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| The Century Cinema |
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Location: The Broadway, Pitsea Photographer: Unknown Year of photo: 1940s Copyright: N/A Comments: |
| The Century Cinema |
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| The Century cinema in Pitsea Broadway first opened
in 1929. Its original name was Broadway and was one of a number of buildings built by local
businessman Harold George Howard. It had seating for 700 and would also provide a whole
host of entertainment including variety shows and wrestling, as well as a childrens Saturday
morning matinee programme. The theatre also featured a below floor level orchestra pit and upstairs
living accommodation. When first built it had no mains electricity along with the flats and shops on both sides of the Broadway. Diesel powered generators, housed in a purpose built building that stood behind the flats along side the cinema, provided the electricity for the cinema and also to the shops, Tudor Chambers, the Railway Hotel, Anne Boleyn Mansions, adjacent street lights and the war memorial that until 1969 stood at the junction with Station Lane. The cinema was still receiving its power from these generators in 1956 with the responsibility of their running assigned to the staff. During the 1940s it became part of the local Radion (Rayleigh) Ltd., group of cinemas and was managed by Mr. James L. Webster, a director of the company. In 1954 the cinema was acquired by millionaire businessman Sidney Bernstein's Granada Theatres Ltd. and became part of the Granada Cinema Circuit chain who then closed the theatre in January 1955 to carry out renovation work estimated at £30,000. These improvements included a new Cinemascope screen and sound as well as a name change to Century when it re-opened on Tuesday 15th February, 1955. At the time of the re-opening the cinemas' manager was Mr George Mallett and as well as the main auditorium there was a restaurant, snack bar and sweet shop. In the late 1960s bingo nights were introduced to boost takings and these would prove more popular than the cinema programme which came to an end on Saturday 31st October, 1970. The final days film programme was the 1963 Greek mythology fantasy 'Jason and the Argonauts', starring Todd Armstrong, followed by the husband and wife team of Bill Travers and Virginia Mckenna in the 1966 adventure 'Born Free'. The Century was then converted for permanent use as a bingo hall and renamed Granada Social Club. The club was renamed Gala in 1991 when Granada Social Clubs (Granada Theatres Ltd.) merged with Coral Social Clubs who were owned by brewery company Bass. In 1997 Bass sold their bingo chain in a management buy-in and the club continued as Gala until owner Gala Coral Group Ltd announced their intention to close down the venue following a reorganisation of the company that also saw other bingo clubs closed throughout the United Kingdom. The final bingo session was held on Monday 27th July, 2009. Notable past events include the crowning of the carnival queen, held at the venue in July 1952, and a 1955 celebrity attended evening with film stars Jill Adams and Derek Bond to promote the namechange to Century. Outwardly the buildings appearance remains little altered from when it was first built. Special thanks to Jack Fisher, the last chief projectionist at the Century cinema, Pitsea for supplying additional information. Text written 2006 with revisions 2006-2007,2010. Copyright © 2006-2007,2010, B. Cox - Basildon History Online. All rights reserved. |
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