Stafford Cinema - ups & downs.

Withnail

Well-Known Forumite
Late night Rocky Horror two or three times a year - build it and the dressed up crowd will come, make that a thing. Sing-a-long-a Sound of Music, Cult Classics, Golden Oldies - late night showings to pick up the crowd kicking out of the Sun and Floodgate initially, build it up from there.

Get the Stafford Film Theatre back in house.

Get an alcohol licence if at all possible, get yourselves a bar - that would go some way to ensure survival.

I think you're right and it could work. But it won't be a gold mine; so as long as you're not expecting it to be one - a la the ethos @ the Floodgate - you could keep it turning over and enjoy it in the process.

Put Withnail & I on and i'll be first in line for tickets.
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
Yes I know they were corny, and as you can see the special effects didn't involve computer graphics (no such thing then.) But as a kid at the Sandonia I was thoroughly entertained by these pix (they may well have been X certificated, but that didn't mean much at the San. :teef:)

And don't get me started on the Samurai flix, many of which were later converted into westerns.

Haruo Nakajima and Momoko Kôchi on the set of Godzilla (Gojira), 1954.

Godzilla.jpg
 

Mudhoney

Well-Known Forumite
Apparently, according to my other-half, the cinema will not attempt to compete with the Odeon by showing new films instead it will screen
classics like Singing In The Rain at a fiver a time. Sounds good to me. I'd love to see big ol' films like Dr Zhivago, Laurence Of Arabia, The Searchers etc on the large screen. Ealing comedies too would be fun. I saw Casablanca a few years ago on the big screen and it was terrific.
At a fiver a pop I'd certainly be a regular customer.
 

Glam

Mad Cat Woman
Apparently, according to my other-half, the cinema will not attempt to compete with the Odeon by showing new films instead it will screen
classics like Singing In The Rain at a fiver a time. Sounds good to me. I'd love to see big ol' films like Dr Zhivago, Laurence Of Arabia, The Searchers etc on the large screen. Ealing comedies too would be fun. I saw Casablanca a few years ago on the big screen and it was terrific.
At a fiver a pop I'd certainly be a regular customer.
I love all the older films, especially the Ealing comedies. Unfortunately none of the telly stations show them these days.
I'd pay a fiver to go and see them.
 

BobClay

Well-Known Forumite
There's a huge selection of films from back in the day which rarely make it to the TV these days. That's a great idea.
 

Jonah

Spouting nonsense since the day I learned to talk
Unless the seating has been changed to newer, more comfortable chairs, I won’t be going.
 

zebidee

Well-Known Forumite
There's a real shoestring budget air at the old cinema, for understandable reasons, but £11 for two tickets and a can of pop I won't grumble!

Two things : there's a bit of a soggy smell that suggests flooding somewhere perhaps? It's not offensive but it's definitely there.
And:
The heating in screen 1 is via high wall mounted fan heaters now, which is a bit of an auditory/ sensory struggle for those with sensitivities to that kind of thing, so special needs parents might want to be aware.
 

Lucy

Well-Known Forumite
Apparently the heating bill costs £500 a week, so opening in the winter is a real test...
 

Cue

Well-Known Forumite
Apparently the heating bill costs £500 a week, so opening in the winter is a real test...

And that’s why you invest in air conditioning and insulation. Could probably even do the LCBEP grant for it
 
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