Quick links to other sections on this page . . .

• Location
  
• The Building
  
• The Interior
  
• Projection Room
  
• Main Contractors
  
• The Opening
  
• Proprietors
  
• Coming of Sound
  
• Star Takeover
  
• Another Reopening
  
• End of Films
  
• Bingo, Fire then Closure
  

Location
Located in Doncaster Gate adjoining Royal Buildings near the junction with Wellgate. Famed originally for its grossly overstated faience façade topped by four Russian style onion-shaped cupolas.

The Building
Constructed in 1913-14 in a grand and imposing and quite unusual style for Rotherham. Purpose built as a picture hall incorporating a Grand Café/Tea Room. The Rotherham Advertiser described it thus . . .

"The façade is boldly conceived in a Moresque style and is built of glazed Hathernware in two colours and surrounded by four Moorish domes, two square and two octagonal, the grouping of which is extremely effective"

The Interior
The interior was equally artistic in its decoration and fittings. Every seat had a clear view of the screen with emphasis on comfort rather than overcrowding - a common problem with the early picture halls.

The 900 seats in stalls and small balcony were green upholstered with a matching green Axminster carpet. The wall panels were in oak and green whilst the proscenium plaster moulding was in cream. The screen was fronted by velvet curtains and border pelmet.

Projection Room
The operating box was built outside the main auditorium as required by the Cinematograph Act of 1909. It was of fireproof material with iron doors and shutters to the projection ports. Two Gaumont projectors were installed.

Main Contractors
Architect - W.G. Beck of Sheffield.
Faience Frontage - Hathern Station Brick & Terracotta Co Ltd of Loughborough.
Fibrous Plasterwork - P. Ghiloni of Leeds.
Seating - L. Banner & Son of Sheffield.

Proprietors
Early proprietors were Rotherham (Cinema House) Ltd with Victor Haydn as general manager who was followed by John Stevenson who left in 1920 to take up a similar post at the Electric Pavilion. He was replaced by Alfred Blank when the proprietors were now Cinema (Rotherham) and Electra Ltd.

During the 1920's it was continuous performances and five matinées weekly with two programme changes. Such programmes were booked and run in conjunction with the Electra in Effingham Street and the Royal Picture House.

The Opening
Cinema House opened on Saturday 7th March 1914 with a mixed film programme including:
"The Tower of Terror" (4 reels),"Jewels of Sacrifice", "A Multi-Millionaire Caprice" (5 reels), "Jack and the Conscript" plus other short films.

The managers wife, Mrs V. Haydn, was a professional musician and directed the All-Ladies Orchestra to accompany the films.

Coming of Sound
The Cinema House had closed on Friday 26th June 1931 for the installation of the British Thompson Houston (BTH) sound system. The proscenium was modified to accommodate the horn speaker and new curtains fitted together with a redecoration of the auditorium.

The Civic Re-Opening took place on Sunday 30th August 1931 at 6.30pm with many invited guests including . . .
Councillor H.W Green
Chief Constable, E. Weatherhogg
Medical Officer of Health, Dr W. Barr.
Horace W. Routledge was the new general manager.

By September 1938 it was time to refurbish the balcony seating and install the superior Western Electric Mirrophonic Sound System with its wider range and greater fidelity.

Star Takeover
Walter Eckhart's Star Cinemas (London) Ltd, actually based in Castleford, leased the Cinema House in 1939 and closed for a week for a major refurbishment involving a new screen and modifications to the proscenium plus new projectors together with new seats and carpets.

Star appointed S.F. Ives as its resident manager and then re-opened on Monday 6th February 1939 with . . .

"Scandal Street" - 1938 USA B/W 62mins.
Starring Lew Ayres, Louise Campbell and Roscoe Karns.

Star closed Cinema House on Saturday 20th October 1951 for yet another refurbishment as was their company policy as so many cinemas had become very shabby after the war years. Prices were still at 9d to 1/9d.
In this major makeover the auditorium had been extended to increase seating capacity from 578 to circa 675. W.L Ecclestone was resident manager.

Another Reopening
The reopening three months later was on Sunday 20th January 1952 with a special one-day programme.
following on the Monday for three days with . . .

"Sands of Iwo Jima" - 1949 USA B/W 100mins.
Starring John Wayne, John Agar and Adele Mara.
and
"Frontier Marshall" - 1949 USA B/W 60mins.
(aka "Frontier Investigator" in USA)
Starring Allan Lane, Eddy Waller and Roy Barcroft.

End of Films
Films came to an end on Sunday 31st May 1964 with the programme . . .

"Just My Luck" - 1957 UK B/W 86mins.
Starring Norman Wisdom, Margaret Rutherford and Leslie Phillips.
and
"War Arrow" - 1953 USA Technicolor 78mins.
Starring Maureen O'Hara, Jeff Chandler and John McIntire.

Bingo, Fire then Closure
Star reopened Cinema House Bingo and later this became Coral Bingo Bingo and Social Club.

In its later years the domes disappeared and the faience work obscured by cladding in the 1960's.

Currently (Dec 2004) the building stands derelict following a fire in which it was very badly damaged. A local campaign in 2004 to save the building and restore as a cinema failed as Rotherham Borough Council had approved its demolition to make way for a block of flats.