Cinema

Located in the village of Eythorne, approximately 7 miles north of Dover, Kent, the Electric Theatre was open by April 1920.

The auditorium was 80ft deep by 20ft wide; the stage 10ft x 13ft and the screen 10ft x 12ft 6ins. The box office was apparently in a small annexe to the right of the building, which was also used as storage for cycles and prams. An equally small structure to the right of the stage housed the gas engine.

The licensee was Mr Read, and the rent was £6 per week.

The cinema was offered for sale by auction on 31 March 1921. The first Kinematograph Year Book entry I have access to is from 1923, when the proprietors were Dowling Bros. The resident manager was Cyril H. Dowling and there were two changes of programme each week.

The following year’s edition lists the venue as the Cinema. The proprietor was E. P. Forsythe and there was one change of programme each week.

By the 1926 edition, it was called the Cinema, and was operated by Cinema House Company. Shows were by then only on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

The Cinema is not listed in the 1928 edition, so it is assumed to have closed by then.

It is not known what happened to the building. It is very likely that it has been demolished, although a 1955 photograph of Eythorne Garage, at 4 Sandwich Road, looks somewhat ‘cinematic’. The garage survives, albeit its roadside frontage has been removed and it is now set back a little. But was this the Electric Theatre?

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