Derby is the first place in the country to show children's short films
A copy of the Derby Daily Telegraph can be browsed at any time during the 1920s and 1930s, and you will be surprised by the number of places where you can watch movies on Saturday night.
At one stage, there are as many as 20 cinemas in operation, whether in the city center or in Alvaston, Chaddesden and Spondon.
However, once TV became easier and cheaper to buy in the 1950s, by the 21st century, the multimedia market gradually emerged and gradually provided people with choices nearly a century ago. By the 21st century, it gradually declined.
Currently, the city has 36 screens in four venues, namely Quad, Odeon and Showcase cinemas, located in Dinby Intu and Sinfin Forest Park.
Essentially, the golden age of Derby Cinemas has reached its peak, about 40 to 50 years, and, to be honest, most of the lovely buildings and furniture have been destroyed.
There are still only a few identifiable places, such as the former Gaumont and Odeon, which are now on London Road and are now the location of the Cosmo restaurant.
The earliest commercial movie screening time may be in Mickleover in February 1900, when children were allowed to watch "Great American Biology" for one day.
There is no cinema, just a school auditorium, which is considered to be the country’s earliest children’s drama.
Movies precede adult movies. The exact reason why the performance was held in Mickleover, which has never had a cinema, is unclear, and there are no records of any further performances.
The Temperance Hall on Curzon Street was also an early place in Derby, where silent films dating back to 1904 were shown.
But when the Midland Electric Theater in Babington Lane opened on July 27, 1910, all of this started large-scale commercial activities in Derby.
It later became Picture House and Ritz, and was eventually demolished and replaced by a furniture store.
Therefore, it is not surprising that when the Midland Electric Theatre opened in July 1910, it was one of the first dedicated cinemas in the country because Derby seemed to like its movies very much.
The original movie theater looks like someone’s front room, with an open fireplace that can welcome customers in the foyer and paneled enclosure.
It has a balcony and a cafe, which can accommodate 1,100 people in total.
It was eventually torn down in 1960. During the demolition process, a wall collapsed and a worker was killed.
The Victoria Electric Theatre on Becketwell Lane was later called the "Empire and the Black Prince". It was another early cinema that opened in 1910.
It was closed with the Midland Electric Theatre in 1960 and closed the same year to make room for Duckworth Square.
As a result, new cinemas began to be built slowly and steadily, bringing much-needed entertainment opportunities to help Derby residents survive the two world wars and subsequent terrorist attacks.
See if you remember any of them, or if you can figure out their location:
The first commercial cinema in Derby, the Midland Electric Theater on Babington Lane. It also shows some boys with glamorous Eaton-style collars, looking at the camera as customers enter the cinema. It opened in July 1910 and later became the Picture House and Ritz Hotel, which was demolished in 1960.
Later photos of the Midland Electric Theater taken at Babington Lane in September 1939
The interior was originally the Electric Midland Theater on Babington Lane, which later became a cinema. Please note that the open flames in the lounge and the gorgeous carved wooden stairs are still wearing armor at a certain moment, giving people a solemn home feeling.
Derby’s second purpose-built cinema – the Victoria Electric Theatre in Becketwell Lane – opened in late 1910 and was renamed Empire a few years later. The subsequent owner Edgar Duckworth refurbished it in 1948. Named The Black Prince. In 1954, the cinema was the first cinema in Derby to have a CinemaScope, which provided scale and feel. The first screening was a biblical epic, and the musical "The King and I" was screened to record the audience. This photo was taken in September 1939
This is a special charity movie night before "Black Prince" (Black Prince) closed in 1960, including the compilation of the documentary "The Golden Age of Comedy". A year later, the cinema was demolished and the site became the entrance to the new Duckworth Plaza shopping area.
The unofficial start of silent film screenings at Dolby was in the Temperance Hall on Curzon Street around 1904. This place was built in 1853. This photo was probably taken in the 1930s and then became Churchill Hall in 1946 and was owned by Derby. Conservative Association.
The Alexandra Electric Theatre on Normanton Road started as an ice skating rink in 1909, but began to show silent films during the First World War. After extensive internal and external renovations, it eventually became the Trocadero Ballroom and then the Bingo Hall. A fire broke out on October 18, 1982, and the place could not be saved. It was demolished and now there are houses.
Cavendish Cinema in Derby in the 1960s. It was built in 1937 to replace the early major entertainment center, the Derby Pavilion, which was burned down in 1929. The cinema was demolished in the 1960s to pave the way for a supermarket.
In 1960, young people lined up at the Cavendish Cinema to watch the film "King of the Forest" (a documentary narrated by Orson Welles, also known as the Congolese Bushmaster).
The three-story majestic frontage of the Whitehall Cinema, opened on St. Peter Street in 1914, later became Odeon, and was later demolished to pave the way. The long and narrow auditorium of the Whitehall Hall gives people an elegant feeling. The image of the Greeks is decorated on the side wall. The overall exquisite atmosphere of the cinema is well-known after the First World War when it opened a prestigious restaurant. Quality meals and live music.
In this photo taken in the 1960s, the Whitehall Cinema on St. Peter’s Street is now called the Odeon Cinema
The guest cinema on London Road was originally opened as a "comfort cinema" in December 1913 and closed in 1959. During its lifetime, it is also called a forum. Later it became a furniture store and now it is a restaurant.
This was filmed at the Odeon Cinema on London Road on November 3, 1970. The cinema was originally Gaumont Palace and opened on September 17, 1934, with 2,300 seats. It is also a theater that hosts pantomime performances at Christmas. In 1965, it became Odeon, but closed in 1983 and then reopened as New Trocadero, replacing the burnt-out Trocadero with a movie theater and bingo hall. It was briefly taken over by the Cannon chain until it was finally closed in 1988. This building later became the Zanzibar nightclub and later changed its name to Cosmo Restaurant.
The Regal Cinema on East Street is one of the most luxurious cinemas in Derby. It opened in June 1938 and later became the ABC Cinema. This photo may have been taken in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The rich man has a cinema organ, which emerges from the floor in front of the screen across the interval.
The former Regal Group became the ABC cinema and filmed here in 1970. It turned into a multi-screen cinema, which lasted until it closed in 1984.
The Sitwell Cinema was built in Spondon in 1928, and the first movie was Gerard Brigadier Gerard starring Rod le Rocque. It closed in 1958, and the last film was the 43,000-foot rescue program starring John Payne and Karen Steele. It became a supermarket. This photo shows cinema audiences queuing to watch the color film of the Queen's coronation in 1953
The Gloria Cinema on Nottingham Road, Chadsden is located between Chadsden Park Hotel and Chadsden Park. It was built a few years before the Second World War. Later, it was renamed Essoldo, but it closed in 1968 and then became a film center from 1974 to 1982. It remained a bingo hall until October 2000, and then was finally demolished in 2001 to pave the way for a supermarket.
The Majestic Cinema (Majestic Cinema) on Wiltshire Road in Charddesden opened in 1938 and closed in 1962 to make way for a supermarket. It is the sister cinema of Gloria, and both have towering facades. This is the only cinema in Derby that shows three different movies every week.
The arena opened in theaters in 1914 and reopened as a cinema on September 15, 1930, 16 years later. The Arena added 1,000 new dump-style seats to the booth, showcasing the new 20th Century Fox musical comedy "Sunny Side Up", featuring Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell ) Starred and sang the word "If I Speak to You". This was the beginning of a 20-year career as an arena cinema, then became a theater again in 1950, and finally became a bingo hall before closing in 2007.
It was built in 1910 and is located in the Cosmopolitan Hall on Upper Boundary Road. It was used for public meetings, dancing and skating until it was converted into the Cosmopolitan Cinema (referred to as Cosmo) in 1923. This is the first Derby movie theater to show a short film on June 8, 1929, to release a recorded film. It closed in 1959, reopened as a bingo hall, and tried several times as a movie theater, but eventually closed and became a supermarket. This photo is from 1961.
The Popular Picture House opened in 1928 on Mill Street (Mill Street). In March 1958, the film was closed with Richard Widmark's film "The Last Wagon". The building remained closed for several years until it reopened as the song and dance club called The Midland, giving way to Bertie’s nightclub and gossip entertainment bar, and then closed again in 1981. The building was demolished in 2003 and the apartment is now occupied.
The most elegant building in this photo is the Stadium Cinema at the junction of London Road and Traffic Street. It opened in 1934 and closed in 1961 to build Bradshaw Way and the main center. This photo was taken in 1939. The building began life as the London Road Congregational Church in 1842. This is the first cinema in Derby that can play 3D movies
Rex Cinema is located on London Road in Alvaston, taken in 1982. The cinema opened on March 2, 1925 and was called Alvaston Cinema. It closed on October 22, 1966 after showing seven brides to seven brothers. It became a bingo hall, then Rainbow nightclub and Fun Pub. It also screened films in Asian languages. It was burned down and demolished in 1983.
The Allenton Cinema was opened in 1928 and is located at the corner of Osmanton Road and Stamford Street. It is Rex’s sister cinema in Alvaston. It was designed by TH Thorpe of Derby, who will design the newly demolished Mitre Hotel in 1930. In 1939, the cinema changed ownership and reopened as a Broadway cinema in the same year. Broadway closed in 1960 and was demolished, so a supermarket can be built on the site. Photo submitted by Maxwell Craven.
