The Ritz

The Ritz Cinema, built in 1935, was commissioned by Orton & Spooner, a company based in Burton which earlier in the century had made fairground rides and shows, and later owned the Burton Picturedrome Company. They had connections with George Green, who built Green's Playhouse in Glasgow; John Fairweather, the architect of Green's Playhouse and other cinemas in Scotland, was chosen to design the Ritz Cinema, along with Thomas Jenkins, a local architect and at that time Mayor of Burton, who had designed the Electric Theatre, of 1910, in the town. It was built on the site of the New Theatre and Opera House, of 1902, which showed films from 1930 and was demolished in 1934. This was a…