Bromley’s “super cinema” as soon as stood not far from the place the city centre’s solely cinema stands right this moment.
Locals could discover themselves strolling previous the Dreams mattress store in the High Street on their solution to see the newest movie at Bromley’s Vue cinema.
Number 44 Bromley High Street, the place the retailer stands, was as soon as residence to Bromley’s “super cinema”, which had a capability of greater than 2,500 folks.
The Gaumont British Theatres cinema first opened its doorways in Bromley on November 23, 1936, and have become a part of the city’s leisure scene for greater than 20 years.
Dreams store in Bromley, as soon as the web site of a cinema (Image: Google)
Located on the nook of Ravensbourne Road, near Bromley South railway station, it was one in every of the largest and most formidable cinemas in-built the space throughout the interwar years.
Bromley’s first cinema had opened in 1909 inside a transformed theatre, however fast growth throughout the city throughout the Nineteen Thirties created demand for a a lot bigger venue.
Designed by architect William E. Trent, the constructing featured a hanging brick exterior with horizontal banding and was constructed on the web site of a former music school. It had a flat‑topped nook tower above the entrance displaying a big vertical neon signal.
Inside, the auditorium was notably uncommon, with a design meant to create an undersea impact resembling the within a shell. It additionally had the capability to host stay performances in addition to movies.
The cinema featured a big organ, opened by organist Terance Casey, in addition to a café and restaurant able to seating 150 friends.
The venue opened with screenings of Robert Taylor in Private Number (also referred to as Secret Interlude) and Ralph Lynn in In the Soup, and it went on to entertain crowds for a few years.
After the Second World War, the cinema struggled to compete with its close by rival, Odeon Cinemas, and with the rise of tv, which precipitated the trade as a complete to say no.
After 25 years in enterprise, the Gaumont closed on February 18, 1961.
Its ultimate showings had been Circle of Deception, starring Bradford Dillman, and None however the Brave, starring Richard Basehart.
Following its closure, the former cinema grew to become a division retailer, later taken over by Debenhams in the early Nineteen Sixties, earlier than ultimately being subdivided into retail items — with Dreams now occupying the web site the place the cinema as soon as stood.
