One of East Lancashire's last remaining picture houses has been saved from closure by the skin of its teeth. A council chairman's casting vote gave a last-minute reprieve to Clitheroe Civic Hall Cinema at a meeting earlier this month. Reporter THERESA ROBSON lifts the curtain on a venue that is costing Ribble Valley Council £40,000 a year to run. The little cinema, famed for its Tudor beams and special "courting seats," is just refusing to call "cut." But is it worth it? And what are the chances for its long-term survival?

THE days have long gone when you could watch a newsreel and Buster Keaton comedy for a shilling amid the 500-odd pieces of brass and copper that used to shine in the nooks and crannies of Clitheroe Civic Hall Cinema.

These days, Ribble Valley movie-goers are more likely to be found at the multiplexes in Burnley or Preston.

In a movie distribution market monopolised by American conglomerates, it's "the only way" to see newly-released films.

Independent cinemas across the country have closed down one by one as the multiplexes have cornered the movie market with their wide screens and popcorn.

So can a small cinema survive in the specialist market of showing films away from the mainstream.

That's the survival plan for Clitheroe after councillors gave the cinema a 12-month reprieve to allow an investigation into whether it can specialise and survive.

Linda Pariser, director of the Cornerhouse Cinema and Art Centre in Manchester, has backed attempts to save Clitheroe cinema.

"Most arthouse cinemas survive on Government grants and by mixing new films with middle-scale movies, but it's hard to keep going and with the advent of multiplexes it has got harder and harder," she explained. "Greater experimentation and more diversity is needed. We played Casablanca at Christmas and it was a sell-out. We also run a varied education programme.

"I think the Clitheroe scheme is a great idea and good luck to them. It's wonderful to see people committed to saving these venues by trying to offer the general public a more diverse cinema experience," she added.

Clitheroe Civic Hall Cinema, built as a public hall in 1874, was opened as a picturehouse in 1920 by a group of local businessmen calling themselves Kinema Entertainments Limited.

Among them was Ignatius Cullen, who managed the venue and provided piano accompaniment for silent films until 1946 when he died.

From that day it was run by his daughters, Marie and Barbara, who were introduced to the cinema as young children when they were allowed to go to the first house on Saturdays.

Clitheroe Civic Hall Cinema, with its spotless plush seats and polished armrests, tiny box office with flowery curtains and cushions, and endless pieces of brass and copper, was to become their second home. The sisters became famed for their refusal to show X-rated films and bumper audiences from across East Lancashire proved they were getting something right.

The venue was sold to the then Clitheroe Borough Council in 1963, when there were three cinemas in Clitheroe, as well as 22 in Blackburn and 17 in Burnley.

With the advent of television, however, most of them were to close within the space of a few years. Clitheroe's little cinema was to keep going, despite threats of closure, becoming a tourist attraction in its own right and even winning awards for its loos. But councillors have given the venue a last chance after it was revealed it was costing taxpayers £40,000 a year in subsidy.

The future of the cinema was secured on the casting vote of Ribble Valley Council community committee chairman Graham Sowter, who claimed it could be "quite an attraction."

"We need to do something to the fabric of the building, without destroying its character. It needs to be made more inviting and people-friendly," he said.

"We also have to think of other uses for the venue, that could co-exist beside the cinema. The whole venture needs to be marketed differently.

"If the cinema was able to offer something different, it would bring people into the town from other areas. It could stimulate interest in Clitheroe and improve the commercial life of the town. It could be quite an attraction.".

A feasibility study has been launched into the proposed scheme and no one is happier than Barbara, who married projectionist Derek Pearson following their retirement in 1993.

She said: "I am glad for the town that the cinema has been saved. Our era has gone and things are different, but I hope this new plan works. It would be such a shame if the venue was to close. It's part of the town's history."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.