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CINEMARECORD

sometimes his younger sisters might help as usherettes while female staff looked after the ticket boxes. "!Everyone was treated
as family" Robert Ward remembers. When the chief projectionists weren't on duty, Robert would also act as projectionist.
Local children might sometimes work as ushers on Saturday afternoons.
Another attraction for a youthful patron commuting by train from Kew were the programs: for a young fdm enthusiast, the
PRINCE GEORGE offered wonderful old revivals or non-mainstream films dredged up from the forgotten vaults of obscure
distributors. In not much more than one brief year as a patron l saw films like Selznick's A PORTRAIT OF JENNY, de
Sica's haunting SHOESHINE, Olivier's HAMLET and even the legendary silent Valentine landmark SON OF THE! SHEIK!
By 1960 it was all over: the cinema had gone, swept away in the aftermath of the tide of television.

ORIGINS

The PRINCE GEORGE started life early, as the Caledonian Hall, built behind the facade of shops that had been erected in
1888 on Church Street. As already mentioned, it was linked to the street by the flagstone Janeway that emerged between the
ground floor businesses. The Caledonian was apparently a fairly basic all purpose hall. The hall was actually upstairs,
extending the full length of the building, while downstairs was a laundry. The latter was occupied by a "R. Harper". Plans for
the Caledonian had first been submitted on 18 April, 1888, the architect being "R. Speight Jnr" Constmction was apparently
complete by 12 December of 1888.

Nineteen twenty ushered in the beginning of its life as a cinema. On 20th March work commenced on upgrading the
Caledonian. The planned re-opening was set for 7 July, 1920. The Grand Central Cinema was born, under the ownership of
Mssrs Paul and Pierce. The renovations were carried out to create, in the words of historian Weston Blake" ... an illusion of
splendor ... Our patrons will get the best music this side of the Yarra, played by our permanent orchestra already the talk of
Brighton ... " was the claim of the ftrst manager of the GRAND CENTRAL, Mr D. Moore. The cornversion to a cinema
apparently packed in as many seats as possible: Mr Moore reported there would be 300 in the. circle, another 300 in the back
stalls and a further 600 in "upholstered leather tip-up seats closer to the screen"

Stalls
Position of : Do t . , Downstairs I 1
CinemaScope 1 wns airs ' Downstairs '
..... ttRows__.__ 3R 15 --: ;.- 10 Rows --...:
: Fixed Fonns : 1 ows x seats , x 15 seats •
Lounge &
ITIIID-

29'
(9.1 metres)
ITIIID I I I I I I I I I I II

Ladies

Bluestone
Stairs
Extension built
on to original
Caledonian Hall
(Length unknown)
79' 10"

Prince George Cinema
(extensions to Caledonian Hall)

Middle Brighton

Plan by 1
From sketch by Roger Seccombe,
and original plans. 15 December 1998
Church Street

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