Plush Cheap Seats

Part of our family tradition at Christmas has always been a visit to the cinema. 

The big screen, for all of its competition from home entertainment technology, remains a huge treat.

The immersive experience of sound and vision is always mesmerising. 

The festive season is a big target market for the release of blockbuster movies and over the years we have been to see ongoing prequels of the big franchise films although you cannot outdo a screening of a classic such as "A Wonderful Life". 

We are spoiled for choice where filling up our leisure time is concerned but in different times and in austere and difficult social and economic conditions the cinema has been the only form of escapism for a good proportion of the population. 

In the early months of the First World War in my home city of Kingston Upon Hull, Yorkshire, England the appetite for a good night out in a Picture Palace was not at all lessened. So much so that the company trading as National Electric Theatres Limited opened in December 1914 what the Theatre Press described as an elaborate venue on Beverley Road. 

There was no Grand Opening but every endeavour had been made to accommodate the cinema going public at an important time to boost morale and engender the Christmas spirit. 

Designed by the Hull Architects Runton and Barry for the Deluxe Theatre Company the building was in a Renaissance style in stone and red brick. 

It had a narrow facade onto Beverley Road but its depth and arched roof provided seating for over 1000 and regardless of whether a cheap and cheerful 3 pence or Balcony 9 pence ticket was purchased the seats were all plush upholstered and of the tip-up type. The higher prices gave a wider and more comfortable position. 

The entrance foyer was a large and cavernous space of some 40 feet by 20 feet and although not provided for the opening there was an intention for this to have settees around a fireplace. 

There was another foyer above. Concealed lighting directed the cinema-goers across thick linoleum and rich pile carpets. 

Advertised as the largest screen in Hull against stiff competition in the City the quality was enhanced by a 124 foot throw from Tyler Indominatable Projectors. 

After many major and tragic outbreaks of fire in similar establishments the design featured reinforced concrete floors. 

For those not engrossed in the film on the screen you could daydream and look up at the decorative art mouldings and frieze on the ceiling and upper walls. 

The National Picture Theatre kept the citizens of Hull enthralled until March 1941 when it was severely damaged by the Luftwaffe. The strength of the construction was a primary reason that the 150 or so customers watching Charlie Chaplin in The Great Dictator survived the parachute mine impact. 

The shell of the building remains as a mere shadow of its elaborate original appearance. It was Listed in 2007 for its status as a rare war ruin and in recent years campaigns have attempted to raise funds to establish a permanent memorial to Hull and its wartime experiences.