Dunston had two cinemas both on Ravensworth Road...
The Albert Picture Palace (Top Hall)
The Albert Picture Palace stood opposite the road that leads into Wallace Street from Ravensworth Road, the Albert was dopened in 1912 and demolished in 1968. It had a ground floor and a balcony and was owned by a local syndicate.
In 1959 it boasted that it had “The most modern cinemascope equipment in the north”. When it first opened it showed silent films and had various types of acts and performers. It closed in 1968 when it was briefly a club and then a bingo hall before eventual demolition to make way for the new developments on Ravensworth Road.
The Albert Picture Palace (Top Hall)
The Albert Picture Palace stood opposite the road that leads into Wallace Street from Ravensworth Road, the Albert was dopened in 1912 and demolished in 1968. It had a ground floor and a balcony and was owned by a local syndicate.
In 1959 it boasted that it had “The most modern cinemascope equipment in the north”. When it first opened it showed silent films and had various types of acts and performers. It closed in 1968 when it was briefly a club and then a bingo hall before eventual demolition to make way for the new developments on Ravensworth Road.
Above, The Top Hall on the right.
The Imperial Picture Hall (Bottom Hall)
Known locally as the ‘Bottom Hall’. It was opened in 1910 and eventually closed in 1961 when it became a tyre depot before demolition. It opened twice-nightly six nights a week, changing films each Monday and Thursday, and had a film and a “short” as well as the Pathe News. Films were then classified into A and B films.
There was also a Saturday matinee for children, which was very popular. Entry was one penny, or twopence for the back two rows which had plush seats. Some parents gave their children two pence with the intention of keeping them away from the riff-raff in the penny seats. Little did they know that one penny was spent on sweets and their offspring met their friends in the penny seats!
It was a basic building, 60ft by 30ft, of corrugated iron. There was a small platform for variety acts. Within a year, it was renamed the Imperial Cinema. In December 1910 it was enlarged by the removal and replacement of one side of the auditorium. Despite this, more capacity was required, and, in late-1912, it was entirely re-built. The hall was then 80ft by 45ft, with a stage and dressing rooms, and seating for 550 patrons in stadium-style.Towards the end of the World War I the cinema was taken over by Dunston Imperial Hall Company Ltd. who ran it until 1940. In the 1950’s it had a reputation of being a ‘rough house’, with many seats missing and a leaking roof. The building became a Kennings tyre depot, the hall now belongs is part of Keldine Autos.
The Imperial Hall can be seen in the main header picture of this page to the right behind the small lad with the bike.
Known locally as the ‘Bottom Hall’. It was opened in 1910 and eventually closed in 1961 when it became a tyre depot before demolition. It opened twice-nightly six nights a week, changing films each Monday and Thursday, and had a film and a “short” as well as the Pathe News. Films were then classified into A and B films.
There was also a Saturday matinee for children, which was very popular. Entry was one penny, or twopence for the back two rows which had plush seats. Some parents gave their children two pence with the intention of keeping them away from the riff-raff in the penny seats. Little did they know that one penny was spent on sweets and their offspring met their friends in the penny seats!
It was a basic building, 60ft by 30ft, of corrugated iron. There was a small platform for variety acts. Within a year, it was renamed the Imperial Cinema. In December 1910 it was enlarged by the removal and replacement of one side of the auditorium. Despite this, more capacity was required, and, in late-1912, it was entirely re-built. The hall was then 80ft by 45ft, with a stage and dressing rooms, and seating for 550 patrons in stadium-style.Towards the end of the World War I the cinema was taken over by Dunston Imperial Hall Company Ltd. who ran it until 1940. In the 1950’s it had a reputation of being a ‘rough house’, with many seats missing and a leaking roof. The building became a Kennings tyre depot, the hall now belongs is part of Keldine Autos.
The Imperial Hall can be seen in the main header picture of this page to the right behind the small lad with the bike.
