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The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History

CINEMAS

STATE CINEMA

Notice of the intention to erect a cinema the St Budeaux district of Plymouth was first given on December 14th 1938. The plans for the site at the junction of Victoria Road, Stirling Road and Melrose Crescent were approved on February 15th 1939 and the St Budeaux Cinema Company Ltd was formed in March 1939, with a capital of £10,000 in £1 shares.

STATE CINEMA

On Monday October 16th 1939 the State Cinema opened with Deanna Durbin and Melvyn Douglas in Universal's "That Certain Age". Prices were 6d, 1 shilling and 1/6d. Its licence was granted two days later. The State was built on the lines of a miniature Odeon and sat some 1,000 people. It was the first cinema in Plymouth to be equipped with a four-channel stereophonic sound system.
	The State Cinema at Saint Budeaux, Plymouth. ©  Western Morning News Company Ltd Buy a Copy.

During the afternoon of Saturday May 2nd 1970 Dame Joan Vickers, Me  mber of Parliament for Devonport, officially renamed the State Cinema as the Mayflower Cinema.  The idea for the change of name cam from the cinema's manager, Mr Prynne Richards, and the ceremony took place on the day that the "Mayflower Year" celebrations were launched. 

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©  Brian Moseley, Plymouth, UK

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