage was provided, but it is not known how frequently, if at all, variety acts appeared. There were 1,000 seats, with a raised area at the back of the stalls. This was six steps up, separated by a red velvet curtain suspended from a brass rail.

The spacious operating box was home to two Gaumont Chrono projectors.

The opening programme was a series of short subjects: “The Old Army Coat”, “The Tell-Tale Scar”, “The Lonesome Trail”, “Sammy’s Trousers”, “Doctor Yak’s Christmas” and “Mabel’s Busy Day” plus the latest War news. Performances were at 6.45pm and 9pm, Monday to Saturday.

In 1919 the cinema was provided with a more imposing entrance.

Initially, one of Charles Callum’s orchestras had been engaged; this was dispensed with in 1927, when a panatrope (that played records sufficiently loud!) was acquired.

The Norfolk Picture House screened its first talkie “The Rainbow Man”, starring Marian Nixon and Frankie Darro, shown during week commencing 23rd December 1929. Initially, an Electrocord sound system was installed, but by 1932 this had been replaced by Western Electric(WE) system.

Major improvements were carried out in 1937, including a re-modelling of the proscenium, the introduction of concealed lighting and a new colour scheme in pastel shades varying from light green to pink.

The Norfolk Picture Palace was damaged during the first night of the Sheffield ‘blitz’, but re-opened on 30th December 1940. By 1950 the seating capacity had been reduced to 860.

A panoramic screen was installed in November 1953, the first CinemaScope feature being “Three Coins in the Fountain”, starring Clifton Webb and Dorothy McGuire.

Sunday opening arrived in November 1957, but the Norfolk Picture Palace closed on 24th December 1959 with John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara in “The Wings of the Eagle” & Jose Ferrer in “The High Cost of Living”: the proceeds were donated to the Old Folks' Fund promoted by the Sheffield Star newspaper. Rex Hickman, who had started at the Norfolk Picture House as a projectionist when it first opened, and had progressed to being a director of the operating company, had already chosen to retire on Christmas Eve in 1954, marking exactly 40 years service, and five years later came the final curtain.

The building was demolished. In December 2020 C & A Reed, funeral directors, occupy the site. However, the New Inn, just across the alleyway down which patrons queued under the canopy, is still standing, albeit boarded up.

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