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A Visit to Manchester
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The 70mm Newsletter
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Written
by: Mike
Taylor, 65/70mm Workshop, Liverpool, England |
Date:
14.11.2007 |
The
Print Works Multi Screen Cinema and Imax Screen. Image by Thomas
Hauerslev
The preliminary meeting for the 2008 Widescreen Weekend at the National
Media Museum -Bradford took place during the 4th - 9th September 2007.
This was co-ordinated by Thomas Hauerslev. This was an opportunity to
meet key personnel and socialize which is not possible once the festival
is underway. It also gave Thomas the chance to see something of the
Yorkshire countryside with the hospitality kindly provided by Duncan
McGregor - Projection Team Leader at Pictureville Cinema.
Before returning to Denmark, Thomas arranged to meet Mike Taylor - from
Liverpool on the Sunday in Manchester. Mike is a member of the
65/70mm
Workshop and the International Cinerama Society. He has worked as a
motion picture projectionist for fortyseven years. Thomas wanted to see
some of the Manchester city centre cinemas which are, sadly, no longer
in use.
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More
in 70mm reading:
The PPT
Looking after cinemas heritage
Gaumont, Manchester, England
65/70mm Workshop
Mike Taylor joins 65/70mm
Workshop
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The
Theatre Royal, the only Cinerama Theatre in Manchester - now a night
club. Image by Thomas Hauerslev
We started this brief tour with a visit to the Print Works Multi Screen
Cinema to see the Imax Screen. The name Printworks remains from the days
when the building was used for printing newspapers. Through the courtesy
of the duty manageress, Thomas was introduced to the Chief Projectionist
and shown around the projection room. The fact that Thomas was a visitor
to this country and connected with the movie industry made all the
difference. It is very rare for admission to be given to enter
projection rooms in multi-plex cinemas. Thomas was rewarded with samples
of Imax film for his forthcommg lecture at the 3rd
Todd-AO festival in
Karlsruhe.
From here it was on to the former A.B.C. Deansgate which is now a public
drinking house. Next was the Theatre Royal, the only Cinerama Theatre in
Manchester - now a night club. From here we came to the Odeon (ex
Paramount ) closed for many years and awaiting demolition. Facing the
Odeon was the site of the former
Gaumont (built as a Granada)
demolished, and now a multi story carpark.
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Tour
guide for the day, Mike Taylor. Image by Thomas Hauerslev
Next to the Gaumont site we
saw the remains of the Picture Rouse now home to a McDonalds. These were
the main former Road Show houses in Manchester, the Odeon and Gaumont
and Picture Rouse all belonging to the Rank Organization. This main road
- Oxford Road - also has one of the first twin cinemas in England - The
Regal - built in the 1930s. Now an office block and a dance centre.
Further up the road we saw the Tatler Newsreel cinema (now part of the
Art Centre Corner Rouse) which has three screens in total.
With numerous stops for photographs it caused quite a stare from passers
bye on a Sunday morning in Manchester. No doubt thinking why old
cinemas? After a stop for lunch at the aptly named venue Pararmount
Lounge, it was time to say our farewells and look forward to Widescreen
Weekend at Pictureville - Bradford - in 2008.
I hope Thomas enjoyed this little tour as much as I did – not being a
native of Manchester it was certainly something different.
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