Duke of York's Picture House
Encyclopedia
Art film
An art film is the result of filmmaking which is typically a serious, independent film aimed at a niche market rather than a mass market audience...
cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is the oldest continuously operating purpose built cinema in Britain that has retained both its original name and remains largely unaltered.
The Duke Of York's cinema opened on 22 September 1910 and was one Brighton's first picture palaces and also one of the first cinemas in the world. It was built on the site of the Amber Ale Brewery, the walls of which still form the rear part of the auditorium. The architects were Clayton & Black. The building remains largely unaltered, it even retains one of its boxes in the balcony area. The original colour scheme was red and cream.
The Duke's was always a quality cinema for the more discerning patron, its marketing tagline for many years was "Bring her to the Duke's, it is fit for a Duchess." The name came from the West End theatre which its first proprietor Mrs Melnotte-Wyatt was also associated with. Being slightly outside the town centre, the Duke's catered for its local audience and this has been its saving grace. While other cinemas in Brighton came and went, the The Duke of York's has remained in continuous operation and recently celebrated its 99th birthday.
The cinema has operated as an arts cinema since 1981 and has passed through several owners and suffered various indignities including illegal punk rock concerts. The cinema was in a shabby state when it was purchased in 1994 by Picturehouse Cinemas
Picturehouse Cinemas
Picturehouse Cinemas is a network of art house cinemas in the United Kingdom. it has 19 sites, all in England and Scotland.The first Picturehouse opened in Oxford in 1989, but many of its cinemas operated independently before being adopted by City Screen Ltd., the official trading name of the...
who have invested in the building and returned it to its former glory.
It houses one single screen with 283 seats, including a luxury balcony. It originally seated over 800, but modifications have been made to the inside of the building to create the café/bar upstairs, a concession space downstairs, and to allow for greater comfort.
Giant model legs painted to appear like those of a "Can Can" dancer rest on one of the towers on the front of the building. These came from the "Not The Moulin Rouge Theatre" in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, and were commissioned by one of the cinema's previous managers.
In 2007, it launched a roof appeal to replace its leaking roof. Over £25,000 was raised from public donations, benefit concerts (from local band The Go! Team), benefit screenings and 'sponsor-a-seat' programme. The roof was replaced in April 2008. The balcony was remodeled at the same time to create a luxury offer of sofas and armchairs.
It plays host to the Brighton Film Festival each year, CINECITY. Organised between The Duke of York's and University of Brighton, it counts as patrons Brighton residents Nick Cave and filmmaker John Hillcoat, as well as actor/comedian Steve Coogan.
Duke of York's Manager Jon Barrenechea writes a cinema blog, Splendor Cinema about the exhibition industry in the UK.
The Duke of York's is home to Picturehouse Cinema's own monthly film and event magazine programme Flick's Flicks. The 10 minute show highlights up-and-coming films and events at Picturehouse venues across the country, and is presented by Felicity Ventom - the Duke of York's Assistant Manager. The show has been going since 2006, originally on ITVLocal.com and now on Picturehouses own website and social network pages. Famous faces to have been interviewed on the show include Kristin Scott Thomas and John Hurt.
The cinema regularly hosts events such as fancy-dress film premieres, all night Lord of the Rings marathons and late night cult screenings.