page_title: The Futurist Cinema
section_title: Showing and making the news in wartime Liverpool
hierarchical_section_title: The Futurist Cinema / History / Showing and making the news in wartime Liverpool
caption_attribution_description: English: Damage done to two of Lime Street's cinemas on the night of the 3rd/4th May 1941
context_page_description: The Futurist Cinema was a cinema located in Lime Street, Liverpool. Opened as Lime Street Picture House in 1912, the cinema operated until closing in 1982. Unable to find a new owner it was left to decline. It was demolished in 2016 after a court battle over the controversial plans for redevelopment of the area.
context_section_description: The outbreak of war saw an initial closure of cinemas due to fears that large groups of people congregated in one place was inviting trouble during an air raid. This ban lasted less than a week though, as it was soon recognised that cinema had a valuable role to play in keeping civilian morale high, and keeping people up to date with the latest news on the war effort. Television was virtually unknown in this country, so people relied on newsreels shown in cinemas for a visual confirmation of what they read in their newspaper, or heard on the radio.
  The 25 April 1941 saw the visit of the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill to the city. He was driven around in an open topped car and cheered by the local people wherever he went. At one stage he passed along Lime Street, as can be seen in newspaper articles that appeared the next day.
  May 1941 saw both the Futurist & the adjacent Scala Cinema suffering bomb damage. The exact date in unclear, but a newspaper cutting from the period suggests a date no later than the 5th, and the area is known to have been very badly damaged on the 3rd. It was rebuilt and reopened in minimal time & was showing films by June that year. This saw the original pediment replaced with a less ornate classical style version.
caption: Damage done to two of Lime Street's cinemas on the night of 3/4 May 1941
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