Ultimate Picture Palace February 1911 as the Oxford Picture Palace. In 1917 the manager was conscripted to serve in the First World War. The cinema was closed and stood unused for many years before being turned into as a furniture warehouse. In 1976 Bill Heine and Pablo Butcher reopened the cinema as the Penultimate Picture Palace. They added a sculpture of Al Jolson's hands by John Buckley to the façade. The first film to be shown was "Winstanley". Under the new management the cinema gained a reputation for showing an eclectic and provocative range of films that set it apart from the mainstream
Old Royal Palace monarchy. The building was then used for many different purposes—housing a variety of government and public services in the 1920s, functioning as a makeshift hospital during World War II, a refugee shelter for Greek refugees from Asia Minor in 1922, a museum with the personal effects of King George I (now part of the collection of the National Historical Museum), and other uses. In November 1929 the government decided that the building would permanently house Parliament (previously housed in what is now called the Old Parliament House). After more extensive renovations, the Senate convened in the "Old Palace" on 2