This cinema was situated on the west side of the High Street on the corner of Albion Place. Opened in 1914, it was built in an unusual semi-Moorish style, described by one patron as “a bit like a mosque”. It had seating for 800 and boasted a full orchestra. It claimed to be Southampton's first 'talkie' cinema after showing The Singing Fool in 1929. It closed down in 1956 and the building was demolished in 1974.
Gaiety Cinema
Photograph, 1956
Gaiety Cinema: Evening View
Photograph, 1931
Further reading:
Dream Palaces: Going to the Pictures in Southampton, by Bill White, p50. (HS/r)
Southampton Cinemas, by John C. Shepherd, p18. (HS/r)
The Big Show: British Cinema Culture in the Great War 1914-1918, by Michael Hammond, p49-69. (HS/r)
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