# Carlton cinema,Liverpool..nov 09



## wherever i may roam (Nov 10, 2009)

history..(taken from cinema treasures)
The Carlton Theatre is located in the Tuebrook district of Liverpool. It is located on a prominent corner site at Green Lane and West Derby Road and externally is an outstanding building, built with brick that has white stone trimmings over the windows.

It opened on 11th June 1932 with Gene Gerrard in "My Wife's Family". Built for an independent operator, at the time of opening it was Liverpool's largest purpose built cinema. Seating was provided for 1,280 in the stalls and 668 in the circle. The side-wall decoration was rather plain apart from plaster cast leaping stags above the circle level, a design which was copied on the original screen curtains. The proscenium arch had wings containing a series of vertical gold ribs on each side, which were lit by concealed lighting. The theatre was equipped with a stage, and dressing rooms, a Christie 3Manual theatre organ and a cafe, which had a Chinese decorative treatment.

It was taken over by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) from 12th June 1935. By the end of the 1950's the cafe had closed and the space became the district offices for ABC. The Christie organ, which was played regularly into the mid-1950's, had been sold and removed by the end of the decade. It was re-named ABC in December 1962 and continued until 22nd January 1972 when it closed for modernisation. The rear stalls under the circle was converted into a Painted Wagon pub, which had its own seperate entrance on West Derby Road. The circle was re-seated and re-opened with 636 luxury seats. The original proscenium and the side walls were covered with a curtain material and the front stalls area was left un-used.

It re-opened on 27th March 1972 with Ali McGraw in "Love Story". In 1975, the ABC was only open for evening performances and it closed on 9th July 1980 with a John Travolta double bill "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever".

However all was not quite lost as it re-opened the following day under a new name Carlton Cinema by an independent operator. Unfortunately, this was not to last long and final closure came on 4th December 1982 with Nastassia Kinski in "Cat People".

The cinema has been empty and unused for over 25 years and has become derelict..



























































































..thanks

more info....http://oldswan.piczo.com/cinemas?cr=5&linkvar=000044

in its heyday...


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## flowerpotman (Nov 10, 2009)

just wow. absolutely amazing pics, dereliction,history,and fascination. thouroughly enjoyed.


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## marshall10 (Nov 10, 2009)

wow! that is fantastic! do you have any more pics?


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## smileysal (Nov 10, 2009)

Oooooooooooooh, I love old cinema's and theatres.  Really like this one, is this the place with the stag's on the side walls in the main auditorium? Looks like there's still loads of things to see in there. Excellent pics mate, I do like this.

Cheers,

 Sal


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## thompski (Nov 11, 2009)

Nice one, I went earlier this year and considering its level of dereliction I thought it wasn't too bad a place to visit, lots of relics and the old magazines are a delight to flick through


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## Krypton (Nov 11, 2009)

Any chance of posting some pics of the organ?


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## odeon master (Nov 12, 2009)

Such a shame this ones got into such a state.
I doubt very much that this cinema will be used again, it looks like most of it is fire damaged? 
The PEERLESS projectors are the same type that are still in use in the SCALA cinema in Ilkeston Derbyshire, which by the way is one of the oldest working cinemas still left in the country. I think the SCALA dates from 1911.
If anyone can go check it out it will raise a few eyebrows, as the seating area albeit in daily use looks a tad derelict !!!

THE ODEON


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## racknruin (Nov 13, 2009)

Shame its got in such a mess! The patterns on the wall in pic 1 look interesting - quite Deco


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## skittles (Nov 18, 2009)

fab pics, the second one looks very dramatic


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## kevsy21 (Nov 19, 2009)

surprising this place wasnt bulldozed years agol,great pics


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## wherever i may roam (Nov 24, 2009)

Krypton said:


> Any chance of posting some pics of the organ?



most organs were removed from cinemas when sound was introduced!!!


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## double-six (Nov 29, 2009)

Krypton said:


> Any chance of posting some pics of the organ?





whereverimayroam said:


> most organs were removed from cinemas when sound was introduced!!!



Seems it went in the 50's - according to the info in the blurb in post 1...

_The Christie organ, which was played regularly into the mid-1950's, had been sold and removed by the end of the decade._


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## Krypton (Nov 29, 2009)

double-six said:


> Seems it went in the 50's - according to the info in the blurb in post 1...
> 
> _The Christie organ, which was played regularly into the mid-1950's, had been sold and removed by the end of the decade._



I dont think that para was there when i posted.


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## Foz77 (Dec 30, 2009)

Ahh, I love old cinemas...don't know what it is about them, but they are one of my favourite subjects for Urbex'ing..

Nice shots as well by the way!!


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## kevsy21 (Dec 30, 2009)

the access to the cinema has now been secured,so no visit soon:wmad:


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