Now that the ABC is no more, has part of Brighton's folklore disappeared for good?

With the recent closure of the ABC in Brighton's East Street, we have lost one of the last purpose-built and once opulent picture-palaces that were so much part of the town, particularly in their heyday, the Thirties and early Fifties. Only the Duke of York's cinema at Preston Circus, remains.

Brighton and Hove pioneered cinema from the 1890s and was the first town outside London to show films when, in 1896,

pioneer producer Robert Paul projected his early work at the seafront Victoria Hall, now the Melrose Restaurant.

Early film pioneers included George Albert Smith, who invented Kinemcolor, a two-colour film process, and James Williamson, a chemist who gave lantern slide

lectures and later went into film production, using his family as actors and producing and directing the films himself.

There was also William Friese Green and his partner Esme Collings.

Many early silent films were made at St Ann's Well Gardens in Hove, where a large, greenhouse-type structure was used as a studio before electric lighting and spotlights were in use.

Smith, Williamson, Collings and Friese Green formed what was known as the Brighton School.

George Albert Smith would stand in front of his audience before a film show and explain his cinematic techniques to them.

The price of admission for this magical experience would be just one penny and early cinemas were called penny gaffs.

Films were shown in the Congress Hall (now the Salvation Army's Citadel, near The Level, soon to be pulled down) and at (the old) Hove Town Hall.

Around 40 cinema buildings have, at various times, been used in Brighton, Hove and Portslade.

Cinemas were ornate buildings, sumptuously decorated.

The Savoy (ABC) was decorated in elaborate, Chinese style, in keeping with the image of the Royal Pavilion.

But cinemas built in the Thirties followed the plain, smooth and clean lines of Art Deco style, which can still be seen on what is left of the Astoria, near St. Peter's Church, and the ABC on both its East Street and seafront facades.

The most popular and best-remembered cinema is the Regent, with entrances in Queen's Road, opposite the Clock Tower, and in North Street.

It had a ballroom on the top floor, which had originally been a winter garden.

It also had a restaurant and was the centre of life for many Brightonians in the Fifties.

Many met their future husbands and wives there.

The cinema's steel balcony was fan shaped, without pillars, and had the largest theatre circle in the UK with a span of 110ft.

Beautiful, mural decorations including three allegorical Venetian carnivals by Walter Bayes, adorned the walls.

The main foyer was richly decorated and the cinema boasted ornate mouldings, ceiling and chandeliers. It was demolished in 1974 to make way for the Boots store.

The Astoria was built almost opposite St. Peter's Church in 1933, the same year as the Granada in Hove. Again, there was a ballroom and restaurant. The Astoria originally housed a Compton 3/8 organ and people fondly remember it rising in all its illuminated glory.

Many still remember the Court, originally a theatre, in New Road, next to the Theatre Royal. Once billed as Brighton's Most Popular, it became the Paris Continental in 1955 and specialised in foreign films.

The Imperial Theatre was the last of its kind in Brighton, next to the Regent in North Street.

It first opened as a theatre and later showed films, plays and ballets.

Also in North Street was the Cinema De Luxe. The Brighton Gazette of 1911 described it as "a most delightful house of entertainment" and mentioned its "luxurious style."

Other, smaller cinemas include the Arcadia (now the Labour Club) and the Gaiety in Lewes Road.

Kemp Town had two cinemas, the Continentale and the Odeon.

There was the Embassy in Hove and the Curzon in Western Road, now the Waitrose supermarket and thought to have been the earliest cinema in Brighton and Hove.

Originally converted from a shop, it was opened in 1907 as The Electric

Bioscope by journalist W Harold Speer, who thought cinema might have a future.

Films made by the pioneering James Williamson and George Albert Smith were shown. It changed names several times becoming the Queen's Electric Theatre, Queen's Picturedrome, Scala, Regal and Curzon.

The ornate Palladium, on the seafront, was built as a theatre in 1888. In 1910 the programme included a Picturegraph and it became a cinema in 1912.

Its small dome opened up to the skies and its facade was later altered to accommodate the Art Deco style when it was taken over by the Odeon circuit.

Its interior was decorated with lavish plasterwork and afternoon tea was served in the lounge.

The Brighton Centre is now on the site.

There have been six cinemas in West Street, ranging from the tiny Empire and Novelty Electric Theatre to the former Turkish bath which became the Academy Picture Palace, retaining its exotic Moorish style; the Odeon; Kingswest Odeon (last of the original cinemas to be built in 1972 and still a working cinema, although now with several screens); to the Grand Picture Palace, formerly the Grand Concert Hall where, in October and November 1868 Charles Dickens gave his last lecture visit.

It later became famous as Sherry's dance hall, which featured in the film Brighton Rock.

Films were also shown in the theatres on both the Palace and West Piers. At the elegantly elaborate Hippodrome Theatre (now a bingo hall), "picture acts" were shown during variety programmes as early as 1903.

Not all the cinemas were glamorous. Some were "flea-pits," like The Arcadia in Lewes Road.

The building was originally a stables and it was where Harry Houdini made one of his first appearances.

Only the Duke of York's cinema at Preston Circus remains as a tribute to Brighton's cinema heritage.

Opened on September 22, 1910, it is one of the oldest purpose-built cinemas in the UK.

l Sky Cinema starts a new series called Cinema Nation on Sunday. The programme on April 2 features a tour of The Duke of York and Sarah Tobias is interviewed on Brighton's rich cinema history.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.