Town’s cinematic history in
THE spotlight falls on West Wales cinema this month as a new film called Save The Cinema is released on Sky TV and in theatres across the UK.
The film charts how Liz Evans – mum to singing stars Wynne Evans and Mark Llewellyn Evans – saved the Lyric Theatre in Carmarthen from closure.
It demonstrates how important cinema can be to local communities.
Llanelli, of course, has a rich history of cinemas, boasting no less that nine cinemas down the years.
Many, such as the Picturedrome and Vint’s Electric Cinema, have been all but lost to the collective memory in the town.
But, thanks to the work of one of the members of the Llanelli Community Heritage history group, we now have a comprehensive record of our old cinemas.
Today, the only cinema in town is the modern Odeon multiplex next to Llanelli bus station.
But most people of a certain age will recall the old Odeon, the classic art deco building which dominates the junction of Queen Victoria Road, Station Road and Murray Street.
The Odeon became the Llanelli Entertainment Centre, a councilowned multiplex and live theatre venue before it was closed down. Today, the building is being restored as a boutique cinema, live music and entertainment venue called Calon.
Llanelli’s rich cinematic history, particularly the years from the late 1800s to the end of the First World War, has been examined by Angela Evans on the Llanelli Community Heritage website.
Angela said: “William Haggar, who regularly visited Llanelli with his portable theatre in the late 1800s and early 1900s, was at the forefront of film-making and exhibition in South Wales. Travelling theatrical shows were ideal experimental sites for the new medium of film. Their proprietors were always on the look out for new money-making amusements and the films (which in the early days lasted only a few minutes) could be shown between the usual dramatic and variety turns.
“However, being at the forefront of the genre required determination and practical ingenuity. Early shows were beset with technical problems, including light failure, broken film, missing reels and even the occasional explosion. Some of the largest travelling theatres could accommodate a thousand or more spectators and the shows they staged could be as spectacular as anything shown by a permanent theatre.
“In fact, during this period, there was significant overlap between temporary and permanent venues; travelling theatres would often stage their shows in permanent buildings such as taverns or public halls (for example, at Llanelli in 1897 there was a delay in the portable Prince of Wales Theatre obtaining a licence and they moved their performances to the Athenaeum for a week) and some portable theatres would remain in the same place for several months or longer (for example, John Noakes’s Star Theatre stayed in Llanelli for six months in 1890).
“In 1930 a reader of the the Llanelly Star (the paper used the historic spelling of ‘Llanelly’) shared his memories of early theatres in the town. He recalls Warren’s Prince of Wales Theatre in Holloway’s Yard in Murray Street engaging a theatrical company for a week. The company arrived on the Monday morning and failed to locate the theatre, which wasn’t surprising because it was little more than a dilapidated wooden shed. When directed there by locals the actors found ‘the poor old manager’ on the roof with sheets of cardboard and a box of tacks endeavouring to mend the roof in order to keep out the rain. Needless to say, they, being rather a high-class company, did not perform at Llanelly, but took the first train on to some more flourishing and attractive theatre.”
Angela added: “William Haggar, one of the first showmen to exhibit films at Llanelli, took the plunge in 1907 and opened Haggar’s Electric Coliseum, an elaborate mobile venue dedicated to film exhibition.
“A contemporary commentator described it as having ‘a most beautiful and elaborate front, a mass of gold work and beautiful figures, with lovely panelling at the sides and roofing the stage. The organ was one of the new 110-key Gaviolis, which had just begun to arrive in the country. One of
the main features of Haggar’s show was a troupe of dancing girls (members of his own family) on the walkup platform.
“Parading in front of the show to attract customers was a custom borrowed from the travelling theatres. There was also a doorman/lecturer whose job it was to attract potential customers into the show and provide a commentary on the silent films.
“In 1893 John Johnson applied for a
licence to stage plays at his Prince of Wales Theatre, a wooden structure erected on the Fair Field. His application was opposed by John Noakes, who just a year previously had built the Royalty Theatre, Llanelli’s first purpose-built theatre. Noakes argued that his theatre was ‘ample for the needs of the Llanelly public’ and ‘another licence was unnecessary in the town’.
“In September 1911 Vint’s Electric Palace opened in the town, on the site of the old Llanelli public baths on the junction between Market Street and Murray Street. William Haggar objected to Vint’s licence application on the grounds that the town was already well provided for in terms of entertainment. However, the objection was overruled and the
1,000-seater new picture theatre entered the competitive fray.”
Other cinemas followed, including The Llanelly Cinema, ‘a handsome white-fronted building’, which was opened on Stepney Street in July 1913 ‘under the patronage of Sir Stafford and Lady Howard’.
Today, we all know it as the Wetherspoons pub called The York Palace.
Angela said: “By the First World War Llanelli had six venues regularly showing films, and in one way or another films had changed Llanelli life. Cinema-going had become part of the fabric and routine of people’s social lives.”
You can find out more about cinemas in Llanelli on the Llanelli Community Heritage website – https://www.llanellich.org.uk/