Cannon Shanklin
8 High Street,
Shanklin,
PO37 6LB
8 High Street,
Shanklin,
PO37 6LB
2 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Cannon Cinemas, Star Cinemas
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Regal Cinema
Nearby Theaters
The Regal Cinema was built by Playhouse (Shanklin Ltd.) and opened on 22nd August 1932 with John Barrymore in “Arsene Lupin”. A series of steps led to the front entrance doors which were in a zig-zag ‘Jazz-Age’ Art Deco style. Inside the auditorium seating was arranged in stalls and circle and again there was modern Art Deco style details in the decoration.
In October 1965 it was leased to Star Cinemas Associated Holdings of Leeds. and then passed to the Cannon Group when they took over Star in the 1980’s. Re-named Cannon Cinema, it closed on 3rd October 1986 with “Poltergeist 2”. The building was then boarded up and has since been demolished.
A block of flats and a shop now occupy this site in the popular seaside town of Shanklin, located on the southeast side of the Isle of Wight. However, some happy preservation news has recently come to light, that the cinema’s Art Deco style old front doors were saved and installed into the new complex.
Contributed by
Simon Overton, Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)
A photo of the Regal, taken circa 1972, can be found here:–
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Ken… Many thanks for the added info. Also the nice photo from “flickr”
I was in Shanklin in 1990 by which time the building was definitely not boarded up. I was able to look through the front doors, but got the shock of my life when I realised the foyer floor had been removed to reveal nothing but a deep void, which was quite scary!
The Regal closed in Oct ‘86. It didn’t get boarded up till '93.
When was it actually demolished?
The Regal closed on October 3rd 1986, last film being Poltergeist 2.
As can be seen from my photographs, the Regal was completely derelict when the CTA visited in April 1999.
The Regal opened on 22 August 1932, the rather drab-looking replacement is in business use.