Blackburn was home to one of the country’s first cinemas and the base for pioneering filmmakers Mitchell and Kenyon. The lost fims of Michell and Kenyon were rediscovered in the basement of what had been Mercer’s toy and model shop, Blackburn, in 1994. They were sealed in metal canisters. Notably, this had helped to preserve them and they were later restored by the BFI.
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The first films
The first moving picture films were made in 1888, by Louis Le Prince. He was based in the UK but the first public showing of a film to a paying audience was in Paris in 1895.
Mitchell and Kenyon form Norden films
Although most of the Mitchel and Kenyon films were local topicals they did produce some dramas under the Norden Films brand. Their tagline was, “We make them and take them”. The films were shown at fairs and public buildings long before any cinemas were built in Lancashire.
Blackburn’s first cinemas
Blackburn was almost the first town in the country to show films, in 1896. London had shown films a few months earlier than the Lyceum Music Hall in Blackburn.
Later in 1907, the Victoria Assembly Rooms on Eanam Bridge were converted into a cinema. In 1927 the Charnley family took over and it was renamed Charnley’s. The cinema later reverted to the “Victoria” name. The building was demolished in 1960.
The Empire Picture Palace, Accrington.
Another Blackburn connection and early cinema, is the Empire Picture Palace in Accrington. Unusually this building survives and is now used as flats. The cinema was designed by a Blackburn architect and opened in 1911.
The Alexandra Picture Theatre
Located on Dock Street Blackburn, the Alexandra Picture Theatre was a converted Hall that opened as a cinema in 1909. It closed in the 1960s and was converted into a bingo hall. The building was demolished for road widening in the 1990s..
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