Palais de Luxe Cinema

Located on Lime Street in the city centre, originally on the site was the St. James Hall which was destroyed by fire in 2nd May 1875. It was rebuilt and re-opened as the 1,000-seat St James Hall on May 1, 1876. Following refurbishment, it was re-opened as the New Tivoli Palace of Varieties on 2nd March 1896 with Marie Lloyd topping the bill. On 18th May 1896 it screened films presented by Vincent Paul as part of the variety programme. It was closed on 30th April 1898 and was demolished.

A new theatre, designed by architect Bertie Crewe was built on the site, which opened on 10th December 1906 as the Tivoli Palace of Varieties. Topping the bill was Vesta Tilly. On 30th December 1907 it had converted into a cinema/variety theatre by the Weisker Brothers. It was re-named Grand Tivoli which closed on 30th June 1909.

On 23rd November 1909 it re-opened as the Palais de Luxe Cinematograph, operated by the Weisker Brothers. On 2nd August 1930 it was equipped with a British Thomson-Houston (BTH) sound system and its first ‘talkie was The Duncan Sisters in “It’s a Great Life”.

The Palais de Luxe cinema suffered some bomb damage in 1941, and was closed from 3rd May 1941 until 9th June 1941 while repairs were carried out. In June 1951 a fire caused serious damage in the auditorium. Repairs were again carried out and the cinema received a new Moderne style façade. It re-opened on 6th November 1952 with Mario Lanza in “The Great Caruso”. Due to its narrow proscenium, it was never equipped with CinemaScope. It was closed on 24th October 1959 with Edward G. Robinson in “Scarlet Street” & “Dan Duryea in "Stool Pigeon”. It was later demolished for shops to be built on the site.

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