Description
Original 1957 foyer poster from the Continental (Winton and Classic (Southbourne) Cinemas in Bournemouth.
The poster details the films showing from Thursday 14th February for 7 days (Continental Cinema) and Thursday 14th February for 3 days / Sunday February 17th for 4 days (Classic Cinema).
The films showing were;
Continental Cinema
The Card of Fate (Flesh and the Woman)- 1954 – details at IMDb
Diary of a Married Woman (Tagebuch einer Verliebten) – 1953 – details at IMDb
Classic Cinema
The Long Memory – 1953 – details at IMDb
Camels West (Southwest Passage) – 1954 – details at IMDb
Carnival Story – 1954 – details at IMDb
Barbados Quest (Murder on Approval – 1955 – details at IMDb
The Continental Cinema, Winton, Bournemouth (UK)
The Continental Cinema closed in 1989 and was quickly demolished. It didn’t always have that name. Opened in 1908 as the Assembly Rooms it was by 1911 called Winton Hall and was certainly showing films by that time. Later still, date unknown, it had been renamed the Winton Electric Palace. There was a lot of housing development at this time particularly at Stoke Wood nearby and Winton would of course soon be absorbed into fast expanding Bournemouth.
By 1928 when it closed for renovations it was advertised simply as Winton Electric.It reopened as The Palace and the opening film was a silent Fox release ‘East Side West Side’ starring George O’Brian and Virginia Valli. This was the same year that the Victoria cinema opened right on the border between Winton and Moordown, another fast expanding suburb, and only about one mile from Winton Banks. Competition had arrived in the area.
Harry Mears took control in 1929 and it was then renamed the Plaza. Could be that the ubiquitous Kalee 8 machines were installed at this time, the cinema certainly had such machines in operation right up until Westars from the Roxy in Holdenhurst Road were installed. The Roxy closed in 1963 but it was some years before the projectors were removed. The Westars were in daily use right up until closure. Both Westar machines were converted to take 6000′ spools but still retained Peerless ‘Magnarc’ lanterns and carbons.
Excerpt from primolux.co.uk, and all text and pictures in this article copyright John Thornley, Bob Dobson and others – visit the Primolux website for lots more information and some great pictures.
The Classic Cinema, Southbourne, Bournemouth (UK)
Opened in 1919, the first advertisement in the Bournemouth Echo was for the 6th, 7th and 8th October of that year. The programme consisted of the main feature ‘Ordeal of Rosetta’ plus part one of ‘Adventure Among The Cannibals’. The proprietor and manager was Mr J Newbury with the orchestra under the direction of Mr T E Denny. A featured comedian Sydney Drew also put in an appearance. The Embassy billed itself as ‘the finest ventilated hall in the provinces’.
The picture above was taken when the Palladium was showing a 1932 picture from First National, ‘The Honourable Mr Wong’ starring J Carroll Naish and Loretta Young. Interesting that even in those days there were reduced prices for admission to matinees. Note the small sweet shop to the right of the entrance the Continental had one as well, forerunners of today’s multiplex foyer offerings.
Tuesday 29th June 1948 was the last day of film presentation under the Palladium banner. The programme consisted of the Gainsborough picture ‘The Root of All Evil’ starring Phyllis Calvert and Michael Rennie with supporting feature ‘Strange Conquest’ starring Jane Wyatt and Julie Bishop. In the Daily Echo of Wednesday 30th. the name had changed to Embassy (formerly Palladium) and ‘A grand offering in Technicolor’ was promised. This was ‘Desert Fury’ starring Burt Lancaster and Lizabeth Scott with supporting feature ‘Hot Cargo’ starring William Gargan and Jean Rogers.
The Embassy closed again from Monday March 22nd 1954 for alterations and decorations. One can surmise that this involved the installation of Cinemascope and that by 1954 wartime building restrictions had come to an end so renovation was possible.
Excerpt from primolux.co.uk, and all text and pictures in this article copyright John Thornley, Bob Dobson and others – visit the Primolux website for lots more information and some great pictures.
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.