When this photograph was taken in late 1914 the Court Cinema could proclaim 'Recognised as showing the Best Films'. The films advertised here are an early London Films production, Lawyer Quince, and a French film, Chéri-Bibi, from a story by Gaston Leroux, more famous now for Phantom of the Opera.

The Paris Cinema was still open in this view c1955 from the Pavilion gardens
Photo courtesy of Brighton & Hove Libraries' Brighton History Centre

By 1967 the Paris Cinema 'and Buttery' had been closed for some time and was about to be demolished for re-development
Photo courtesy of Brighton & Hove Libraries' Brighton History Centre

Empire Theatre of Varieties (briefly 1896)
Court Theatre/Cinema (1908-1947)
occasional cinema use as
Dolphin Theatre (1947-1952)
Her Majesty's Theatre (1952-1955)
regular cinema use as
Paris Cinema (1955-1957, 1960-1963)

16-17 New Road, Brighton
operated 1909-1957, intermittently from 1952

• The theatre had previously been Wright's New Oxford Music Hall, among other names, and was gutted by fire in 1892. The theatre was reconstructed, to a design by Charles E Clayton of Clayton & Black (see also Duke of York's), and re-named the Empire Theatre of Varieties. Its local nickname was 'Bottings'.

1896 Chard's Vitagraph has an eight-week run as part of the music hall performances, including 'local pictures'.
1902 December 26 The cinematograph catches fireand the auditorium fills with smoke; most of the audience stays in place and the fire is extinguished by the duty fireman. Superintendent Lacroix of the Police Fire Brigade takes the stage to restore the audience’s composure.
1902 Acquired and re-named the Coliseum by Thomas Barrasford, whose northern music hall circuit (or 'tour') had expanded southwards and was now based at the Hippodrome in Middle Street.
1908 April Already known as the Court Theatre, management is taken over by Jeape's Animated Graphic, whose own projection system is installed. Two shows are given on Sundays. 1,250 seats.
1909 Run by Mrs Maud Barrasford. She leases the Dyke Hotel at Devil’s Dyke and runs horse buses between the two.
1911 Programme changes Sunday, Monday and Thursday.
1913 October Two projectors are installed to allow for changeovers between reels.
1915 Lessees are Wiggins & Welsh Ltd.
1920 Prices reduced: all stalls 9d (some previously 1s 3d), circle 1s 10d seats cut to 1s 3d; 2s 4d seats stay the same.
1926 February A picture of a fire at the theatre is the first news photograph published in the local newspaper, the Evening Argus, whose offices are only two streets away. The auditorium is rebuilt to plans by architect F C Mitchell at a cost of £8,000.
1926 October 4 Re-opens with The Flood.
1928 May Acquired by Gaumont-British Picture Corporation (GBPC) from its subsidiary General Theatre Corporation (GTC).
1929 November 5 Closed. Leased to Majestic (Brighton)
1930 January Leased to Kingston Super Cinema Ltd and equipped for sound (British Acoustic).
1931 April 19 Leased to Walter Watson Thompson, who has a London cinema, for a £500 premium. Prices 6d-2s 4d.
1931 June 30 Thompson is evicted for owing £960 rent. He is declared bankrupt in the High Court on 15 October.
1934 Prices are 6d-2s.
1940 June 29 Closed.The last films are B-features, Jailbirds and Tomorrow at Midnight.
1941 Leased to J H Canvin, booked at London. Prices: 6d-1s 6d, 800 seats.
1946 Acquired by Theatre Royal Brighton (Stage Plays) Ltd, a non-profit company chaired by Lewis Cohen and run by J Baxter Somerville.
1947 May 24 Re-opens as the Dolphin Theatre, remodelled by Morgan & Crook. 850 seats, fortnightly theatrical repertory with occasional film performances. Prices 6d-1s 6d.
1952 Renamed Her Majesty's Theatre.
1955 January 20 Closes.
1955 April 6 The owners want to demolish but the site, still leased by J Baxter Somerville, is renamed the Paris Cinema, showing art-house films in partnership with George Fernie, lessee of the Continentale.
1957 Prices 1s 6d-4s. Paris Theatre again operates as a repertory theatre.
1958 January A campaign to save the theatre from the developers attracts support from Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Charles Laughton and J B Priestley, who calls it ‘the loveliest theatre I have seen on the south coast’.
1958 Brighton Borough Council’s Planning Committee approves a scheme submitted by builders T J Braybon, for a block of flats with shops and offices.
1958 July Fernie withdraws from the partnership with Somerville.
1960 Owned by Paris Cinema (Brighton) Ltd. Prices 1s 6d-4s, 713 seats’ ‘continental films booked at the hall by Eric J Jenks’ [Kine Year Book]. Programmes include erotic films.
1963 March Closes. The last films are a double bill of the musicals Carousel and Carmen Jones. ‘It’s “The End” for the Paris—Even sex doesn’t pay’ is the headline in the Evening Argus. Closure had been staved off for years by Somerville, despite losses estimated at £100 a week.

• When Somerville died in January 1963, closure became inevitable. The building was sold for £70,000. It was demolished in 1967. Offices now occupy the site.

Brighton cinema directory
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