ABC Regal Cinema, Chester.

ABC Regal Cinema

 

Owners: John Maxwell/Associated British Cinemas Ltd.

Architect: Willam R. Glen.  FRIAS.

Surveyor:  Arthur G. Yulle.  FFS.

Building contractor:  Frank Haslam Ltd, Regent Chambers, Hall Cross, Doncaster.

Seating capacity:  on opening 1973 ~  (circle 777 – stalls 1,196). Later total capacity increased to 2,016 during 1964.

Date opened: Saturday 30th October 1937.   

Compton organ: 3 manual console, 6 ranks instrument Opus No A412, with approximately 500 pipes, supplemented by a Melotone electrostatic tone generator.

First organist who played on the opening night:  Wilfred Southworth.

First General Manager: Ronald Barrie.                   

First Chief Projectionist: Hugh Price Jones.

First film shown:  ‘Slave Ship’. Starring Warner Baxter, Wallace Berry and Mickey Rooney.

First 3D film shown for 2 weeks from Monday 10th August 1953:  ‘House of Wax’, starring Vincent Price and Carolyn Jones.

First CinemaScope film to be shown from Monday 1st November 1954:  ‘Lucky Me’, starring Doris Day and Robert Cummings.

First Pop Concert: The Rolling Stones on Monday 14^th September 1964.        

Alterations into a twin cinema & bingo club:  Thursday 29th May 1980. Situated in the balcony area with seating for 470 and 252. EMI Bingo Club occupied the former stalls.  

Cinemas acquired by the Cannon Group & re-branded:  1987.

Date Closed: Sunday 16th December 1990. 

Final Films Shown:  Screen 1~’Ghost’. Starring starring Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore. Screen 2~ ‘Exorcist 3’. Starring  George C. Scott · Ed Flanders.

Last General Manager: Julie Caden.

Last Chief Projectionist: Joe Strange.

Building extant. Internally completely stripped back/gutted and changed into different use.

 

 

 

In April 1936, Associated British Cinemas submitted plans to Chester Watch Committee, who granted permission for this new venue, which would be the final super cinema to be built in the city before the commencement of WWII. At this time, two other cinemas were being erected, the Odeon and the Tatler.

The renowned architect, William R. Glen. FRIAS, was responsible for the design of the building, with the established modern cinema builder, Frank Haslam Ltd of Doncaster, as the main contractor.

A freehold site on the corner of Foregate Street and Love Street that had a history of being occupied by squalid courts of mean houses had now been secured for the development of this large luxury cinema that would equal the size of the Gaumont cinema on Brook Street. However, like the Gaumont, logistically the site was at a disadvantage of being outside the city walls and away from the city centre. It had no car parking facilities.

Situated on the corner of Foregate Street and Love Street, the façade had a generous canopy that extended the entire length of the entrance hall block. Above were a series of metal framed windows that spanned the length of the canopy, introducing plenty of natural light into this large entrance. Above canopy level was brown brickwork with a substantial featured Portland stone fluted border that topped the window assembly.

 

Directly above, mounted on the curved wall was a large red neon sign that spelled out the cinema’s name: Regal. At parapet level there were three matching slim horizontal borders. Below the canopy Portland stonework blocks faced the pillars and framed the windows and doors. A cluster of four double doors positioned on the corner formed the main entrance.

Further down Love Street, the massive brown brick structure of the auditorium ran parallel to the road. The architect continued the slim horizontal borders of stone work along the walls to add interest with an attempt to disguise the blandness of the structure. A second neon sign that mirrored the one on the façade, was placed upon high of the main building facing towards Foregate Street.

The interior was in stark contrast to the exterior. The entrance hall was typical of a William Glen design. He successfully used every inch of the restricted space to create a lofty, long and slender entrance hall with two staircases leading to the circle foyer. For patrons waiting in queues, a large entrance hall like this was important as it gave them shelter from the weather. The cash desk was the only disappointment in the entrance hall, as it was little more than a window set into the wall under one of the staircases. The cashiers gained entry to it from the stall’s foyer. Things that impressed in the entrance hall were the number of chandeliers that were suspended from ornate Art Deco ceiling roses, and the three towering vertically fluted pillars that flanked the staircases.

 

Both staircases led onto a bridge, which then had a final staircase that took you through two sets of double doors into the circle foyer. This well-appointed foyer could cope with the amount of people crossing over from one sold out show to another. Located off this foyer were offices, staff room, stock room, fridge room, stalls extract room, toilets and a cloak room. In line with the entrance hall, this too had sets of chandeliers and ornate decorations, together with good quality Lloyd Loom furniture sprayed in gold. The walls throughout had gold speckling finish over beige or maroon, which was typical of the ABC circuit finish. The original carpets were in a design of large palm leaves in deep rich multi- colours of amber, brown and green. The superb blend of quality wool fibre was extravagant. The walls of this foyer had not only quad poster frames (original & unlit), but frames with large portraits of past & present film stars. Leading off this foyer also was the exit from the rear circle & way up to the projection room.

 

From the circle foyer you entered into a small crush hall through two sets of double doors, then directly onto the vomit staircase to the magnificent circle, which was very wide & overwhelmingly high. The steep rake of the circle being very evident. Again, rich quality carpet on the cross overs, with deep red upholstered seats, complete with seat lights, attached ash trays, and some with clumsy sockets for the equally clumsy Ardent hearing aids that were provided.

The dividing barriers were of polished wood, with an abundance of highly polished brass hand rails. Look even closer by the seat standards and you would see pop up vacuum hose sockets, where the doormen would attach large sections of vacuum pipes for morning cleaning. The dirt was sucked down through these pipes to the vacuum plant room near to the boiler house at the stage end of the building.

The ceiling was a master of design plaster work. Enormous scrolls spread across this huge expanse, decorated in soft colours, but always topped off in gold. Most of these scroll covings concealed hundreds of 25-watt soft pink lamps. Additional lighting at the back of the circle was provided by circular drop lanterns, with a fixed glass shelf spanning the circumference of the middle of the lanterns to defuse the lighting as much as possible.

A section from the opening programme stated- “Representing the most modern in cinema construction, the Regal is actually the embodiment of the best scientific knowledge and engineering skill.  The building is entirely fireproof, a full house can be cleared comfortably within the space of two minutes, because exits are placed rear, middle, front, on both sides, stalls & circle alike.  The seats, of which there are 777 in the circle and 1,196 in the stalls, are specially designed to give the maximum of comfort. The carpets and appointments harmonise in colour and luxury with the interior decoration. Every foot of air brought into the theatre is thoroughly washed and cleansed by means of grilles concealed in the architecture.”

As you looked towards the proscenium, large ornate circular grills inlaid into the ceiling provided the incoming warmed air from the plenum plant. Discreet grill work towards the rear of the circle & stalls took away the stale, smoke laced air.

On both the proscenium splay walls were vertically fluted panels, flanked with slim pillars, these pillars supported concealed lighting in three separate circuits for colour change, throwing light onto the fluted panels. Next to these panels, were distinctive S scrolls panels/grills. The left side was to conceal the organ chamber’s swell shutters, the right-side grill was blanked off.

A ledge ran along the bottom section of these grills & panels, with plain walls below, while the top went into sweeps of decorative scrolls. The proscenium had a border of repeat deep medallion design, each one worked in pastel colours, and detailed in gold.

The front of stalls had a band pit, accessed from the vacuum plant room. Central in this pit was the Compton organ console. Up in the organ chambers were 6 ranks (3-6) instrument Opus No A412, with approximately 500 pipes, supplemented by a Melotone electrostatic tone generator, which emitted via a large loudspeaker, sound generated by rotating discs through an electro-static process.

The three-manual console was surrounded with Art Deco style of reeded glass light boxes. The frame work was gold with opaque glass, concealing numerous 221mm tubular strip lights that were wired in nine circuits to provide fabulous colour changes. These were controlled via a large unit that contained radial dimmers that were linked into a motorised gear that selected at random the various circuits, so no repetitive colour change occurred. The corrugated side panels either side of the proscenium changed in time with the colour change on the organ console, this happened with a similar colour changer up in the resistance room in projection. The projection team also added their own showmanship while all these colours were changing automatically, altering colours in the footlights and lighting battens in tempo with the music.

The organist, brightly lit by spotlights, played the organ with the house curtains (tabs) open, with secondary tabs and drapes adding to the eye dazzling effects. The audience sang along with the organ tunes by following the slides projected onto the screen.

Wilfrid Southworth, was the organist who played the Compton Wonder Organ at the Grand Opening of the ABC Regal on Saturday 30th October 1937.

Within 10 months of this date Wilfrid tragically died. He had been engaged to play the Compton organ at the opening at the new Royal Cinema in Plymouth on Friday July 15th 1938 and for a period thereafter.  Sadly Mr Southworth drowned on Friday July 22nd 1938 while bathing off Challaborough Bay beach, about 20 miles from Plymouth, at the young age of 38.

The stalls were no less impressive as was the balcony. Sitting at the sides, you became aware of the wide expanse and curvature of this auditorium. The floor had a gentle rake, which ensured good sight lines. A series of double doors across the rear of the stalls led into the stall’s foyer.

Installed in the projection room, or department as both the manager and chief projectionist preferred to call it were two Ross 35mm projectors with a Western Electric Mirrorphonic sound system, also two Ross D follow spotlights, a Robert Rigby biunial slide lantern. The room was strictly out of bounds to non authorised staff. It was accessed from the rear of the circle. Alternately there was an exit passage from the circle foyer. An emergency escape was also provided via a stairwell to the yard at the side of the building.

There were four dressing rooms placed on either side of the building. On the upper levels of the left-hand side over the dressing rooms was the organ chambers. On the right-hand side at the same level was a large plenum room where fresh air was drawn in through filters.

The Right Worshipful the Mayor of Chester, Alderman Robert Matthewson, JP, was invited to open the cinema on Saturday 30th October 1937. ‘Slave Ship’, starring Warner Baxter and Wallace Beery was the film chosen at the Gala Opening Evening. From the following Monday a second feature, ‘Turn Off the Moon’, starring Charles Ruggles, Eleanore Whitney, was added into the programme. The Compton organ was opened on this Gala night by Wilfred Southworth.

The first manager was Ronald Barrie. His chief projectionist was Hugh Price Jones. Both men had transferred from the ABC Hippodrome, Blackpool, to take up their new positions.

On Monday 10th August 1953, the cinema presented a two-week run of the 3D film ‘House of Wax’, starring Vincent Price and Carolyn Jones.

Click on the above frame to see what the screen looked like without the 3D glasses being worn

To achieve 3D effect, both projectors were mechanically linked to run in perfect synchronization. Reels were joined up onto 6000’ spools that lasted under an hour. The film had an intermission, allowing time for the second reels to be laced.  The audience were given glasses that were washed and dried after use.

The first CinemaScope film at the Regal was ‘Lucky Me’, starring Doris Day and Robert Cummings, shown from Monday 1st November 1954. A massive raked backed and deeply curved screen frame was formed on the stage to accommodate the new screen. With the wide proscenium, the Regal was able to show off the new format to its full advantage. In the projection room new backing lenses were used with the Delft Delrama II 35P2 attachment that used curved mirrors in a sort of a periscope arrangement.

Associated British Cinemas decided to drop the local names, such as Ritz, Savoy, etc. Their Chester cinema dropped the Regal name during 1959 and became known as the ABC.

A complete refurbishment took place in 1963, involving redecoration, new carpets, seats and curtains

In early 1964, major structural work was carried out to the stage roof by local contractor, James Parker. Substantial girders were installed together with a counterweight system that enabled the screen frame to be lifted 17’ off the stage floor. This was in readiness for the autumn season of pop concerts to take place later that year.

The first concert on Monday 14^th September was the Rolling Stones, followed by many more such as Cliff Richard, Tom Jones, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Chuck Berry, Cilla Black, Roy Orbison, Bee Gees,etc.

Click on the above frame to watch Pathé News filmed at the ABC

During 1965, a restaurant called The Gingham Kitchen was constructed in the main entrance hall. It used an early form of microwave cooking which was advertised as “cooking by radar”. The microwave food produced was of a poor standard and the restaurant soon gave way to become a café and re-named The Concourse Coffee Lounge.

Despite retaining the stage shows into the 1970s and having several high grossing films in that period, this large single screen cinema struggled to remain viable. The Odeon, now as sole competitor, had been altered in to a triple screen complex, opening in April of 1976.

The days of the ABC remaining a huge single screen theatre were numbered. It closed on Saturday 26^th January 1980. Construction work commenced on Monday 28^th January 1980 to provide a bingo hall in the stalls and two cinemas in the circle. The design was poorly thought through. A wall was built between the ceiling and the front edge of the circle. The original circle was now sectioned off from the main auditorium and partitioned offset down the centre forming two cinemas that seated 470 and 252. The complete stalls area and stage became the EMI Bingo Club. Little or no regard was shown for the magnificent auditorium. The ornate plasterwork was cut into and modern shuttered ventilation grills placed in the most obtrusive situations.

The EMI Bingo Club and ABC 1 & 2 opened on Thursday 29^th May 1980. Later the bingo operation transferred to Coral. The cinemas were acquired by the Cannon Group during 1987, remaining open until business was transferred to a 6-screen multiplex at Stadium Way Retail Park. The final films shown were ‘Ghost’ and ‘Exorcist 3’, and the building closed on Sunday 16th December 1990.

After five years laying empty, the stalls area was re-opened by First Leisure as a Brannigans Night Club, opening on Friday 6th October 1995, then continuing in business until it closed on Sunday 7^th February 2010.

Later Primark took over the auditorium block, completely stripping it out and restructuring it to their business requirements, although there is no public access into the building. However, the entrance hall block, at present is occupied by Caffè Nero.

© chestercinemas.co.uk

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Architect William Riddell Glen

designed the Regal Chester, which opened on 30 October 1937. Riddell was born in1885 in Hutchesontown and was a leading cinema and theatre architect. In his RIBA papers he claims that his birth was in 1884. Glen was the son of James Glen. His middle name comes from his mother’s maiden. Her name was Margaret Riddell. Glen won a studentship at the Glasgow School of Architecture. He studied from 1900 and had an apprenticeship with a firm called Burnet, Boston and Carruthers. In 1904 he went to practice with John Archibald Campbell, while still continuing his studies for a further year. Glen commenced with independent practice in Glasgow until he served in WW 1 with the Glasgow Highlanders, rising to the rank of major and winning an MC. In 1919 he went back to Glasgow and became a partner with Albert Victor Gardner and it became known as Gardner and Glen with offices in Bath Street, Glasgow. They specialised in the design of atmospheric cinemas. Glen decided to move to London in 1929 and the partnership was dissolved. Glen had got himself a position with Associated British Cinemas and went to work for John Maxwell. He was forced into early retirement by illness. He continued to be a consultant for ABC. He passed away on the 19th February 1950.

David A Ellis© chestercinemas.co.uk

 

 

 

 

chestercinemas.co.uk

If you enjoyed going to the ABC, or worked there at anytime, then we will be pleased to hear from you to share your thoughts.