Brightonfilm


Directory of cinemas in Brighton & Hove

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Aquarium

Aquarium
The Aquarium at the turn of the century.

Prince's Hall at the Aquarium
The Prince's Hall at the Aquarium when opened in 1929.

Madeira Drive, Brighton
operated 1896-1939

Aquarium Kinema 1917-?
Princess Hall 1931-1939

• Designed by Eugenius Birch, engineer of the West Pier.

1895 Edison Kinetoscope—a 'What the butler saw' type machine—is installed.
1897 March 16, 29 George Albert Smith includes films in these and his subsequent occasional optical lantern presentations.
Click on the image below to open the full poster


1900 Regular shows in the Winter Garden include films of the Boer War.
1910 A cinematograph licence is granted by Brighton Corporation Watch Committee..
• Intermittent film shows over the following years.
1917 The Winter Garden becomes the Aquarium Kinema, with matinees on Monday-Friday at 15:00 and a children's matinee on Saturday. Admission 4d. The name does not last.
1929 After remodelling by the borough surveyor in 1927-29, now called the Princess Hall (Cinema); occasional film performances, as well as concerts and live theatre, were held here until 1939. Prices 6d-1s.

• During the Second World War it was requisitioned by the RAF. It was used for various purposes thereafter, including the Florida Nights dance hall and Montagu Motor Museum, none of them including film.
• It is now the Sealife Centre.

Brighton cinema directory
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Page created 30 December 2023
© David Fisher