The Palladium, situated next to the public library on Portswood Broadway, opened on 17 February 1913 and was described as “the prettiest picture palace south of London”. It seated 150 in the balcony and 500 in the stalls. It was a popular cinema, handily situated opposite the tram depot. It is remembered, amongst other things, for its glass canopy, which covered the pavement for the length of the cinema and adjoining sweet shops. The last film to be shown, as Bill White (Dream Palaces: Going to the Pictures in Southampton) tells us, was Murder at St. Trinian's. It closed on 3 May 1958, and was subsequently re-modelled to become a supermarket.
Palladium Cinema, Portswood Broadway
Photograph, 1959
Palladium Cinema, Portswood Broadway×
Further reading:
Dream Palaces: Going to the Pictures in Southampton, by Bill White, p47-49. (HS/r)
Southampton Cinemas, by John C. Shepherd. (HS/r)
Pictures of Portswood’s Past, by Brian Ticehurst and Harry Meechen, p14, 16. (HS/h)
The Big Show: British Cinema Culture in the Great War 1914-1918, by Michael Hammond, see index. (HS/r)
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