The South Tyneside woman who went to Boldon cinema 3 times a week for 47 years - until one sad day in Spring
From Chaplin to the talking movies - Eliza saw it all
Eliza Wilson had every reason to be in mourning when the credits rolled for the final time at the Boldon Palace cinema.
Eliza was Boldon Colliery’s oldest resident at 93 years old when she made Shields Gazette headlines in the Spring of 1959.
That’s when the Palace was set to shut its doors which was sad news for the Boldon stalwart who had come to regard the movie house as her second home.
Three times a week for almost 50 years, dedicated Eliza had walked the short distance from her actual home in Charles Street to catch the latest flicks.
She was there when the first film was screened way back in 1912 and never stopped her routine. Her incredible loyalty was repaid many years later when she was given free entrance for every screening at the Palace.
And the movie buff was devastated at news the picture house was to close its doors for the final time. She told the Gazette in 1959: “It will leave quite a gap in my life. I don’t know what I will do with my time now – I suppose I will just have to sit in the house.”
Eliza’s five decades of movie-watching would have stretch from the silent era of DW Griffiths and Charlie Chaplin, through to the birth of sound and the emergence of the ‘method’ screen actors – Brando, Clift and Dean, with all the stars in between – Valentino, Gable, Bogart, Mickey Mouse and Lassie!
The distinctive cinema later became, inevitably, a bingo hall then stood empty.
As an alternative, Eliza could have hired a TV from Rentaset which had branches in Fowler Street, South Shields and Clayton Street, Newcastle.
Or she might have fancied heading a little further afield to take in The Kid starring Charlie Chaplin and Jackie Coogan at The Essoldo in South Shields.
It was part of a double bill with Ghost of St Michaels, featuring British comedy actor Will Hay.
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