History of the UPP – TalkU
Dream Palaces: A history of the Ultimate Picture Palace and early cinema in Oxford
When the Oxford Picture Palace (now the Ultimate Picture Palace) opened in 1911 it was Oxford’s first purpose- built ‘electric theatre’. The technology of projecting moving images on to a screen was still in its infancy, but the ‘cinematograph’ had become wildly popular and a wave of new cinemas quickly followed, offering thrilling entertainment to both Town and Gown. In a 27-year period no fewer than ten new cinemas opened.
Join local historian Liz Woolley (www.lizwoolley.co.uk) for this talk and find out more about this fascinating aspect of Oxford’s history.
The Oxford Civic Society is hosting this talk as a fundraiser for the UPP’s #SaveTheUPP campaign. Tickets cost £5 each and are being sold through the Oxford Civic Society.
Sorry - you missed it!
We showed History of the UPP – Talk between March 17, 2025 and August 1, 2026.
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What else is on?
Today (Wednesday 9th September)
15:00
Holy Days 12A
1h 41m
19:30
Tomorrow (Thursday 10th September)
15:00
17:45
Holy Days 12A
1h 41m
20:15
The End of Oak Street 12A
1h 40mPlan your visit
Our beautiful art deco inspired auditorium can be found just off East Oxford's Cowley Road.We are open 7 days a week. We open the cinema and box office 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of each film, and the Box Office then closes 10 minutes after the film starts. We only show a few adverts – less than most cinemas – and we only play a couple of trailers, so please don’t be late as the film itself starts very close to the advertised time!