Before the rise of home video, cinemas used to be everywhere with many showtimes. I had many movie theaters near me in Staffordshire and with the help of a book by Barry Blaize called The Lost Empire: Picture Houses of the Potteries and Newcastle-under-Lyme I attempt to see if any of the old cinema buildings are still standing. I'll be also looking at old movie showtimes pics to see what films were showing back then and my memories of going to see those screenings. ► Cinemas mentioned in this video ☆ Hanley The Palace Cinema The Regent ABC Cine-bowl The Odeon ☆ Etruia ODEON Stoke, Festival Park ☆ Tunstall ► Barber's Picture Palace In 1929, the building was extended, with a new foyer added on the side, and the facade of the Palace Cinema was modernised in an Art Deco style. The seating capacity was increased to 1,200 with the addition of a circle. It screened its first ‘talkie’ “Smiling Irish Eyes” on 6th January 1930. CinemaScope was installed and the first film to be screened in this process was Howard Keel “Rose Marie” on 29th November 1954. The Palace Cinema was closed on 5th March 1966 with Elvis Presley in “Tickle Me”. It was converted into a Surewin Bingo Club by the Hutchinson Group of Burnley, Lancashire. In 1978 they converted the former circle into a twin screen cinema with seating provided for 102 where Kris Kistopherson in “Convoy” was screened, and 100 where John Travolta in “Grease” was screened. The bingo club continued to operate in the former stalls area, and the building was known as the Palace Entertainment Centre. ☆ Newcastle-under-lyme The Rex and Rio The Savoy Cinema The Vue (Formerly Warner Village) If you'd like to know more about the guy who built a ABC cinema in his back garden then check out Ethan Jones video called... ► The Best Retro Home Cinema In The World ( ABC Cinema ) Tour https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvFlBdq2ZD8 #abccinema ► The Green Cross Code Man The Green Cross Man is a costumed superhero character created in 1970 as an aid to teaching young children the Green Cross Code, and for promoting general road safety. British actor David Prowse MBE, best known for playing Darth Vader in Star Wars, played the character in a series of Public Information Films (PIFs) sponsored by the Central Office of Information for the UK Department of the Environment. The light-hearted spots ran on UK television from 1975 to 1990. In the films, Green Cross Man has the power to teleport from his monitoring station at Green Cross Control to any location where children are in need of pedestrian safety instruction. He accomplishes this by use of a wristwatch-like "dematerialiser" device. ► Staffordshire Sometimes abbreviated to Staffs is a landlocked county in the West Midlands of England. It adjoins Cheshire to the north west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the south east, West Midlands and Worcestershire to the south, and Shropshire to the west. The largest city in Staffordshire is Stoke-on-Trent, which is administered separately from the rest of the county as an independent unitary authority. Lichfield also has city status, although this is a considerably smaller cathedral city. Major towns include Stafford (the county town), Burton upon Trent, Cannock, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Leek, and Tamworth. Smaller towns include Stone, Uttoxeter, and Rugeley, and large villages Eccleshall, Wombourne, Kinver, Penkridge, Tutbury and Stretton. Cannock Chase AONB is within the county as well as parts of the National Forest and the Peak District national park. Apart from Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire is divided into the districts of Cannock Chase, East Staffordshire, Lichfield, Newcastle-under-Lyme, South Staffordshire, Stafford, Staffordshire Moorlands, and Tamworth. ► Book featured in this video The Lost Empire: The Picture Houses of the Potteries and Newcastle-under-Lyme ISBN-10: 1871528070 Available to buy here: ► http://amzn.to/2nKCb0x

Comments

1. Great video, I used to go to the local independent cinema ('The President' in Chester le Street). It seemed like everyone smoked in those days and if the film was boring (Mission Galactica :The Cylon Attack) I used to like to watch the beams of light diffuse through the fog of cigarette smoke. A strangely beautiful sight!
2. Hi David! Greetings from Boston! Just wondering if you were ever able to visit a Cannon Theater back in the day? Especially considering you are, like myself, a big Cannon fan! We never had those theaters here, unfortunately. What I wouldn't have done to visit one of those cathedrals of cinematic schlock! LOL! btw - it was brought to my attention this week that an author in the UK has nearly completed a book about Sam Firstenberg, who I'm sure I don't need to explain to you who that is! :) He is doing a Kickstarter, which I'm going to back myself in a few days. Just wanted to mention since you're a fan. I've nothing to do with it, so no shameless plug here! http://kck.st/2nTduBn Off now to cue up your DW3 commentary to my bluray! Cheers!
3. Awesome video!  I did a similar (though far less accomplished) video trip through cinematic history in my local city about 10 years ago.  It sucks how many classic cinema houses turned into Walgreens convenience stores.  Though at least our 1930s era art deco cinema house has survived as a porno theater.  Haha!
   
   I wish more people would put stuff like this together.  Loved the Metallica insert too!  Bonus points.  \m/
4. man with 2 brains!
5. very interesting video ,growing up i think i we had 4 classic cinemas and a old church converted into a cinema that showed adult films( well that how they were advertised) all the classic style cinemas have gone now from swansea, now we have two soulless multiplex they are nice enough but they lack the classic architecture of the old cinemas.
6. We watched Jaws 3D then hid in toilets to watch it again for free, god knows why,... it was shit. We did walk out after 15 mins of the 2nd showing, we probably done it to prove it could be done.
7. Great video as always LOCH boys. I saw Basil the Great Mouse Detective at the Palace in Tunstall.
8. Loch, Your videos are top notch, and interesting.
9. Nice. most of the old cinemas in my home town high street are now shops or flats, but one has recently reopened, complete with original interior and a painted mural which I hadn't seen since I was a teenager.
10. Top oh Notch! I love seeing what used to be where in comparison to now. It's like a doorway into the past. There is actually an old cinema in my hometown that still has a lot of the old interior intact. Urban explorers have been there. I could link you to a video of it if you wished it?
11. Loved this!