Astoria (1933-1977)

15 Gloucester Place, Brighton 19
operated 1933-1977

The Astoria in 1935, advertising a personal stage appearance by Gordon Fellowes and Miss Marsh (whoever they were).

1933 December 21 Opened by Sir Alfred Cooper Rawson MP. Designed by Edward A Stone for E E Lyons and with an interior decorated in art deco style by Henri & Laverdet; 1,823 seats, continuous performances of first-run releases. Westrex sound system, Compton 3 cinema organ. Café, restaurant. The opening film: Alexander Korda's The Private Life of Henry VIII.
1934 Acquired by Associated British Cinemas Ltd [London] after the death of E E Lyons.
The souvenir programme for the opening of the Astoria can be seen online in the Bill Douglas Centre collection.
[Included in the row of houses demolished to make way for the cinema was 16 Gloucester Place, which has been the home of Christina Edmunds, the chocolate cream poisoner, found guilty in 1872 of the murder of a four-year-old boy who ate chocolates she had injected with strychnine and returned to Maynards shop in West Street.]

1958 Converted for 70mm (Todd-AO) operation with a new screen in front of the proscenium at a cost of £20,000, and requiring removal of the organ. This ended the occasional live shows.
1968 1,354 seats
1970 1,230 seats
1977 May 7 Closed shortly after the town's other ABC cinema re-opened as a quadruplex. The following year it becomes a bingo hall, the Coral Social Club, later Gala Bingo. Last film: A Star is Born.

The Astoria as a Gala Bingo hall and shuttered after its closure.

1997 Closes completly. Bass Leisure granted permission to convert to a night club but refused a drinks licence.
2000 July 15 The premises are raided by police after a group of people break in and make preparations for a rave to follow the end of the Essential Music Festival. The rave does not take place.
2000 November Granted Grade II listed building status. Astoria Moving Picture Trust planned a single-screen cinema with e-cinema capability.

Photos of 1935 and Gala Bingo courtesy of Brighton & Hove Libraries' Brighton History Centre