The organ was only on loan and was removed by its owner before the theatre closed. It is now in store. The original Compton was removed by Alfred Davies &Co, a local organ builder. Some parts were re-used but it is thought the majority of the instrument was scrapped.
Back to 1970s Brighton! The Continentale was just round the corner from my seafront hall of residence. There were advantages to teacher-training in Sussex! I saw “The Killing Of Sister George” here, amongst others. I recollect the gas lighting on the walls. Admission then was 35p, compared to 55p at the Kingswest Odeons. The advertising across the front proclaimed it as “Brighton Film Theatre”, an attempt, no doubt, to borrow some respectability from the real BFT. It was possible to hear the radio playing from within the box and on more than one occasion the projectionist showed the reels in the wrong order!
In the early 1970s the manager was A.T.“Chick” Fowle who was fiercely proud of his theatre. I first saw “Where Eagles Dare” there and, on that huge screen, we were all there with Richard Burton on top of the cable car! I loaned Mr Fowle my copy of the opening brochure for The Regent; he returned it with complimentary tickets for “The Sting”, which I had already seen at the ABC, but the screen was nowhere near as good!
I was a student in Brighton during the early 1970s and, rather sadly, that type of programme was fairly typical of the last days of the Academy. I have a photograph of the front-minus-auditorium(ie blue sky behind the windows!) which I will submit when the facility returns. I recollect the auditorium as being rather narrow; I retrieved the front-of-house seating plan for the Academy from the Regent when that closed a bit later.
The Compton organ was removed to Northampton in 1936. WIth the addition of a melotone it was installed in the Savoy/ABC(now the Jesus Centre) on Abington Square, opening in 1936. It was removed in 1960 by a local organ builder(Alfred Davis and Son) and broken up for parts. Little of it was considered useful!
The organ was only on loan and was removed by its owner before the theatre closed. It is now in store. The original Compton was removed by Alfred Davies &Co, a local organ builder. Some parts were re-used but it is thought the majority of the instrument was scrapped.
I have some photographs of the demolition. If you would like a scan, get in touch.
In the early 1970s it was known as the Kemp Town Bingo and Social Club, presumably not under the Rank banner.
Back to 1970s Brighton! The Continentale was just round the corner from my seafront hall of residence. There were advantages to teacher-training in Sussex! I saw “The Killing Of Sister George” here, amongst others. I recollect the gas lighting on the walls. Admission then was 35p, compared to 55p at the Kingswest Odeons. The advertising across the front proclaimed it as “Brighton Film Theatre”, an attempt, no doubt, to borrow some respectability from the real BFT. It was possible to hear the radio playing from within the box and on more than one occasion the projectionist showed the reels in the wrong order!
In the early 1970s the manager was A.T.“Chick” Fowle who was fiercely proud of his theatre. I first saw “Where Eagles Dare” there and, on that huge screen, we were all there with Richard Burton on top of the cable car! I loaned Mr Fowle my copy of the opening brochure for The Regent; he returned it with complimentary tickets for “The Sting”, which I had already seen at the ABC, but the screen was nowhere near as good!
I was a student in Brighton during the early 1970s and, rather sadly, that type of programme was fairly typical of the last days of the Academy. I have a photograph of the front-minus-auditorium(ie blue sky behind the windows!) which I will submit when the facility returns. I recollect the auditorium as being rather narrow; I retrieved the front-of-house seating plan for the Academy from the Regent when that closed a bit later.
The Compton organ was removed to Northampton in 1936. WIth the addition of a melotone it was installed in the Savoy/ABC(now the Jesus Centre) on Abington Square, opening in 1936. It was removed in 1960 by a local organ builder(Alfred Davis and Son) and broken up for parts. Little of it was considered useful!