Remembering the Premier place to watch films in town
In this special Nostalgia feature, David A Ellis looks back at the history of former Widnes cinema The Premier
WETHERSPOONS have done a great job in converting many old picture houses into drinking houses and leaving much of the original decor intact.
Many of these palaces of dreams would no doubt have been victims of the demolition hammer if wetherspoons hadn’t come along and retained much of the original cinema look, which they have done in the many old cinema buildings they now occupy.
One such cinema to have been saved by their intervention is the Premier, Albert Road, Widnes. This cinema didn’t go from cinema straight into the hands of Wetherspoons but their intervention probably saved it.
Widnes was home to a number of cinemas before they shut their doors when movie going took a down turn.
The Premier opened for business on Monday, June 14, 1915, the opening attraction being Jewel of Fate. The proscenium was 35 feet wide and ten feet deep. There was one dressing room.
The building was 51 feet wide and around 90 feet long. The height was 20 feet. There were five stone steps leading to massive swing doors.
Cost of the building was around £4,000. The opening ceremony was performed by the mayor, Councillor D Lewis at 2.30pm. Sole proprietor of the 735 seat hall was Mr ER Richards.
Around the entrance there were cream and green tiles with hangings in gold silk plush with gold trimmings. The paybox was mahogany and around the screen the decorations were in silk plush, black and pink rose. Under the screen stood a bank of flowers.
The rear seating was in mahogany, the second class seats were in electric blue velvet. What were described as the third class seats were crimson velvet and in front were tip-up forms in green leather.
At the rear of the auditorium were two family boxes with plaster columns upholstered in pink with curtains to match. Internal furnishings were in the hands of Lautenberg and Sons Widnes.
Music to accompany the silent images was provided by a ladies orchestra.
Construction was carried out by Davey and Co of Runcorn. Performances were 7pm and 9pm and the first manager was Lester Haggard.
Talkies arrived on October 21, 1929. The first was the film Interference. This was followed by Broadway Melody and then The Singing Fool.
The cinema was the first in Widnes to screen talkies. It is stated that it was equipped with Kalee projectors with Western Electric sound, though the sound system is listed as British Talking Picture (BTP) by the Bioscope magazine.
In July 1937 the Premier had a makeover and became the New Premier. It became part of Cheshire County Cinemas.
The new look was designed by Warrington architects William and Segar Owen and the work took six weeks. One of the features was a new canopy decorated in blue and cream.
There were three pairs of doors leading to the auditorium, each with an oval amber tinted glass panel. The auditorium was coloured gold, blue and pink.
The extensive alterations were carried out by a Fred Smith of Farnworth. The colour scheme was by Thomas Fox and Sons of Widnes.
Harold Cooke became the manager, later managing the Plaza where he became known at children’s matinees as Uncle Harold.
The opening of the New Premier took place on July 26, 1937 with The Plainsman. Closure came on February 13, 1960 with the films Lady from Shanghai and Five Steps to Danger. At the time of closure it was managed by John Harrison.