Quick links to other sections on this page . . .

• Location and Building
  
• The Opening
  
• New Owners - New Name
  
• Closure
  
• Afterwards
  
• Olympic Name Myth
  

Building and Location
The building was originally the Silk Street Mission Hall at the junction of Silk Street and Lilycroft Road. The Hall was bought by Isaac Newton, licensee of the Mowbray Arms, who converted it into a single deck picture hall with 526 seats.

The Opening
Isaac Newton opened his new Olympic Picture Palace on Monday 16th February 1914 with a programme including . . .

"Fruits of Vengeance" - 1910 USA B/W Silent
Starring Julie Swayne Gordon.
and
"Broncho Billy's Elopement" - 1913 USA B/W Silent
Starring Gilbert M. 'BB' Anderson and Marguerite Clayton.
plus
"When Mother Fell Ill" - B/W Silent.
(No further details available)

Film programmes were continuous from 6.45 to 10.30pm with admission prices of 3d, 4d and 6d. Soon after the opening the cheapest front seats were reduced to 2d. The Olympic proved very popular with the workers of the nearby Lister's Mill, many of whom lived in the surrounding area.

The Bradford Daily Argus reported . . .

"This is one of the latest additions to the City's amusement halls situate in Lilycroft Road and is already providing an attraction in the neighbourhood."

"(The Olympic) . . one of the prettiest and best appointed of the many new 'houses' which have recently sprung up in the city and district."

New Owners - New Name
By 1920 it had changed its name to New Olympic after the Olympic Picture Palace Company Ltd with resident manager T. Jerome came under the control of George F. Longden (also involved with Birch Lane cinema and the Bradford Picture House) and Leonard Kitchen (also involved with the Birch, Lyceum and Tennyson). Prices were now 4d to 9d.

Closure
The small Olympic had competition from the larger Coliseum and Elite cinemas in Toller Lane and the Oak Lane cinema, a short distance away down the road.

The Olympic closed on Saturday 20th January 1923 with the final film . . .

"A Tale of Two Worlds"- 1921 USA B/W Silent
(aka "The Water Lily" in USA)
Starring J. Frank Glendon, Leatrice Joy and Wallace Beery.

Afterwards
From being disused for two years, the building was converted into a motor garage in 1925. In later years it was used for storage. The former mission hall/cinema was demolished in 1970 along with part of Silk Street at the Lilycroft Road end.

Olympic Name Myth
There is a (recent) story that Newton called his new picture hall Olympic after the Olympic Games held in the year of its opening. This quite incorrect as the Games were held two years earlier in 1912 (in Stockholm) and the 1916 Games did not take place due to the war. The next Games were held (in Antwerp) in 1920 which coincidentally was the same year as the cinema changed its name to New Olympic. It was quite common for a cinema to have 'New' added to its name (eg. New Empire and New Tatler) after a change of ownership and a refurbishment which was indeed the case with the Olympic.