A cinema premiere with a difference took place in Belfast last night, when 200 guests attended the reopening of the city's oldest family-run cinema, the Strand, restored to its 1930s Art Deco glory after an eight-month facelift.
The event had a 1930s feel, with staff in period tweed suits and army uniforms, and guests, some in period dress, arriving in stretch limousines. The Strand's owners, Mr Ronnie Rutherford and Mr Stuart Knox, had taken great pains to trace some of the customers who had attended the cinema's opening in 1935, which featured Shirley Temple in Bright Eyes, paying 6d and 1/-. Last night five couples in their 80s watched Bowfinger.
The manager, Mr George Smyth, said the redevelopment was to distinguish the cinema from the many multiplexes.
"No disrespect to the multiplex cinemas: they are no doubt very impressive inside. But from the outside they are just square boxes. The Strand, on the other hand, isn't only an east Belfast landmark, it is all original in style," he added.
"By going back to the Art Deco style of the early days and concentrating on friendly service we are hoping to rejuvenate that special atmosphere prevalent when going to the cinema was the social event of the week," he added.
Art Deco reached the height of its popularity in the inter-war years. It includes pale yellows, blues and pinks in the exterior finish, curved windows, the use of tiles to create smooth surfaces and long horizontal lines and semi-circular shapes in the interior.
In the 1930s The Strand was the first Belfast cinema to have emergency electric lighting operating from car batteries. In 1984, after a brief period as a variety theatre, it was the city's first cinema to split from a single screen to four screens.