As a kid of the 60s I saw this sad demise and felt it first hand. My kids Saturday morning viewing started with the Essoldo, Eastney. When that closed we were all shunted off to the Gaumont by Fratton Bridge. When that became a Bingo Hall we were all shunted off to the Odeon Southsea! What I'll never understand is how that classic Art Deco building never had a protection order. Its demolition was criminal!

I remember speaking to an old man in Portsmouth around 1978. He was one of the bricklayers that built the Odeon in Southsea. 1 million bricks apparently.

I lived in Portsmouth from 1930 to 1965 and visited many of the cinemas shown in the film. I attended the opening night of the Savoy cinema in Commercial Road in 1937 when I was only 7 years old. We sat in the fourpenny's right down the front - a bit too near the screen, but I didn't mind! This cinema, although not mentioned in the part of this film shown here, brings back a lot of memories to me. I was watching a film there when a slide was put on the screen stating that the air raid sirens had sounded and patrons who wanted to should leave now. As we had not had any air raids up to that point my parents and I stayed put. Not long after, the cinema shook from the explosions of the first bombs on Portsmouth, but we stayed until the end of the film. The damage was obvious when we left - broken glass etc. as one of the bombs had fallen about a quarter of a mile from the cinema. Another time later in the war we were evacuated from our home in the morning to sit in the cinema to await transport to a safe area out of Portsmouth because of an unexploded land mine near our home. Brings back many memories. I heard that it has now been demolished - very sad.

@dcmexplores

3 жыл бұрын

Are you still alive?

A Great Film. Good to see Jack Nicholas He was an area supervisor for Portsmouth parks department at Alexander park when I knew Him Back in the late 1970's.

Is there any more to this? Portsmouth had so many cinemas and this film, informative as it is, only scratches the surface.

Thank you for such a wonderful post which brought back many happy memories for me. As kids we used to live just around the corner from the Odeon Southsea and often went to the Saturday Club. We even played on our bikes in the car park behind. And the Classic in Albert Road featured was THE very first cinema I was ever taken to when I was 4. I remember the film too - Disney's Bambi. Thank you ever so much again.

I didn't live in Portsmouth but i travelled there to see my mate who lived in Bapaume Road Cosham. I remember The A.BC in Portsmouth town, The Palace near the guildhall and the Essoldo in Cosham

thanks for your comments... always good to hear about the guys who were in the film.

Great stuff !!

Thank you for your comments, glad you liked it.

fantastic thanks for the post 5 stars

yes agree, shame they are all gone now. thanks for watching.

Is this full length film available on a DVD pleae? ( I grew up in nearby Emsworth, so remember many of these venues in their closing years) Grahame N.

Superb video produced here. Such a shame I never went to the old Odeon in Southsea, what a beautiful cinema that was.

@pd150

7 жыл бұрын

hi and thanks for the kind comments. That was made a number of years ago now but always good to look back on.

Further to my comments below I have tried to remember the cinemas I knew in Portsmouth & Cosham. I may have got some of the areas they were in a bit wrong, but please correct me if I have. Additional to those mentioned in the film there was The Tivoli in Copnor, the Troxy in Fratton Road, The Gaumont in Fawcett Road, The Princess Theatre turned cinema in Lake Road, which was bombed. There were also The Shaftesbury and Regal cinemas in the Kingson Road area, The Regent and Odeon at North End. There was also one in Stamshaw, but I can't remember its name. Cosham had two cinemas, The Carlton, which had a coloured and changing fountain display, and the Odeon just across the road. The Carlton had a Wurlitzer organ as did the Savoy in Commercial Road. There were also some small cinemas - the cartoon and news cinema in Commercial Road, the Arcade cinema near Stanhope Road and The Rex cinema in Fratton Road which specialised in foreign films. Most of them long gone now.

@4205lr

8 жыл бұрын

The Forum in Stamshaw.

@dennisrackett3139

4 жыл бұрын

Essoldo Eastney

I was Portsmouth swimming club and was asked to be apart of this movie,, I was in the part at hilsea lido and the seen where we eating some kind of lemon meringue or just meringue pie,, so many takes enough to make you sick. Also in the part. When Roger singing there's more at the door always remember that had a lot of fun ;)

Pity you only showed a few out of the many many more that existed.

You fogot about the abanded cinema ODEN in north end

@pd150

8 жыл бұрын

it features further on in the video... this is only a short clip of it 10mins

ABC in town ? Odeon north end ? Cannon fratton …

@pd150

2 жыл бұрын

? Those you mention are featured in the later part of the video

@lesgeorge9166

2 жыл бұрын

@@pd150 I didn’t see it ? I rewatch it

@pd150

2 жыл бұрын

That is not the full video I posted that is only a part of it..... I may get around to posting g the full video at some stage

@lesgeorge9166

2 жыл бұрын

@@pd150 thought I was going mad 😂