May Gallery- Leicester/Lincoln memories
Leicester / Lincoln memories, reproduced from Bioscope 85, November 2002.
IN RETROSPECT
Notes by the late George Clark
The following article is the first in a series by George Clark, who was an active cinema historian and enthusiast until his death in December 2001. These were published by the Society in his book The Cinemas o Lincolnshire. As this is now out of print, his long-standing friend Brian Hornsey considered they were worth a larger audience.
I suppose I must blame my father for my interest in cinemas, since as early as 1930 I enjoyed visits to the local cinema whenever funds became available. A surprise Christmas present in the form of a toy projector and a few lengths of 35mm film furthered my interest. In those days acetate film could be bought in many shops and a length of cartoon film in a tin could be bought for around 1/- .
Various model projectors came my way over the years including a Pathé France clockwork driven machine which when fully wound drove a 33 ft cassette of 9.5mm film. Illuminated by a 4½ volt battery it gave a small but clear picture helped by the vertical cut off shutter, a refinement sadly lacking in most toy projectors. This machine would of course have been a collector’s item today.
After leaving school my interest in all things electrical continued and over a two-year period I studied at evening classes, resulting in the appropriate qualifications being gained and an offer to continue at Leicester College. However the desire to earn a living overcame the desire to learn and I started working for Alfred Mynard’s Imperial Sound. The job was not quite what was expected, but it was interesting to see a new sound system being developed in the lab. and experiencing the testing of an air-raid siren, which nearly deafened the entire workforce when it was tested in the work’s car park. The siren was eventually situated on the top of Lewis’ department-store tower in 1939: it could be heard miles away.
My interest in all things cinema continued and I watched as the Savoy Cinema in Belgrave Gate was built by ABC, and I was one of its first patrons when it opened on the 27th June 1937. The Knighton Cinema had opened near my home in 1936 and a nice cinema it was, well looked after and a pleasure to visit. When the Odeon came along crowds surged to see this new addition but for me the Savoy remained my local, albeit being over two miles away.
On a visit to Lincoln in 1938, a chance meeting with a former operator suggested I pay a visit to the Central Cinema, which was in need of staff. A word with the manager Mr. Pratt brought forth an offer which I was pleased to accept, as I was not by this time happy, ‘pushing a pen’. I well remember my first day carrying thirteen reels of film up to the rewind room, and being shown by the Chief how to remake a faulty join in a satisfactory manner, using his method of ‘blooping’ the sound track to avoid clicks in the speakers. I was both excited and very nervous running my first reel, as in the cinema business one mistake is seen by hundreds of people. The Strong arcs in use had to be constantly checked as they had a habit of parting very quickly and the light could go out. The Gaumont machines at the Central sat on Western Electric Universal bases, which in order to get them up to speed had to be hand turned before switching on the supply, otherwise one could miss a changeover.
By 1939 staff began to be disappear into the forces or oblivion, as many did to avoid call up. This often meant extra work for the remaining staff. 1940 came and so did my call to join the ranks, and after the usual period of square bashing I was posted to the Royal Corps of Signals as a Radio/Electrician.
During overseas service many calls were made for assistance from the Mobile Cinema personnel who seemed to know surprisingly little about the equipment they used. In Italy on one occasion I was asked to help a unit giving an outside show from the back of the cinema truck, projecting a film onto a screen lashed to the side of a lorry. The film, a Betty Grable movie, was being enthusiastically received by the audience who were loudly showing their appreciation of the star’s numerous talents, when an almighty bang disintegrated the lorry carrying the screen, the film continued to run and so did the audience! I never did finish the repair of that projector.
Whilst on loan to ENSA I assisted in the re-fitting of cinemas in the Naples area. One such cinema in the village of Baiano had been damaged by enemy action; I was told that I had three weeks to opening. After checking the damage, (which included speakers without cones, no tabs, lights, or carbons) the main structure was quickly patched up. An army of volunteers then set about painting and cleaning the seating and floors etc. Meanwhile, turning to the Cinemeccanica projector of vintage years, it was found to be repairable, but the water-cooled condenser system needed a good clean and polish plus a supply of running water. New continental spools had to be found, together with suitable carbons for the arc. Armed with a supply of compulsory purchase orders we set off to scour the area around Naples. After a tiring three days we had everything we needed. Working into the night we managed to rewire where required and even put up tabs and fitted new speakers into position. After stripping and cleaning the projector we began testing and miraculously everything worked. We changed the Italian name to the Radion and it was opened by a posse of VIPs who declared it the best show this side of home!
The end of the war found me in Graz, Austria, where I was voted onto the camp entertainment committee. I was asked to plan the building of a camp cinema/theatre/dance hall. A large barn like building was put at our disposal and we prepared plans for the conversion and were given the go ahead.
We were assisted with the help of German POWs who did an excellent job in carrying out duties they were instructed to do. We completed the stage, PA sound, projection room, subdued lighting and air conditioning. Two weeks after opening I was demobbed and on my way home.
After returning home I formed a Mobile Cinema Unit with a relative. We used two GB L516 projectors and an 8ft x 6ft screen with a non-sync. unit. Venues ranged from church and village halls to private parties. Things went quite well for a time until the winter of 1947, which nearly put us out of business. Bad weather and electricity cuts meant poor audiences and on one occasion power failed part way through a show, meaning we had to return the admission prices. Other factors such as tax and the high cost of film hire (we always used the best available to us such as MGM) saw profits eaten up so we reluctantly sold up in the early summer-time.
left The Knighton Cinema, Leicester & right the Leicester Odeon at opening
(Pictures from the Brian Hornsey Collection)
left The Central Cinema & right the Regal / Picture House, both in Lincoln
After a spell at the Lincoln Ritz, marred somewhat by staffing problems, a job at the Radion (Lincoln) came available, which I readily accepted hoping it would be a more stable position. The Radion was the last Lincoln cinema constructed before the war; built on the stadium principal with all 850 seats on one sloping floor, opening on March 27th 1939 with Barry K. Barnes and Valerie Hobson in This Man is News and Gracie Fields in We’re Going to be Rich. The original equipment was Kalee 8 projectors and arcs, with RCA sound and a Kalux Super Matt screen. The interior was painted a warm apricot colour speckled with gold; the doors throughout were painted peppermint green.
After the war and requisition by the army, the cinema reopened under the ownership of the Emery Circuit of Fylde, Blackpool. Much work was needed to re-establish the building as a cinema: seating capacity was reduced, making it the best spacing of any cinema in the town. In the false roof was the remains of the neon lighting, which after test was found to be mostly working. The lighting pieces were regassed and sealed with the whole being fixed to the exterior where it was to remain in use until the building closed as a cinema. It reopened on 4th August 1947 with R. G. Ascot as manager.
When I first saw the machines in the box, my heart sank, how could such a new cinema use such antiquated equipment? Apparently it was a stop-gap until the new Westrex equipment was available. Nevertheless, the Kalee machines did an excellent job, which with the Mirrophonic sound system gave us very little trouble. Then unexpectedly crates began to arrive and the Westrex equipment was on its way.
With valiant work in preparation for the changeover by Syd Donaldson, our local engineer, wires were pulled through conduits, switches fitted, crates unpacked and projectors assembled, new arcs fitted to the bases: all was ready for the change.
As the last reel was being shown the other machine was being dismantled and placed in crates, as the final reel ended the other machine suffered the same fate, together with all the surplus wiring. Slowly the new machines were nudged into place, wired and checked. By mid morning everything was in position, all systems checked and in working order. All that remained was to run a sound check, balance the readings between each machine, run the test film several times to check for sound levels in the theatre and all was ready.
Home for a quick wash and brush up, a spot of lunch and back at the cinema by 2.30 for a continuous run until 9.30pm. Then home to bed, the first sleep since Friday night and more than welcome. No wonder someone said, “There is little social existence outside the cinema.”
In my time at the Radion I saw three changes of management. The operating staff settled down to myself, Brian Hornsey and a chap called Derek. Though many films were second run, our patrons were prepared to wait as they preferred to watch the films in the comfort of the Radion. During 1959 I heard on the grapevine the long expected news that the cinema would be closing in the New Year. Brian and I started to look at other options: he moved to Stamford and managed a local photographic shop, helping keep the Radion running until a replacement could be found, and then temporary staff kept the place going until July 16th 1960 when I returned to show the last reel of the Danny Kaye film, The Five Pennies. The end of an era.
After closure the Radion served for a short time as a supermarket, followed by a spell as a branch of a dry cleaning firm, until it was taken over by the BBC in 1980 as a base for Radio Lincolnshire.
The late George Clarke in typical pose at Bourneville in the 50s. From a colour slide by Brian Hornsey.
on May 1, 2009 at 3:33 pm
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This is really interesting. I am typing this in the Radion Building, just feet away from where George would have worked in his days as a projectionist .
The BBC has been in this building for nearly 30 years, longer than it was used as a cinema, and it is really good to know something of its history.We still have traces of our cinematic past here, particularly in the roof space, but George’s memories make it come alive.
If any enthusiasts would like to have a look round the building, then please contact me.
Chartlie.Partridge@bbc.co.uk
on May 8, 2009 at 12:49 pm
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It is a wonderful building, probably overlooked amongst some of the more famous places in Leicester. For those that haven’t been, do take up Charlie’s kind offer above!
on January 15, 2010 at 5:06 pm
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hi ifound this most intresting thank you
i am try to trace back my family history and would love some help withe the name of the roads that the cinema is on , and the name of the side street that runs along the side of it as my mother lived there when she was young late 40s early 50s , bless her she cant rember the name of it ,
any help with this i would be most gratfull
jacky