The oldest cinema in Britain
Last night, I went to see a film – “Mongol” [my review here] – at a cinema which could be the oldest in Britain.
The Phoenix cinema in north London first opened in 1910 as “The East Finchley Picturedrome”, offering ‘the world’s finest picture plays’. It has been open as a cinema since and is believed to be the oldest purpose-built continuously serving cinema in the UK – it has never been a bingo hall, snooker hall or dark even during two World Wars.
It was one of the first cinemas in London to introduce sound films in 1929 when it was known as the “Coliseum”. In the early 1970s, it was known as the “Rex” and I lived literally round the corner in Fairlawn Avenue.
June 9th, 2008 at 10:43 am
I do so hope its Grade 1 listed. That, at the least, affords some protection.
June 9th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
This historic building with Edwardian and art deco features is listed Grade II.
February 6th, 2009 at 12:57 am
the curzon at clevedon is the oldest purpose built cinema still running in the world!!!!!!!!
February 6th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
That’s an interesting rival claim, Ellie – let battle commence.
March 14th, 2009 at 6:19 pm
The first official screening in the Lumière Cinema in Pisa (Italy) was made on 16 December 1905. The first official sound screening was made on 19 October 1906. Even after a thorough renovation in 2005, which brought modern equipment, the cinema did not lose its original Art Nouveau charm by the famous architect Luigi Bellincioni (1842-1929).
The Lumière cinema has not a certificate issued by the Guinness World Records but it has still the documents, published in the book “Il Lumière di Pisa. 100 anni di cinema a Palazzo Agostini” (Pisa, Felici Editore, 2005) by Renato Bovani & Rosalia Del Porro.
Korsør Biograf Teater (opened January 30th, 1907) in the danish city Korsør was listed the oldest cinema in the Guinness Book of World Records from 2008. The Pionier Cinema (opened September 26th, 1909) in Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland) was listed as the oldest in the Guinness Book of World Records from 2005 to 2007.
Oldest cinema in the World:
Pionier Cinema – Szczecin, Poland: http://www.kino-pionier.com.pl/kino.html info@kino-pionier.com.pl
Korsør Biograf Teater – Korsør, Danimark: http://www.korsoer-bio.dk/mod_inc/?P=itemmodule&kind=front 58370362@mail.dk info@malenekirkegaard.dk
Lumière Cinema – Pisa, Italy: http://www.lumierecinema.it/ lumiere@lumierecinema.it
Picture House Cinema – Argyll, Scotland: http://weepictures.co.uk/news.php admin@weepictures.com
Hippodrome Cinema – Bo’ness West Lothian, Scotland shbt@conservationtrust.co.uk
Daguanlou Cinema – Beijing, China http://www.zhdyy.com.cn/daguanlou/english/dglenglish.html postmaster@zhdyy.com.cn
The Allred Theatre – Pryor, Oklahoma (USA) chris_sitsler@yahoo.com
Gorge Cinema – Elora, Ontario (Canada) gorgecinema@rogers.com
September 18th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
please can it be called the REX again
November 4th, 2009 at 4:16 pm
I think Ellie knew what she was trying to say just didn’t quite come out correctly! The Curzon at Clevedon holds the record for basically never closing it’s doors. Even when they went through a phase in the 20’s extending the building it was still open on a daily basis to show films. Nice picture house, wish they’d upholdster the seats though. Recon they were last done in the 60’s!
The Bloor Cinema in Toronto is worth checking out. Ok, so it’s from the 40’s and doesn’t show the latest films but it’s a worthwhile experience.
January 18th, 2010 at 6:34 am
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