The Palace Cinema, Clifton Street, Lytham opened in 1930.

Coming to the interior one enters the circle from doors on the left and right, and it is from these points that the full beauty of the interior is instantly appreciated.

The main features of the side walls are painted sphinxes on the dados, and two Main panels at the front of the balcony to represent a desert scene. The same theme is predominant right, round the auditorium under the balcony, while over the proscenium is a beautiful sculptured and coloured frieze representing a quiet desert. scene. It depicts the Arab merchants with their camel transport. halted at an oasis in the golden sands.

A mass of colour in the most courageous style brings into the auditorium the spirit of Egypt . All the colours are true to the Country - barbarous and regal, and eminently stated for it palace of romance.

Five Colours of Seats.

The seating merits a special word and is of the latest style and is in five colours, so that there are no two seats together of the same shade. and when viewed from a particular angle the blue, flame, grey, orange and brown are seen in diagonal lines across the auditorium or the balcony. It is very effective. Soft, thick carpets cover the entire floor.

Steel has played a great. part in the construction of the cinema. The balcony and ceiling are entirely constructed of this metal, the ceiling being artistically panelled. It is believed that this is the second balcony only in England to be constructed in steel. The most modern type of electric lighting has been used consisting chiefly of tubes and beads of glass descending from glass friezes and concealing three coloured lights at the top. These lights illumine the glass tubes which gleam from top to bottom. Thaw coloured lighting is used throughout, the auditorium.

Acoustics as Clear as a Bell.

As the theatre has been built for sound its acoustic properties are perfect, and the reproduction on the Western Electric sound system is, like the Winter Gardens, Blackpool, installation, " the best you'll hear." No modern theatre is complete without its lounge and cafe, and in this direction the Lytham Palace is charmingly served. The tea-room and lounge are situated immediately over the entrance and can be easily reached from either stalls or circle. The tea-room has an outlook over Clifton Street; and is approached from the luxurious foyer by three steps flanked by electric fountains.

In addition to the theatre's own hooking office, in the main hall, there is a special booking office for all the Blackpool entertainments with which the Lytham Palace is associated, namely, the Grand Theatre, the Opera. House, Winter Gardens, Palace, Tower, Cirrus and Tower.

Engaged in the Building.

The Palace is, as a building, a work of construction which reflects the utmost credit on all the firms who hate combined to bring it into existence. Unlike ordinary business premises it has many special features calling for the highest skill of the best craftsmen. and they have done their work in very commendable manner.

The firm of Messrs. John Sutcliffe and Sons. Ltd., builders, of the Electric Saw Mills, St. Annes, were the 'unit' contractors, doing the excavating, draining, concreting, brickwork and the joinery, including the shop and main entrance fittings, which have been exquisitely done in walnut.

Another well-known St. Annes firm to be associated with the work is that of Fred Stork, 37, St. Andrew's Road South, who specialises in French polishing and cellulose finish (with electric spray). The beautiful fibrous plaster decorations at the Palace are the work of the old-established firm of J. Alberti, Ltd., 153, Plymouth Grove, Manchester. They are modellers, sculptors and decorators.

The front elevation is carried out in the vitreous and Polychrome faience supplied by Shaw's Glazed Brick Co., Ltd., of Darwen. The effect is singularly artistic and charming. The plumbing work was in the bands of the St. Annes firm of Messrs. W. E. Russell and Co., who make a. speciality of this very important department in building construction. Fire protection equipment has been installed by Clark & Vigilant Sprinklers, Ltd., the well-known experts in fire protection, by the means of automatic sprinklers, hydrants, curtain drencher, and hand appliances.