Once upon a time, the County Town of Newport had 3 cinemas – that was before the coming of Cineworld at the start of the present century.
But do you remember the movie theatres that came before the cinema giant set up at Coppins Bridge?
The Grand (Mill Street)
The smallest and least glamorous of Newport’s cinema – and the 1st to close – was the inappropriately named Grand Cinema on the corner of Lugley Street and Mill Street. Even though it was the least salubrious of the trio, it still attracted plenty of clients in its heyday. In the 30s, 40s and 50s of the previous century, crowds waiting for entry are said to have stretched from the cinema, past the Castle Inn, and well into Newport High Street.
The Grand Cinema had 1st opened as a live theatre before becoming a cinema. Unlike other Newport cinemas, it had no upstairs seating. However, it did have alcoves set aside for courting couples at the rear of the cinema.
Sadly, the Grand closed in 1962. It was then gutted and used as a furniture warehouse by John Blundell Ltd.
In May 1999, the Grand was boarded up. It has been demolished and a Travelodge Hotel built on the site.
Unfortunately, no images of the former cinema are available.
The Picturedome – formerly Medina Cinema (Newport High Street)
The Medina Cinema was built on the site of the former Medina Hall, which was being used as a cinema in the 1920s.
It was opened on 18th April 1936 after the demolition of the Medina Hall the previous year. The 1st film to be shown was George White’s Scandals starring Alice Faye.
The Medina Cinema could seat an audience of a thousand in stalls and at circle level. It had a fully-equipped stage, which put on Christmas pantomimes and Sunday evening talent contests. There was also a restaurant on the 1st floor.
In 1966, the cinema was divided in 2, with the circle remaining as a cinema and the stalls becoming a bingo club.
The cinema then had numerous changes of ownership. First, it was taken over by the Star Cinemas chain in October 1965, who renamed it Studio 1. Then, it was acquired by the Cannon Group in the mid-1980s, who closed the bingo club and re-named the cinema Cannon.
Finally, the cinema was purchased by the Picturedrome chain in 1994 and re-named Picturedrome. The company divided the cinema into 2 screens: one seating 577, the other 299.
Sadly, the Picturedrome closed on 17th February 2000 when the Cineworld multiplex opened. The final 2 films to be screened were House on Haunted Hill and American Beauty.
In 2001, the stalls were converted into a Yates’s Wine Lodge pub (now known as the Slug & Lettuce). The circle has since been occupied by the True Vine Church.
The Odeon – Savoy (Pyle Street)
The Odeon was the swankiest cinema in Newport.
Remembered by locals as their favourite, it was the biggest cinema on the Island.
The name Odeon apparently stands for ‘Oscar Deutsche Entertains Our Nation’. This was 1 of the original Odeon cinemas created by Oscar Deutsch, the son of a Hungarian immigrant. A clock inside the cinema spelled out the letters ODEON instead of numbers. The Odeon in Newport was just 1 of as many as 258 Odeons across the length and breadth of the UK.
The Odeon cinema in Pyle Street was opened by Newport’s mayor Capt. Brown in October 1936. The first films to be screened that day were the Gaumont British News, a Mickey Mouse cartoon and the main film, George Arliss in East meets West.
The then state of the art cinema could accommodate an audience of over 1,200: 742 in the stalls and 486 in the balcony.
In 1941, Oscar Deutsch died and his widow sold the cinema chain to J. Arthur Rank.
In 1961, the Odeon was taken over by Isle of Wight Theatres and re-named the Savoy. In 1965, it was sold to the Star Cinema chain.
The Savoy was closed on 18th December 1982. The final 2 films to be shown were Scum starring Ray Winstone and The Long Good Friday starring Bob Hoskins.
The Savoy was demolished in 1984. Savoy Court flats now occupy the site, with a furniture store on the ground floor.
Cineworld (Coppins Bridge)
Cineworld multiplex – with 11 screens – opened on 4th August 2000, putting paid to the final cinema listed above: Picturedome.
However, the future of the cinema is now in serious doubt with Cineworld falling into administration in 2022.
Cineworld has struggled to get bums on seats following the COVID pandemic due to a lack of blockbuster films hitting the big screen. This has been exacerbated by other films going straight to streaming services such as Netflix.
Are we likely to go from 3 cinemas to no cinemas in Newport in the near future?
If there were further cinemas in Newport that escaped our attention please let us know in the comments…
In the next edition of Isle of Wight cinemas, Island Echo will examine the former silver screens gracing the twin towns at the mouth of the Medina: East and West Cowes.
The problem is cinemas have to compete with what people can do at home. Up to the early 80s most of us were restricted to watching whatever happened to be on one of the three terrestrial channels. If you wanted the big movie experience you had to go to the cinema. Then came VHS, Sky, DVD, BluRay, streaming, HD, 4K. For the price of a colour TV in 1975 accounting for inflation) you can now buy a large screen 4K home cinema system.
So cinema’s need to either complete on value or quality. Sadly Cineworld charge premium prices for a budget experience.
Which is why they are going to the wall.
Cineworld has to be the very worst cinema experience:
it stinks, either of disinfectant or of what the disinfectant is supposed to be covering up;
the sound level hurts your ears;
the prices are unaffordable.
Otherwise,a great place, especially if you want your car vandalised/stolen while you’re enjoying your over-priced popcorn.
I’m not sure what you’ve been smoking but i think i might try some
Costs an arm and a leg to do most things nowadays. Cinemas, theatres, football, concerts, pubs – back in day were affordable. The world’s changed now, not worth it.
They are still very affordable. If you work hard you can play hard
I vaguely remember an article about the former Queens Hall (now the Boots building on High Street) having been a cinema before it was gutted by fire (no idea when this happened). There were some photgraphs with it, depicting the fire damage to the building and what it had looked like before. I am not certain whether it was a cinema or a theatre, though. Unfortunately, I can’t find any reference to it on the internet.
It was a theatre, Dance Hall I think. However as a Boy Scout we were shown the Film in there called “Protect and Survive” on what to do if a Nuclear Bomb was dropped.
So many great memories of the Cannon cinema in Newport during the ‘80s. Would love to see any photos people have of the exterior during that ‘80s period showing the marquee.
I used the Grand in the fifties they called it the flea pit