'Kids running around breaking things' "Scrappers" Both of those aren't safe to be around. I'm glad they didn't just split like some urban explorers would.
From somebody who has worked in cinema exhibition for 40 years , Showcase owned by National Amusement , is a very successful chain of multiplex cinemas in the UK . Usually buying the land and designing and building the cinemas themselves , they usually own the freehold of the cinema . Their overheads are low with minimum staff and since the introduction of digital projection in the early 2000s , staffing was even less without projectionists . But managers were skilled in projection too and this kind of management was brought over from America. This Showcase cinema was an old build , (unlike today’s cinemas with stadium seating ) utilising the age old cinema design in the stalls of the 30 degrees of slope . Showcase also had unique rocker seats in all of its cinemas mostly with vibrant colours like these green seats but they were of the era when multiplexes were in their infancy. Most modern plexes seats are now black or navy blue. It would appear that the current management of National Amusements has moved towards a more up market style of multiplex with its Lux branding and even though the cinema closed because of the pandemic , the Manchester Showcase was on borrowed time because of the more modern local multiplexes that had been constructed with full stadium and better facilities - the Trafford centre being a case in point. Showcase also closed its Walsall site but it is believed that that was because the lease on the land was up . As mentioned leasing was not a Showcase thing , the company preferring to build and own outright their cinemas. From an observation over the years it was clear that it also had a unique way of booking films into its cinemas - playing most releases both mainstream and arthouse because it’s portfolio of cinemas on average had 12-14 screens. But if a film didn’t work - it was not unusual for the entire circuit to remove every print ,leaving a distributor with very little bargaining power - such was the clout they had as a result of being a major player in the US. If you look at Showcase in the UK , most of their cinemas were sited in major cities because that was their strategy . Go for the big cities , you get the big attendances for the big bucks and with as less staff as you could achieve . More screens meant the average yearly film rental was much lower and with high attendances , more people were encouraged to buy popcorn , coke and hot dogs on the walk ins . It was also not unusual that sometimes 3 or more films went in at the same time at 7pm rather than be staggered every 5-10 minutes hence the reason for the large free car parks they had to accommodate the attendances. Since 1988 , Showcase ,with fewer multiplexes than most operators, has been a major contributor to cinema going in the UK and it had provided more choice for cinema goers than other operators with less screens although this has changed because of new multiplex builds affecting its business. They are a very unique operator and are still to some extent a family run business operated out of Massachusetts in the US
Actually felt really sad watching this. Used to go there quite a lot as a kid with my family. Probably last went there around 6 or 7 years ago. Didn't even realise it had closed until I drove past a couple of months ago and realised it had been pulled down. I still remember being fascinated by the drinking fountains and the 3 different refreshment stands as a kid - I have no idea why other than I was a strange child. I remember the bouncy green chairs too - you could launch yourself out of them they were so springy! Never forgotten the XL buckets of popcorn they used to do either. Literally a builders bucket full of popcorn and still probably the nicest cinema food I've ever had and not just because there was loads of it! Also remember going there and being taught to drive in my aunty's car in the car park one night when I first started learning. Thanks for sharing this. Brought back a lot of memories!
I was Showcase first UK employee in 1986. My job was to find six sites and have them open in two years! In 1987 I found their first site in Nottingham that became their headquarters in the UK. Derby, Peterborough, Walsall, Leeds and this one in Manchester followed on. I was at the ground breaking and opening of all of them, it was an exciting time to be at the beginning of the multiplex cinema boom, and there are many stories to tell. Sad to see it in this state, but time and society move on. I am glad to see some of your comments regarding your own Showcase experiences. P.S. I still have an original “Gold Spade” from the Nottingham ground breaking ceremony.
I use the Nottingham one. Its very updated with amazing electronic seating now and still going strong! I didn't realise it was the first site. I explored the big Odeon cinema in Nottingham city centre 10 years after it closed! That was cool! Was demolished a few years ago now.
Peterborough cinema is still going strong and looks great from the refit a few years ago. A new cinema is opening soon though so it will finally have some competition in the city.
I used the Showcase cinema Ormiston park road in Derby many of times. Showcase cinemas were the best I thought they were really well designed and really comfortable. Think the last film I seen at the Showcase cinema in Derby was Hot Fuzz right before I moved away of Derby. Now the only cinema near me has only 2 screens and the nearest multiplex cinema is 42 miles away.
It looks exactly the same as the Showcase Luxe Cinema on the East Lancs Road in Liverpool, even the car park and the road entrance to the front of the building!
I thought exactly the same thing. The one in croxteth In liverpool has not long had a multi million pound revamp and it’s attracting a very good crowd of people every day. Even the inside of this one in Manchester looks exactly the same replica of our own one on the east Lancs road
Of all the films I have watched at the cinema, I watched most of them there. It's shocking to see it in such a state. And now not even there at all. But thank you for your compassionate visit. You did an old cinema justice.
Would've called the police on them to be honest. Bumped into police on an explore once asking if I'd seen any kids messing around and if so where and when I asked if I should leave I got told that I was OK to look around and they were just there to keep kids out. Really strange experience to be fair but I enjoyed the rest of the explore. Was the old Derby royal infirmary. Cracking explore but creepy in places haha 😄
What's your opinion on someone like me? I'm 15 year old, and love urban exploring. I always go on explores. I never deface or mess around inside buildings, much like other teenagers in abandoned buildings
Great video gents reminded of when I used to be a projectionist years gone by for Warner Village/Vue . What you saw in the projection room was indeed part of a projector which housed the lenses and would rotate depending on how the film was made. The turret would rotate when the ads/trailers were finished as they were usually filmed in “square”. The film would usually be widescreen and, after a signal, the turret would rotate to allow it to be in widescreen. Some low budget films were filmed in square and the Ken’s would remain the same throughout. On occasion you’d see it changing as the “gate” hadn’t closed properly. The desk you saw, where you said repairs took place, you are half right but the thing you see on the desk with an arm extending from a silver box, is where films were put together. The desk is motorised and would be controlled by the black knob you see in the centre of the table. Films came in reels, as many as 9, and had to be put together by using the desk and a “splicer”. There was somewhat of an art to it and you had to be careful where you cut and spliced the film together. It was a great job but now it’s mostly all digital now and the projectionist job is obsolete in the big cinema chains. You were right with the shelves where you saw 2k etc, bulbs were stored there.
When this Cinema opened in the late 1980's the company I worked for was given the job of installing Flake Ice machines into the 4 sites that were opened in the UK. I was based in Manchester and I was in charge of the installation of the ice machines. This was unusual at the time as Flake Ice was a very American concept. What was exciting was the fact that when the cinema opened the owners invited Jane Fonda to come over and open it. I was extremely upset not to get an invite to the opening, but I did get a glimpse of her arriving for the ceremony, surrounded by many minders.
Wow, this brought back memories! Used to go to this cinema a lot in the early to mid 90's and remember Friday and Saturday evenings being completely full. Even saw the car park full a few times too it was that busy. And most times I went, when I came out there was always two or three cars with a smashed window and a missing stereo - usually a Ford or Vauxhall.
It’s very disappointing and sad to it go :( I remember the cinema I went to in Antrim town called Antrim Cineplex. It was brilliant! It had games machines, arcade machines, vending machines and everything for such a small cinema. Now it lays abandoned and I pass it everyday going to work just so sad to see it go.
Not a repair bench but a spooling area, this is where the 6-8 small reels were spliced into the full film and then spooled onto the cake stand (3 tiers so could hold 2 films) I was a projectionist at the Cannon/MGM multiplex in Southampton in the early 90's, great video guys, Covid has a lot to answer for
You mean rewind bench & a cake stand you find in a cake shop it is actually a non rewind or long play device, know your equipment! Kelmar rewind bench with a Century projector turret on the floor, yes I too worked in the Cannon/MGM when it opened & before at the ABC
No they were known as 'cakestands' (or platters in the USA) I was there when the Cannon high street closed, did some of the tear out, don't remember you though@@michaelbiggs7286
u should do harlequins centre exeter (probably not allowed in but if you can it would be great) it closed for a month now but its going to be demolished I would love to see it
Showcase in the Leeds area is still thriving. It underwent a multi million pound revamp in the last 10 years and is still busy onna regular basis. Full reclining seats, 5ft drops with a small wall between rows so it feels like your own cinema at times. Even though it modernised inside the screens, the foyer kept a lot of its 80s charm and is still my favourite cinema to visit in our area for that nostalgic reason.
When I was a young 10 year old tyke I sneaked into Showcase when it was being built. Over the years I watched many films there and sneaked mates in via the fire exits behind the screen. Sad to see it gone but was really happy to see it one last time in your video. Great work guys 👌👌👍
The cinema looked identical to the showcase in Leeds which was built in the late 80,s. The interior was updated a few years ago and is now a showcase delux with the electrical reclining leather chairs.
Yes - I think the green seats were the original ones, certainly triggered memories of sat in similar ones in the 1990s. I worked at the Leeds branch for a few months in 1997. The other decor - including the outside - was also virtually identical.
I grew up literally round the corner from here, just off Pink Bank Lane. When it opened we thought it was really posh, which was backed up by needing a bank loan for a bag of sweets. Surrounded by a greyhound track, speedway track, bowling alley and snooker club, it should have been obvious that the families of Gorton and Longsight were very working class.
With all the malicious activity around whilst you guys where filming, this was probably as good of a condition it will be in until it's demolished. Good you got there when you did, rather it being heavily vandalised.
A shame you didn’t get in bowling alley " Belle Vue Granada Bowl" on that site, which would have gone mid/late 90's I'm guessing, was last in there 94'
I worked here in the late 90s early 00s as a student. I was on the popcorn counter. We got 2 free tickets a week to see any films. You handed in your film pass when you went to see the film and you'd get it back the next week with your payslip. I remember seeing the Star Wars film with Ja Ja Binks the night before it was released as they did an early showing for staff. The night of the main release I was working and it was rammed. There were customers dressed up as Darth Maul and I remember security had to tell two particularly enthusiastic punters to stop duelling in the foyer as they'd have someone's eye out with their light sabres 😂
Ive not been to a cinema for 25 years. Got sick of other people in the way, getting up and down, eating noisily and talking while trying to watch a film. Too many selfish people with no respect.
I can remember going in like it was yesterday, always through the right most doors at front. Popcorn from the middle, tickets either from the left side booth or center where the food was sold. Yeah those seats never had a place for a cup, I've knocked over one or two drinks/bags of popcorn with my feet there before now. XD I went to a Showcase Cinema in the US a few years back, and it was almost identical to this in layout and decor. Wouldn't have been hard to think they were the same place after a slight referb. I wonder if that one's still around.
When I was in high school my school took me and many other year groups to the cinema every xmas and Easter and even after high school I would go to see movie I could not see at cineworld
Back in the day showcase was the biggest cinema, visited there many times, watched films like " cool runnings" and " James bond die another day" many memories of showcase cinema sadly missed !!!
How strange the change? I remember the site being Belle View. It closed, and this place appeared on part of the site. It took ages to build it. It cost millions to complete. Lots of local cinemas closed down because of showcase taking the work. All for nothing! Demolished and replaced by a School? Excellent video.
They’re still a pretty big chain. There are a few in Bristol, a newer fancier one going by the brand Cinema De Lux and an older one under the Showcase brand that was built in the early nineties that can’t be far off being demolished itself but still remains open. Remember seeing the first Flintstones live action there when it was built and it’s mad that it’s now old fashioned and hardly frequented with two big Vues nearby and high end cinemas opening up in the centre. Those seats at the back were definitely the luxury seats.
As an ex-projectionist what you called the repair bench was actually a film make-up bench. Before digital, films used to arrive in 20mins reels and the projectionist had to splice them together before loading it onto a platter. Adverts and trailers were also done in the same way. ‘The gun turret’ used to house the two lenses that are commonly used in cinema - 1.85 and Scope (2.35) It is from an old 35mm film projector and is now obsolete equipment. Major repairs were usually carried out by an area technician or the manufacturers own technicians. Not surprisingly you didn’t find any projectors. At around 70k each they would have been the first items to be removed.
Do you ever go back after its demolished just to get a perspective on how big the area was or when the new buildings are built. You do a great job guys got a few favourites now perhaps you should ask everyone there favourite and you could go back to the most popular one..
Thank you for giving us a last chance for a visit including obviously seeing the parts we never normally got to see. What a shame it had to go though, surely it could have been refurbished. I enjoyed its easy access outside of a city or town centre with easy plentiful parking. I first encountered the place around 89 and I suppose I bemoaned the loss of the zoo etc that had been there in my childhood. Now I get to bemoan the loss of the zoo's replacement to. Revisiting the place regularly over 10 years ago the seats were a little jaded but the place still looked good with its slight 80's neo deco styling. There was a Tuesday daytime discount card a symptom of its fall from grace I suppose. Typically a swift drive from home to showcase easy parking cheap ticket and very often get this "The whole Cinema to myself" It would have been nice to get a souvenir from the place something neon perhaps. They should have had a yard sale the vandalism was predictable.
I was always a big fan of Showcase Cinemas. The "De Luxe" in Bristol is still really cool. I actually used to like the older style Showcase ones too (have been to the Dudley one memorably).
Can you do The Big Idea in Irvine, Scotland? It’s an old science centre uniquely situated under a artificial hill! It had a retractable bridge over the river to access it… it’s super weird, always give me the jeebies when I see it from afar!
Weird to see a purpose built multiplex with seats that don’t have cup holders. As they have been a common feature in most cinemas since the early 90’s. I get the impression that regardless of world events of 2020 the cinema was probably earmarked for closure. The dated and tired look seems that Showcase did not want to put any investment in the place for quite some time.
I spent my childhood going here. Brings back a lot of nostalgic memories. I actually went here a few times not long before it closed down but I like seeing the side of this cinema that I never got to see like the hidden corridors and film rooms etc
Showcase have been opening up a bunch of state of the art new cinemas of recent, but from the looks of this venue, have been underinvesting in ones that already exist. It's like they intended to close Manchester eventually.
Justice. This place closed all the cinemas throughout tameside. The town centre's were ruined. All for profits for a few privileged. Leaving the rest in shatters.
I remember going to my local Showcase cinema on Osmaston Park Road in Derby in the 90s/00s. They were really good cinemas seen many films there. Seeing the style and decor of the cinema brings back good memories. I got go behind the screen and through the fire exit that was only because power failed right in the middle of Jurassic Park The Lost World. The town I live in now only has a 2 screen cinema. My nearest multiplex cinema is 43 miles away.
I would wager the fact its decor had seemingly not been touched in decades is perhaps the clue as to why it closed. It probably barely made any money over its 30 or so years operating. Also coming to mind is that apparently cinemas make very little off the ticket.
Was there in around 2019 i think. Had no idea it was now gone. It doesn't surprise me yet feels a shame as it was a nice cinema and felt like with just a little work and updating could have been great.
I had a Showcase growing up that I'd go to all the time. It's interesting seeing a location from overseas but the set up looks so similar to what I remember.
what a shame it closed l remember taking my wife to the showcase cinema to see a film and let me assure you and the guys that you did a wonderful job of remembering of what was alike.
9:20 _Shoulda tied them up until you were done filming then placed them out front at the broken window and called the bobbies_ Okay maybe that's too harsh but it be a nice lesson to those spoiled punks! 😁
Green seats are the cheap seats. Another great video, as always great detail and your loud and clear ( not drowned out by music). What a shame its closed. Suvs for scrap, must be a good paying business. It's very creepy, I often wonder if you ever get the fear lol. I lived in Manchester for 12 years so nice memory
WOW...Ben and Jerry's in the UK...nice...I worked down the street from the original Ben and Jerry's in Burlington, Vermont, USA...years later they moved to Waterbury, Vermont, USA...a very delicious store to visit..😁😁thanks for the explore...👍
