Former Regal projectionist speaks out!

I recently heard from Michael Beeny, who used to work at the Regal in the 1980s as a projectionist. Below are his memories of working there, along with a photo he was kind enough to send. Many thanks to Mike for allowing me to share them here. Bonus points to anyone who can identify which film posters are on display outside!

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The cinema itself was quite a plain looking unit with nothing special in the auditorium. Plain walls with two exits to the right, which led into George (Randall)'s garden. He hated people taking a short cut through it!

The heating never really worked that well; in winter it could be really cold. The radiators were supplemented with two noisy fan heaters wired to the radiator pipes - would be quite illegal these days (and probably then also!)

The picture and sound were however quite good; mono of course.

Originally all the seats were the same: small and quite hard. Later, half of the auditorium's seats were replaced with top of the range cinema seats, which were really very nice. This led to a price rise of 10 pence for the new seats. So we now had two admission prices of 40p and 30p, and somehow we had to make sure people sat in the right price area. You can imagine the problems policing that one!

George did NOT like afternoon matinees; his one exception to this was the school holidays. We would have a Disney show on Tuesdays at 2.30pm. This was always packed to capacity and beyond! After all the seats were sold we would let in up to 50 extra kids free, but they had to sit on the floor - again very illegal (even then), blocking aisles and fire exits, but everyone was happy.

In one such show (full of course), I was upstairs projecting the film and a tremendous rain storm flooded the gutter that ran past the projection box, and water began to flood in. As the floor was below the other areas, it soon started to fill with water. I got soaked as the water poured in. The show must go on, however, so I had to cover the sound rack with plastic. I ended up without my shirt and trousers and ran the remaining 20 minutes of the film in my underwear. By the end there was 3 inches of water on the floor - how I wasn't electrocuted I shall never know! No-one in the cinema had any idea of the drama in the projection box. I did get paid an extra £10 that week, which was quite a lot in those days.

At that time I was the only projectionist, so special shows fell on my shoulders. This was normally not a problem, but the special shows for schools were a problem because I was still at school! I had to suddenly become "ill" so I could have the day off in order to screen the film. I just had to keep out of sight when the teachers were about!

Regal Reminiscences

by Richard Carter at the Norris Museum

The Regal Cinema in the Broadway, St Ives played a very big part in my life. The building is still there and is now a night club called Element. In 1963 I saw my first film here on the 9th May. I was seven years old and the film was called the Queen’s Guard. I confirmed the date by going through the Hunts Post for that year. The Regal advertised films weekly and it was interesting to note, which films were being shown.

This gave me an idea, review the films that were being shown fifty years ago, starting with the Queen’s Guard and the second film I saw, Summer Holiday, but first a little context.

In 1963, we only had two black and white television channels to choose from and there were no video/DVD players. In order to see a film you had to go to the cinema and unlike today, films were regularly rereleased, giving cinema goers the chance to see a film they might have missed, or wanted to see again.

The impact of seeing a colour film on a seven year old, for the first time was huge. As a result I starting going to the children’s matinees, which were held every Saturday afternoon at 2.30pm, for the price of one shilling. As I got older I started going during the week and continued until I went to college ten years later.

In April this year (2013), I started working as a museum assistant at the Norris Museum. This started me thinking about the films I had seen at the Regal and from memory I drew up a list.

The Queen’s Guard was a Michael Powell film originally released in 1961. Powell made the notorious Peeping Tom, prior to this film, but it was released later. It was Peeping Tom that ended his career as a director in Britain. To a seven year old the Queen’s Guard was an exciting film. It did poorly at the box office and seems to have sunk without a trace. It was only shown on television once in the 1970s and was never released on video/DVD. The filmed starred real life father and son, Daniel and Raymond Massey, playing a father and son. Powell seems to have been given freedom to film the Trooping of the Colour parade in 1960 and the Guard’s Barracks and training area. The idea may have been to produce a recruitment film for the army.

Summer Holiday, with Cliff Richard was the third highest grossing British film of 1963. To my young eyes the idea of turning a double decker bus into a giant camper van, was brilliant. The film moved along at a lively pace and was full of songs and people I recognised from the television. Bachelor Boy was added after filming had been complete, because the distributors felt the film was too short. By then Melvyn Hayes had grown out his dyed blonde hair and had to wear a blonde wig!

Vintage signage

Thanks to Pam (a longtime resident of St Ives who knew Regal proprietor George Randall quite well), I've been able to take some photos of the screening times signs that were used in the cinema back in the day. I absolutely adore the craftsmanship that has gone in to these hefty wooden boards; the incredible attention to detail is fantastic. If you wanted to make the cinema experience feel that bit more luxurious, then this was definitely the way to go.

It's interesting to note the second sign is entitled 'Randall Cinema', which suggests either the Regal had another name at some point, or that the sign was originally created for one of George's other cinemas; probably the latter. The explanations of the film rating categories suggest it was made in the 1950s or 60s.

Memories: Steve

Steve emailed me this week with his memories of the Regal Cinema:

I used to live in Needingworth from 1979, when I entered the first year of St Ivo School, till I moved away from home. 

I didn't use the Regal too much (going to the pictures used to be a bit of a rare treat in our house) but we definitely went to see Grease there in the summer of 1979. As you can see from your picture, the seats were rather old cast-iron stuff - OK for kids and small adults, but I think bigger people would have found it a tad uncomfortable compared with the seats you tend to get in more modern places. 

The Ivo School had a period during the early 1980s where they would do an annual outing to the cinema for the pupils. This was done individually for each year of the school rather than all the pupils at once! Each year would get a different film and we would pay something like 10p and all traipse down there from the school. As 3rd years, we were a bit miffed that 'our' film was Paper Moon, which had been on TV about a dozen times, whereas the 4th (or 5th?) years were given Battlestar Galactica, which seemed to us way cooler. 

I remember when the cinema shut, a newspaper (probably the Town Crier) said that the owner had been running it as a sort of hobby for the last few years and it hadn't been making any real money. 

It was also a snooker club for a while after it shut (with a frontage to the street that was far less modified from the original than the nightclub is now).

The Regal Cinema today

I haven't yet posted an image of the Regal as it looks today (the building is currently occupied by the Saints night club). So, better late than never, here's a photo:

 

If you have or know of any photos of the cinema while it was still operating, please get in touch! I'll buy you an ice cream as a reward.

Memories: Ken Favell

I received this wonderful email last week from a Mr Ken Favell, who sent in his memories of the Regal Cinema as well as its predecessor, the Broadway Kinema. Here it is in full (I've polished it a little in places):

I was born in Hemingford, grew up in St Ives and remember the cinema very well. I do recollect going to the old Broadway Kinema as a very young child (5ish) and seeing the last of the old serials. The Kinema was quite highly decorated, mainly pale green I think, with trellis and painted foliage both sides of the screen. There were no restrictions on smoking and since most of the audience did, with no air conditioning, we watched the film through a thick fug - an usherette would go around with a highly scented air spray! The place had a definite unmistakable and unforgettable ambiance of its own.

The door on the right of the screen in the photo led to the toilets and was the rear exit for the cinema, leading out to a passageway to the Broadway... and a cheap way in for young boys when the film had started! 

I do remember the name change to the Regal: early 30s I suppose, but although the general audience appreciated the modernisation - better picture and sound - the décor (as in the picture) was not well liked. All over brown stucco effect, dull and soulless.

We used to have a children's matinee on a Saturday, noisy and unruly partly due to the use of bicycle pumps as weapons which we didn't dare leave on our bikes parked round the back. Only one performance in the evening. The programme usually consisted of a short film, often a western - Gene Autry the singing cowboy and Hopalong Cassidy were the favourites; a cartoon: a travelogue: the newsreel; local adverts; and then the main film, in those days black and white of course. And at the end a mad rush to get out before the National Anthem played, for which we were expected to stand to attention.

Fast forward to 1947. Demobbed from Fleet Air Arm, I worked as service engineer for Charlie Warren who had a small wireless shop on the left of the cinema entrance and a workshop in the old grammar school at the end of the Waits. I was married by then and we had the top flat above the cinema, where in the kitchen at the rear we could hear the soundtrack of the films - quite loudly! 

Update - May 2013

It's been a while since I last updated this blog, but rest assured it's still alive and kicking. I've been making inquiries around St Ives regarding the whereabouts of some souvenirs from the Regal that may have survived. If I can get access to them, I'll be sure to post some photos; I hear they make for rather attractive home furnishings. If you know of any other surviving mementos - old furniture, equipment, even a ticket stub or two - or you have a photograph of the cinema (inside or out) lurking somewhere, please do drop me a line.

I'm also working on plans to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the opening of the cinema in 2020. More on this as they take shape.

More excitingly, I've been contacted by someone who remembers going to the Regal Cinema in its earliest days, when it was still going under the name of the Broadway Kinema. I'll publish the full piece tomorrow, but it's great to know that people are still able to recall going there so many years ago. Remember, if you have any memories yourself of going there, no matter how small, I'm still keen to hear from you - please get in touch.