Table 1: Characteristics of the Bolton Cinemas, 1934-35
| Cinema | In operation on 1.1.1934 or date of opening | Order of run status | Seating Capacity | Price Range(b) | Cinema Weight, where 1= weighted average(c) | Owners |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belle(d) | Yes | 4th | 580 | 4d to 9d | 0.37 | Independent |
| Capital(e) | Yes | 1st | 1642 | 7d to 1/6 | 0.37 | ABC |
| Carlton | Yes | 3rd | 1000 | 4d to 1/- | 0.79 | Bolton Cine |
| Crompton(f) | 6.12.1934 | 3rd | 1200 | 3d to 1/3 | 1.07 | A.Hall |
| Embassy | 2.5.1934 | 3rd | 600 | 6d to 1/- | 0.54 | Independent |
| Empire | Yes | 5th | 472 | 3d to 6d | 0.21 | Independent |
| Gem | Yes | 4th | 1050 | 4d to 1/- | 0.83 | Independent |
| Hippodrome | Yes | 1st | 1086 | 6d to 1/4 | 1.19 | Moorehouse |
| Majestic | Yes | 3rd | 1913 | 4d to 1/- | 1.52 | Bolton Cine |
| Palace | Yes | 3rd | 1021 | 4d to 7d | 0.56 | Independent |
| Palladium(g) | Yes | 2nd | 1238 | 4d to 1/- | 0.98 | A.Hall |
| Plazza(h) | Yes | 4th | 650 | 4d to 9d | 0.41 | Independent |
| Queens | Yes | 1st | 1480 | 6d to 1/6 | 1.76 | Rialto Bolton |
| Regal | Yes | 2nd | 2380 | 4d to 9d | 1.53 | ABC |
| Regent | Yes | 3rd | 944 | 6d to 1/3 | 0.98 | Independent |
| Rialto | Yes | 1st | 1147 | 6d to 1/- | 1.02 | Rialto Bolton |
| Royal | Yes | 4th | 761 | 5d to 1/- | 0.64 | Independent |
| Theatre Royal(i) | Yes | 1st | 1700 | 6d to 1/6 | 2.02 | Moorehouse |
Sources & Notes for this Table
Sources:
Bolton Evening News, Kine Year Books 1933-39, Eyles (1993), Halliwell (1986) and Richards and Sheridan (1987).
Notes:
a) The Grand functioned as a Variety Theatre and has not been included in this analysis. George Formby played two single week engagements in 1934, during w/c 8.1.34 and w/c 3.12.34. The Odeon in Bolton was opened on 21.8.1937 becoming Bolton’s largest cinema, with a seating capacity of 2534 and price range of 6d to 1/6. The Imperial closed in May 1934.
b) These prices do not reflect the cheaper rates available to matinees audiences.
c) These weights are calculated by multiplying the seating capacity by the median price for each cinema in the set in operation between 1934-36 (to obtain a proxy measure of gross box-office, summing for all cinemas and indexing around the weighted average cinema proxy. Accordingly the box-office potential of the Theatre Royal was over twice that of the Palladium and approximately four times that of the Royal. Cinemas which opened in the late 1930s have not been counted and hence given weights because they opened after the period (1934-35) of investigation.
d) Changed owners in 1937 when seating capacity was reduced to 470 seats.
e) Became an ABC cinema on 26.7.1935. Prior to this it was independently owned.
f) Halliwell (1986, p.122) asserts that the Crompton opened in 1937. This is repeated twice by Richards in Richards and Sheridan (1987, p.32) and Richards (1994, p.151) but contradicted by him in Richards and Sheridan (1987, p.27). The cinema occasionally had a single weekly programme: David Copperfield w/c 25.11.35, Modern Times w/c 9.11.36 and Little Lord Fauntleroy w/c 1.2.37 are examples.
g) Opened in 1919 according to Richards in Richards and Sheridan (1987) - Eyles (1993) has it as 1922 - becoming an ABC cinema when taken over in 1930. Subsequently leased to the Regent Circuit 1933-35 and the sold to Mr A. Hall in 1935 - the owner of the Crompton in 1935 and later the Tivoli when opened in 1938.
h) Changed its name to Windsor in 1937.
(i) Taken over by new owners in 1936 and became part of the Moorhouse Circuit.