Back to the Past ... at a cinema near you ... THE BERKELEY » Berkness

With the advent of ‘the talkies’ in 1929, the golden age of Hollywood began and entrepreneurs built cinemas in towns everywhere. Berkeley was no exception. Call them the movies, the talkies, the flicks, the pictures, or films – cinema fever came to Berkeley!

The original photos on this page have been kindly loaned by a local resident who also provided Berkness with the potted history below. Many thanks for sharing these with us.

A brief history of THE BERKELEY

Colonel Mason’s THE BERKELEY cinema – was constructed in Marybrook Street and first opened its doors during the year of 1938. It was built by a builder from Wanswell, Mr Dimery.

It served the community as a place of film entertainment when picture going was part of normal life – well up until the mid 50s when television began to take hold as a form of entertainment at home.

Colonel Mason continued showing films during the 60s but by the 70s he was also holding Bingo sessions and letting the local drama group present plays and pantomimes on an extended stage.

Sadly by the 80s – and by now into his 90th year – Colonel Mason decided to sell the premises. The cinema last shut its doors in 1982.

An antiques dealer was its new owner but this was short lived. A developer bought the site in 1990 for a proposed residential block. The cinema site in Marybrook Street was where and what we see and know today as Mason Court.

Quiet ! Quiet !

It was sometimes too lively at The Berkeley, including on Saturday afternoons when many kids and teenagers attended. Colonel Mason is warmly remembered for his signature call of “Quiet! Quiet!” or “Quiet boys, quiet!”

If that didn’t calm things down sufficiently, Mrs Mason would rise to the occasion with the use of stronger language – she has taken a place in cinematic history as ‘the severe usherette’.

Lights !

The frontage of The Berkeley used to be brightly lit up with its name on a neon sign, turquoise lights framing the top and sides, and red lights above the entrance.

On a rainy night when the pavements and road were wet, the lit up cinema and its reflections created a beautiful scene.

The top of the cinema was always white as is seen in the photos. During World War II, a cover was put over it so that it could not be seen by bombers flying at night.

The colonel, the owner, his wife... and his beret

Colonel Mason came to Berkeley as a young man in the late 1920s during the early stages of cinema. He first opened a Magic Lantern Show in the area of the current Marybrook surgery.

Then around 1929/1930, Colonel Mason opened a cinema in the High Street in the building which is now number 30/32 – his home was next door at number 34.

The talkies became so popular that queues formed all the way down the High Street. The town needed a larger cinema and Mr Mason managed to secure a mortgage to build The Berkeley in Marybrook Street. It was very unusual for someone without more financial standing and status to get such a loan but the bank saw the emerging cinema boom as a safe bet.

Before becoming a cinema proprietor, as well as having first joined the army at age 12, Colonel Mason had been in a circus. The Colonel still liked to clown and fool around. He did tricks such as balancing a mop on his chin, and enjoyed slapstick. As he opened a door, he would kick the bottom of the door to create a sound effect as he faked a painful collision with it.

Now for some movie nostalgia...

The Hollywood Heyday lasted for 40 years but was on the wane by 1960 and many cinemas eventually closed everywhere.

But most of us growing up since then still fondly recall the childhood treat of a cinema outing.

And of course, for teenagers and young adults there were still first dates and the infamous back row!

It wasn’t all Hollywood movies as there were British films too, often with a unique British humour and sauciness. We had the Monty Pythons, a lot of Carry Ons, James Herriot the Yorkshire vet, Ealing Comedies, Hammer Horrors, and various Confessions Of (suddenly window cleaning became a most desirable career).

Do you recall the following top films which were almost certainly shown in The Berkeley 1938-82?

Horror, thrillers & gritty drama

Horror

Horror of Dracula – 1958
Psycho – 1960
Rosemary’s Baby – 1968
The Exorcist – 1973
Jaws – 1975
Carrie – 1976
Zombie 1979
Alien – 1979
Friday the 13th – 1980

Thrillers & drama

Gone With The Wind – 1939
Rear Window – 1954
Lawrence of Arabia – 1962
Goldfinger – 1964
Doctor Zhivago – 1965
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – 1975
Star Wars – 1977
Close Encounters of the Third Kind – 1977
Chariots of Fire – 1981

Cartoons & animation

Bambi – 1942
Peter Pan – 1953
Sleeping Beauty – 1959
One Hundred and One Dalmatians – 1961
The Jungle Book – 1967
Robin Hood – 1973
The Lord of the Rings – 1978
Watership Down – 1978

Feel-good colour, musicals & comedy

Musicals

Wizard of Oz – 1939
The Barkleys of Broadway – 1949
Singin’ in the Rain – 1952
Mary Poppins – 1964
Sound of Music – 1965
Saturday Night Fever – 1977
Grease – 1978

Comedy

The Pink Panther – 1963
The Graduate – 1967
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid – 1969
The Italian Job – 1969
Blazing Saddles – 1974
Monty Python’s Life of Brian – 1975
An American Werewolf in London – 1981

Black & white classics

It’s a Wonderful World – 1939
Citizen Kane – 1941
Casablanca – 1942
Brief Encounter – 1945
Sunset Boulevard – 1950
Sabrina – 1954
12 Angry Men – 1957
Some Like It Hot – 1959
Dr Strangelove – 1964

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