interesting posts, all very sad, yes the Carlton had the screen end blown out by a bomb and the people in the front stalls took the brunt of the explosion, and the Carlton was the only cinema in Birmingham that had a lift to take to the rear balcony. It had a bit of chequered history, in the first place the original people to have it built ran out of cash, as the foundations were on sandy soil and they could not afford to have the site excavated any further in order to find a firm sub- strata, then someone else took over the project, it was owned at one time by the Victoria Playhouse group.