Vogue Cinema
Lewes Road and Hollingdean Road,
Brighton,
BN2
Lewes Road and Hollingdean Road,
Brighton,
BN2
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Classic Cinemas (UK)
Architects: Frederick W. Morgan
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Gaiety Cinema, Ace Cinema
Nearby Theaters
Located in a suburb to the north of Brighton. The Gaiety Cinema was opened on 24th April 1937 with Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers in “Swing Time” and a documentary “The King’s People”. Designed in an Art Deco style by architect Frederick W. Morgan of Pinner, Middlesex, Seating provided in stalls and circle levels. A feature of the curved corner façade was the 50 feet high tower, highlighted in neon strips.
It was re-named Ace Cinema in 1965, operated by the small Ace Cinemas chain, who also operated the Curzon Kinema in Brighton, and were soon both taken over by the Classic Cinemas chain. In 1971 the Ace Cinema was re-named Vogue Cinema, playing sex films and featuring live striptease performances. Around that time, it also lost the upper section of its 50ft tower feature. It was also used as a bingo club on some nights a week. In 1979, Classic Cinemas began to programme family films, but this was a short-lived venture as the Vogue Cinema closed in late-1979. It was later demolished, and its site is now taken up with a road widening scheme.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
Between c1940-1945 used as an Army Kinema Corps cinema for troops in the nearby Preston Barracks. The cinema was owned by Gaiety (Brighton) Ltd., but operated by Randolph E. Richards' Picturedrome Cinemas based in Eastbourne. Closed for bingo, this lasted from January 1968 to December 1969 when the Ace re-opened as a cinema once more. Bingo sessions returned under the Vogue Bingo name under Classic before ceasing once more when the cinema was re-named Classic in anticipation of the former Curzon, then named Classic as well, closing. The Classic, former Gaiety, closed for good 31/10/1980. The junction created when a supermarket was built was named after the cinema, but they chose Vogue from when it was a sex cinema!