Majestic Cinema, Normanton.

Majestic Cinema

The Majestic  in  the High Street Normanton in Yorkshire with a 28 ft wide proscenium replaced the old Palace cinema. The building was designed by the Leeds firm Fred Mitchell and Sons, and the contractors were T Jenkinson and Sons of Doncaster. It was run by Normanton Theatres Ltd and leased to Star cinemas in 1935.  It opened its doors on Monday the 7th September 1931 with the film ‘The Queen’s Husband’, which was shown from the Monday  for three days. The last half of the week ‘Her Man’ was the feature.

The Majestic’s first movie.

The Sound system capable of sound on disc as well as optical sound was Electrocord made in Leeds, but was changed to Western Electric by Star with Kalee machines. The chambered roofs and walls were treated in a decorative scheme of amber, shared blues and soft pinks. The auditorium walls were panelled in oak and the carpet was blue. The cinema’s 900 seats were upholstered in blue velvet.

The auditorium was 95ft by 56ft, with walls panelled to a height of 4ft in oak. For the vestibule a 24 inch diameter octagonal ceiling fitting was installed, similar to the main hall designs. In the foyer there were two ceiling fittings 33 inches by 18  inches providing what was described as a warm welcome illumination.

All the fittings were from GEC illuminating engineering department of Manchester. Pearl Osram lamps were used exclusively.

The projection room measured 24ft by 12ft and was believed at the time to be as large as any  projection box in the provinces. A reporter at the time said he was greatly impressed by the large perforated screen. It was made of material recently placed on the market and the Majestic was one of the first cinemas in the North fitted with the perforated screen.

The cinema closed in 1964. The building was demolished in 2005.

David A Ellischestercinemas.co.uk

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