Gaumont Portsmouth

The Regent Cinema opened on 31st March 1923 with Jackie Coogan in "Oliver Twist". It was built for and operated by the independent Palace Picture House(Portsmouth) Ltd. The London based architect S. Clough designed a splendid cinema which according to reports at the time had ‘new ideas in decoration’. The auditorium was in an Atmospheric style with a sky blue ceiling that contained twinkling stars, and there was the option for the technician to enable sun-rays (houselights up) or moonlight (houselights down) to shine across it. The proscenium was in a setting to appear as if it were standing in a clearance at the lower end of a slope and there were columns around the side-walls which had a hedge between each of them to represent being in a Grecian Mediterranean garden. There was a fine Regent orchestra to accompany the films.

From 8th October 1929 it was taken over by the Hyams & Gale circuit and they installed a Christie 2Manual/8Ranks theatre organ which was opened by Ernest Hall. From 10th February 1931 the Regent Cinema was taken over by the Gaumont British Theatres/Associated Provincial Picture Houses(APPH) circuit.

From 9th March 1953 it was re-named Gaumont and continued until closure by the Rank Organisation on 1st September 1973. It was demolished in April 1974 and a Safeway’s supermarket was built on the site. A sad end to one of Portsmouth’s most luxurious cinemas.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Recent comments (view all 2 comments)

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.