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The
premises were opened in 1913 as a library, and have been showing
films ever since!
On November 20th 1915, the first public cinema show was held
in the building.
It cost approximately 拢1000 to build - a lot in 1915
- and was funded by Penistone Urban District Council and Andrew
Carnegie.
The projector was powered by carbon arc lamps up until 1978.
The original steps to the projection room were on the outside
of the building.
The balcony and interior steps were added in the 1920s, and
the stage extended in the 1960s (when the bar was also built).
In 1986, the cinema changed its name from the "Town Hall
Cinema" to the Metro.
The projector is a Xenon, and film travels at 90 feet a second!
The two opening shows in 1915 raised over 拢20 for wounded
soldiers in the Penistone, Thurlstone and District Nursing
Association.
The cinema has shown news reports alongside films, including
the monthly "Mining Review".
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Think
of cinemas nowadays, and you'll no doubt focus on the large multiplex
with booming stereo sound systems and buckets of popcorn. Not very
intimate!
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Projectionist
Jo Rolph
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Compare
that to the old days of the flicks, when each community had its
own small cinema house. Whereas the main towns of South Yorkshire
have their larger cinemas, Penistone is different!
The
Paramount is a unique community cinema in the heart of the South
Yorkshire Pennines. Besides the big film releases, there are live
shows and weekly organ concerts.
The
cinema is also home to one of the few working theatre organs in
the country. The Paramount Compton Organ has been recently rebuilt,
and was the reason why the cinema was renamed from the Metro Cinema.
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The
audience waits...
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Kevin
Grunhill is both the owner of the organ and its organist! It was
he who managed to get the organ into Penistone, which also meant
a change of name for the cinema in the long run.
The
Compton Organ was built in 1937 by the John Compton Organ Company
in London, especially for the Paramount Theatre in Birmingham.
The
organ was removed from there in 1988 when the cinema was refurbished
and made into a multiplex. It was then moved to the Regal in Oswestry,
where it stayed until the cinema closed in 1994. The owners put
the organ put for sale.
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A
poster advertising the opening of the cinema
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When
Kevin went to see it, it was in excellent condition so he offered
to buy it. After moving it out of Oswestry, it then remained in
storage for about 6 years.
Kevin
approached Penistone Town council to see if the organ could be placed
in the Metro Cinema. The council agreed, and all of the the 1000
pipes were been cleaned out as part of the organ restoration. The
cinema was then renamed as the Paramount in honour of the new resident!
There
are regular concerts at the Paramount, which are also projected
live onto the cinema screen so that people can see what the organists
hands are doing! The Paramount is the only cinema that does this.
Kevin also plays the organ in Blackpool at the Tower Ballroom.
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