"X" films for Sailors!

Thrills In The Dark…

(or Lost Cinemas of My Youth:

Harlow, Weymouth & Portland)

My earliest memory of film-going is of wanting to hide behind the cinema seats in fear, not surprisingly, of the flying ‘monkey-men’ in Wizard of Oz. This would have been in the later half of the 1950s. I was extremely young and it is little wonder that later in life I so easily found a taste for being scared in the dark by movie monsters!

This must have been at Harlow New Town’s temporary cinema the Regal, which was opened in 1952 (the year I was born) in a factory on the Temple Fields industrial estate where my father worked. The Regal Cinema was the first post-World War II cinema to be constructed in England. It was designed to be either a factory unit or a cinema, by the Harlow Development Corporation architect F. Gibberd.

The Regal Cinema opened on 8th August 1952 with Michael Dennison in Angels One Five. It was the first cinema in the newly constructed town. All seating was on a single floor. It was taken over by the Rank Organisation on 28th February 1955, although it was never re-named Odeon.



Crowds gather for the opening (1952) of the temporary cinema, Harlow



 

When the new Odeon, situated in the town centre, the High, opened on 1st February 1960, the Regal was closed and the staff were transferred to the new cinema. The Regal was converted into a factory, known as Regal Works. Since 2003, it has been converted into offices, known as Regal House.

The new Harlow Odeon (1961) before shops were built either side

At the newly opened Odeon I recall being on first-aid duty as a very young St John’s Ambulance cadet for several Saturday mornings. Old black and white fifties matinee ‘cliff-hanger’ serials were still being shown in those days and were lapped up by the audience of predominantly young and very noisy boys. This was our “Saturday morning flicks”.

Family outings to the Odeon were a huge treat. The films were big too and included El Cid (1961) and Taras Bulba (1962). Usually the outing was rounded off by a visit to the Wimpy Bar, a new thing then. I recall it all seemed very “American”. My mother always ordered a Rum Baba!

I remember as us kids got older and more independent of our parents, we would ask complete strangers to “get us in” at the Odeon, if the “A” certificate forbade unaccompanied minors. One such film was The Long Ships (1964) and I remember we remained in our front seats at the end of the film in order to see it for at least a second viewing! You could in those days.

The Odeon in Harlow New Town was the first new cinema to be built for Rank after the war (others were completions of pre-war schemes) and it opened with Follow A Star. It was designed by T. P. Bennett & Son and had 1,244 seats on a single floor in the stadium plan. The projection suite was suspended above the rear stalls and had an almost level throw to the large screen.

In June 1987, it apparently closed for tripling and the rear stalls were converted into two smaller cinemas whilst the front retained the original box and screen. Refurbished in 2001 the cinema was re-branded with the new Odeon style. Yet it sadly closed in August 2005.

The closed Odeon, Harlow

Seaside cinema:
In 1963 my family moved from Harlow to Weymouth. I was eleven. The cinema choice (two cinemas = two screens; no multiplexes in those far off days!) was between the rather grand Gaumont in St Thomas Street, Weymouth (renamed the Odeon in 1968) or the less grand and quite small Odeon in Gloucester Street, (renamed the Classic in 1967). Both cinemas kept the eager film fan such as myself, busy with such new releases as First Men In The Moon, 633 Squadron, The Moonspinners, and The Train (quickly followed by Von Ryan‘s Express). One teacher took our class to see Becket.

Edward Judd and Lionel Jeffries: First Men In the Moon (1964)

For a few short years my newly acquired addiction for horror movies was played out between these two cinemas (plus what my mother called a “fleapit”, on Portland) - that is, up until I left school and left Weymouth.

Weymouth was a brief bus ride from home in Wyke Regis. An after midnight twenty-minute walk back from town was necessary if I had attended the Friday night Late-Night Horror show at the Classic (youngsters had it easier in the USA where vintage horrors were then being shown weekly on television!).

I have fond memories of the Classic and the classic horror movies (some twenty or thirty years old!) shown therein. After the renaming in 1967 I recall the Odeon in St Thomas Street usually had the latest big releases leaving the Classic booking lesser films. However, the inventive manager at the Classic would take full advantage of the “X”-ploitation end of the cheap films available, having occasionally a week long programme of horror movies, a different double bill each day! It was a bit hit and miss. They were often the cheaper b-movies of their day, - but what a joy! 

Friday nights at 10.30 or 11pm was usually “late-night horror night” with Roger Corman classics such as The Terror (1963), or Universal classics such as House of Frankenstein (1944) and House of Dracula (1945) – all rather grainy, scratched and with the occasional jump or bump. No digital in those days! Missing bits of dialogue were the norm with such old films and often caused moments of unintended mirth.

Now long gone, the Classic apparently opened in 1933 (as the Odeon), built for and operated by Oscar Deutsch’s Odeon Theatres Ltd. It was a converted bus garage and originally seated 541 in stadium style on one floor. Apparently this was the second circuit Odeon cinema, which is interesting as most of the subsequent Odeon’s were purpose built and renowned for their lavish architectural design. The site in Gloucester Street, Weymouth was a modest affair in comparison, but when it opened there were extensively painted rural Dorset scenes as mural decorations on the auditorium walls.

The murals were painted over in around 1939. It was all red flocked wallpaper and red drapes by the time I took my seat in the dark in 1963/64 to watch such films as Dr No (rebooked following the huge success of From Russia With Love). On 10th December 1967, the Odeon became the Classic before changing hands yet again when it became part of the Cannon Group and was re-named Cannon.



The "Classic" Weymouth, when previously named "Odeon"



As a young teenager I got to know the manager at the Classic and would beg posters or film stills. He was only too willing to oblige if duplicates were waiting to be sent down the line along with the film. He even booked one or two of my suggested horror features. Barbara Steele in The Revenge of the Vampire (1960) (aka Black Sunday) was one, just then made available to the UK, after an eight year ban. I saw Frankenstein (1931) and the Bride of Frankenstein (1935) at late-nights at the Classic too but the Classic could also be relied upon for excellent movies of the time including 2001 - A Space Odyssey and Barbarella!

By the social standards of the 1960s, Black Sunday
was considered unusually gruesome, and was banned
in the U.K. until 1968 because of its violence. It was
released in the UK as Revenge of the Vampire



Later in 1994, the Weymouth Classic became part of Peter Walker’s Picturedrome Theatres Ltd. and was renamed the Picturedrome. The cinema continued as part of the Picturedrome chain until its closure on 31st October 1999, which was due to the opening of the Cineworld multiplex in New Bond Street. In around 2004, the old Classic was demolished, apart from the south facing wall, and by March 2005, flats had been built on the site.

The larger ‘Odeon’ (initially Gaumont) in St Thomas Street in Weymouth town centre (where I recall seeing Planet of the Apes and The Boston Strangler upon release) had a long and chequered history. The premises were originally known as The Jubilee Hall and it was presenting film shows as well as live entertainment as far back as February 1909. Throughout the 1920’s it went through several name changes (as it would throughout its life) including The Royal Jubilee Hall and The Opera House.

In 1926 extensive building work and alterations were carried out on the site under the supervision of cinema architect William Edward Trent. The new look theatre included a balcony lounge, a cafe, dance hall and two boxes in the auditorium. The proscenium was 38 feet wide, the stage 30 feet deep and there were eight dressing rooms. Seating capacity was for 1,400 in stalls and circle. The venue reopened as the Regent Theatre under the ownership of Provincial Cinematograph Theatres(PCT) on 2 August 1926 with a live show entitled “Welcome Home”. The first film was Elaine Hammerstein in  Parisian Nights screened on 8th August 1926. PCT were taken over by Gaumont-British in the 1930’s and the site was renamed as the Gaumont on 26th February 1951.

Since demolished: Weymouth's "Gaumont" that became "Odeon"

On 22nd September 1968, it was re-named Odeon. Subsequently the Odeon became the Top Rank Club, which lasted until 8th February 1976 when The Rank Organisation leased the site to CC Leisure Ltd. who renamed it as The New Invicta Cinema & Bingo Hall. However, this only lasted for little under a year due to poor public support and the site was closed on 29th January 1977. The last films screened here were The Language of Love and Blue Sextet. The building operated as a bingo club from 7th April 1977, and was closed and demolished in December 1989. The site became a car park and by 2004 the area was re-developed as Debenham’s store and other retail shops, adjacent to the new Cineworld multiplex.

Portland's Regal:　

Another local cinema that could be relied upon for vintage horror fare was the Regal on Portland, a bus ride away, across the Chesil Beach causeway.

The "Regal" Portland, before it burnt down (photo: Geoff Kirby)



This was another nice old cinema but one which on occasion attracted a dodgy type of clientele. I remember a rather scruffy older gentleman who not only attempted to pick my pocket in the dark but eventually dozed off leaning up against me. Had I been old enough to have the courage to complain, or indeed if the theatre had not been so full as to permit a change of seat, I would have enjoyed the film all the more. But there you are; experiences in the dark. What that particular film was I can no longer recall, though I do remember seeing Hammer’s Dracula (1958) (the Horror of Dracula in the USA) for the first time on that particular screen (no videos in those days!) and was very grateful to the Regal for that! - and the Boris Karloff feature Black Sabbath (1963) (a Euro-Horror considered a classic nowadays, directed as it was by Mario Bava!). On this occasion the effective make-you-jump moments were enough to send several teenage girls running for the exit during the Karloff segment (based on Tolstoy's 'The Wurdalak'), causing much murmur and further anticipation amongst the, once again, capacity audience, for possible further shocks to come!

The Regal, Portland, had been built in 1932 and is mainly remembered for its rather specialised entertainment for sailors from the nearby Royal Navy Dockyard as it frequently showed steamy 'X' Certificate films.

Later, like so many cinemas it became a popular Bingo Hall. In the 1990s it had become 'Rumours Nightclub' and featured a large model aircraft hung from the ceiling of the dance floor.

Like so many other buildings on Portland, it caught fire one evening. The burned out hulk disfigured the shopping area until it was demolished and eventually the site was cleared and a small development of houses was built.

The majestic Mr Lee in Hammer's first "Dracula" (1958)

One last note on old cinemas

I have sat in the dark in some real flea-pits in my time. There was one shabby little cinema in Bristol (long gone, I imagine) where I took myself on a Saturday afternoon in 1969 to see a particularly seedy double bill which included Night of the Doomed (aka The Faceless Monster or Nightmare Castle) - now also considered something a classic of 60s European horror). The cinema was tiny. Once you had paid for your ticket through the box office window one stride from the street, you stepped through a tatty old curtain straight into the darkness of the auditorium!



One time in Leyton, East London, the occasional stifled scream (nothing to do with the vintage Hammer film being shown) alerted the rest of us in the meagre early evening audience, to the fact that there were live rats (not a horror movie theatre gimmick!) scurrying about at floor level amongst the discarded sweet wrappers. I spent the whole film with my feet up on the chair in front of me trying to ignore the occasional rustling of silver paper chocolate bar wrappings beneath my seat!

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