Capitol Cinemas

In Skelmersdale, Lancashire, the Concourse Shopping Centre opened in 1972. In late-1971 it was announced that the American based Network Cinema Corporation, which Jerry Lewis was major shareholder, were planning a chain of Jerry Lewis Cinema in the UK. Opened on 29th January 1974 as the Oscar 1 & 2 Cinemas. The opening films were Sidney James in “Carry On Girls” in Oscar 1 and Bruce Lee in “Enter the Dragon” in Oscar 2. Almost as soon as they were opened, former boxing champion Billy Walker had purchased the Jerry Lewis franchise in the UK (only 2 cinemas in the chain had been built:the first was in Corby, Northamptonshire, out of a planned 32 cinemas). Within a year of opening it had been re-named Focus Cinemas, as the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences in Hollywood, California had objected to the ‘Oscar’ name being used.

Built under the bus station, the screens were side by side and seating was provided for 230 & 248. It was equipped with Phillips FP 20 projectors and a Western Electric(WE) sound system. By 1980 it had become part of the Brent Walker Cinemas chain. In 1982 Brent Walker put their cinema chain up ‘For Sale’. The Skelmersdale Focus Cinemas were sold for 1p (one penny!) to Les Castree, a cinema engineer and former proprietor of the Stone Picture House. The Focus Cinemas were then sold to Preston Film Services, a film equipment dealer, with no knowledge of running a cinema. They removed the projection equipment in the cinema and installed inferior equipment. The cinema ran open & closed for a couple of months until it closed permanently and went over to use as a bingo club.

It was not to be until 2012, when a £20m “vision to create a thriving town centre for Skelmersdale” was revealed, that filmgoers were promised a return of ‘big screen’ entertainment. The proposals included a new food store as well as a number of bars, shops and restaurants, and a five-screen cinema.

However, the proposals, at least insofar as the cinema was concerned, were scaled back. In January 2020 work began on a ‘New’ two-screen cinema, albeit turned out to be a revamp of the space previously occupied by the Oscar/Focus Cinema.

Each 125-seat auditorium is “fitted with comfy, Italian leather high-back chairs, each with 1.5-metre spacing between rows, to create a luxury feel with additional legroom”.

On 2nd July 2021 it was announced that the cinemas had been taken over by Sam Lavington, operator of the Stafford Cinemas (former Odeon, Stafford) and it reopened as the Capitol Cinemas.

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