Gaiety Picture House
169 High Street,
Southampton,
SO14 2NZ
169 High Street,
Southampton,
SO14 2NZ
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Completed just after World War I started and was opened by the Sherriff of Southampton, the Gaiety Picture House was a long-time favourite of countless ‘Sotonians’.
It opened on 26th September 1914 with exclusive screenings of a three-part epic “Loss of the Birkenhead”, a famous British ship. A full orchestra was said to be the best in the country by manager Arthur Pickup.
Located in the lower High Street and known as Southampton’s first talkie cinema when it was equipped with a Western Electric(WE) sound system and it showed Al Jolson in “The Singing Fool” in September 1929.
Resplendent with a turnip shaped dome and a Mosque like architectural design the 1939 reconstruction and modernization managed to survive World War II. There were double seats in the back stalls for dating couples which could be curtained over for ‘privacy’.
Kirk Douglas graced the screen at the final performance of Gaiety Picture House when “Detective Story” was screened and the curtains closed for the last time on 28th April 1956. Age, operating costs and location forced the closure and demolition.
Contributed by
Simon Overton
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
The typical double-bill programmes at the Gaiety were always well planned with a specially related theme. I well recall going there on a very stormy Saturday night.
“War of the Worlds” and “When Worlds Collide” thrilled the jam-packed audience especially when the outside thunderstorm caused the projection to go crazy. This, in turn, had girls screaming while we boys made all sorts of creepy noises to add to the excitement.
1931 photo added courtesy Stuart C Alderman‎. Also this great link of Southampton theatres.
http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Southampton.htm