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Bodmin Palace
Camborne Palace
Devonport Tivoli
Fowey Troy
Fowey Cinema
Hayle St Georges Hall
Helston Flora
Newquay Astor
Perranporth Palace
St Blazey Palace
St Just Cape
Truro Palace Theatre
be two people most likely they are Rowland Clifford Hill. He expands the circuit with the Camborne
Hippodrome, renamed Palace, however this is soon operated by others, coming back to Hill in
1939.
He takes over the Helston Empire from 1932 and renames it Flora. He opens the Troy cinema in
Fowey in 1937 and takes control of the Fowey cinema in 1938 and closes it in 1939. He may well
have opened the Perranporth Palace but this goes to others by the late 1930s.
Duchy Cinemas Ltd first appear in 1939 as running the Tivoli in Devonport, which closes in 1939.
The same year they take over St Just Cape cinema until the late 1940s. At this stage there is no
clear connection with Hill. However, by the early 1950s Duchy Cinemas Ltd are leasing Fowey
Troy, Camborne Palace and St Blazey Palace, although this last cinema is passed on before the
1950s is out. These three cinemas are owned by Mr Hill and leased to Duchy Cinemas as is
Helston Flora from 1955 when they also take on the independent New Theatre in Newquay, soon
renamed Astor.
It would appear from an interview in the Daily Film Renter January 1st 1954 that at that time Duchy
Cinemas is being run by a William A Bauress, although no mention of Duchy Cinemas is made:
An outspoken commentator on the new developments (in cinema) is William A Bauress in
Cornwall. He operates the Troy, Fowey (330-seater); Palace, St Blazey (320); and Palace,
Camborne (295). "CinemaScope, with stereophonic sound," he asserts, "is a totally
uneconomical proposition for the type of small hall which I operate owing to its prohibitive cost."
Public relations and showmanship are subjects on which he is always glad to express
his views. In small local communities, such as those in Cornwall, the cinema plays a
very important part, and the highest standards of cleanliness, presentation and general
efficiency are essentials, as indeed they are in the larger situations.
Bauress feels a great responsibility towards the public he serves, and the absence of
serious opposition makes it all the more important that they should always strive to keep
the cinema in the forefront of community activities. He cites his company's consistently
good business throughout the year as proof that they have the goodwill if the public behind them.
In dealing with his general publicity approach, Bauress asked me to remember that with their
strictly limited scope and constant program change they cannot indulge in high-powered
stunts like showmen in the larger towns.
One of the essentials in these situations Bauress finds, is to keep patrons informed as to
what is showing and at Fowey they are particularly fortunate in having the services of the local
town crier, who, incidentally, has been champion of Great Britain for the past six years.
This is particularly effective during the holiday season. Another good publicity medium is the
company's own radio van equipped with tape recorder and amplifier, which regularly carries
program details to the outlying districts.
Although the more ambitious developments of theatre presentation are considered
uneconomical for his small halls, Bauress points out that they are keeping abreast of the
times via the installation of wide screens at the three cinemas, which are proving
extremely popular with patrons.
He has, however, quite an open mind on 3-D, etc., and is content to await future developments.
In time, he believes, installation costs will be modified and technical operation simplified.
"At the same time, I am convinced that 3-D as such will never supersede the conventional
Flattie. What we need is a combination of various methods of presentation to give flexibility
of operation."
Rowland Clifford Hill is listed as Managing Director of Duchy Cinemas Ltd later on but he always
remains in personal control of the Palace Truro. Hill and Duchy Cinemas continued to run the
Camborne Palace, renamed Cameo until 1985, while the other cinemas closed during the 1970s
and Duchy Cinemas Ltd was wound up on 15.09.1992.
Do you know more about these operators? Let me know