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Cine City was a cinema in Withington, Manchester, England located at 494 Wilmslow Road, Withington, Manchester, M20 3BG. It opened in 1912 as The Scala, and was the third cinema to open in Britain. During the 1930s, cinemas became increasingly popular; The Scala was one of 109 cinemas in Manchester at its peak. The road outside was hit by a small bomb during the Second World War, but the cinema (which was showing several films at the time) survived with only minor damage. After the war, television led to a decline in cinema attendances, and by 1965, only 40 cinemas remained in Manchester. Cine City closed in July 2001, making it the third-longest running cinema in England. By 2005 the building was in a bad state of repair, and was threatened with demolition. Heritage groups succeeded in winning a stay of execution, but the cinema was demolished in spring 2008. A replacement building is planned for the site. == History == The cinema opened in 1912 as "The Scala". It was the third cinema to open in Britain,〔 and by the time of its closure in 2001 it was the third longest-running cinema in the country.〔 As Cine City its original single-screen auditorium had been fitted with 675 seats in three cinema screens.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Cine City )〕 Before the advent of "talkies", the Scala had a resident female cinema pianist,〔 and the conductor Sir John Barbirolli once played the piano to accompany the silent films.〔Violet Carson who went on to play Ena Sharples in Coronation Street was also a resident pianist. During the 1930s the popularity of the new "picture houses" grew rapidly, with 109 in Manchester at its peak. Many people visited The Scala three or four times a week. The craze for cinema-going was seen by some as a social ill of its time; school teachers complained that pupils were not doing their homework because they were spending too much time at the cinema. One regular movie-goer at the cinema in the 1920s was Robert Donat, a local boy who went on to become an Oscar-winning actor. During the Manchester Blitz of World War II, a small bomb fell onto Wilmslow Road in front of the cinema on the night of 1 October 1940. The cinema (which at the time was screening ''The Housekeeper's Daughter'' and ''5th Ave Girl'') survived with minor damage, although it had to close for a few weeks while repairs were completed.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Manchester Cinemas )〕 After the war, the popularity of cinemas waned as more people acquired televisions, and by 1965 there were only 40 cinemas left in Manchester.〔 Cine City was threatened with closure in 1997 when Geoff Henshaw, the owner at the time, died. It was purchased by David Babsky, who kept the cinema open until July 2001, when it closed due to competition from a new multiplex cinema in nearby East Didsbury. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cine City, Withington」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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