Rivoli Cinema
346-350 Brockley Road,
London,
SE4 2BY
346-350 Brockley Road,
London,
SE4 2BY
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: Henry Attwater
Functions: Ballroom, Movies (Classic)
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Picture Palace, Crofton Park Picture Palace, Crofton Park Cinema
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
440208.692.5130
Manager:
440208.692.5130
Nearby Theaters
Located in the southeast London district of Brockley. The Picture Palace opened on 12th July 1913 and is located directly opposite Crofton Park railway station, in the south London area of Brockley.
Seating was provided for 650 on one floor, with no balcony. It soon became known as the Crofton Park Picture Palace and by 1918 was re-named Crofton Park Cinema. In 1931 it had been re-named Rivoli Cinema and some alterations had been carried out to modernise the buildings façade in a rather plain Art Deco style, plus a café was added to the facilities. The seating capacity was now 700 in the extended auditorium.
It remained an Independently operated and owned cinema throughout it life. It closed on 2nd March 1957 with Kenneth Moore in “Reach for the Sky” and Nat ‘King’ Cole in “The Nat ‘King’ Cole Musical Story”. The building was boarded up for a couple of years and then re-opened on 26th December 1959 as the Rivoli Ballroom. It remains open today catering to lovers of ballroom dancing, jive, rock ‘n roll etc and has a very popular regular gay night.
In 2007 there were threats to demolish the building, but a vigorous local campaign was begun, which culminated in the building being designated a Grade II Listed building by English Heritage in January 2008. Frome March 2018, classic films are screened three times a month.
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
There is now a facebook group dedicated to saving the Rivoli. Here is its description:
Let´s buy the Rivoli and save it from evil developers… Spread the word! This is what facebook was invented for.
The Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley is under threat from money-grabbing soul-less developers, who have offered the owner 10 million quid to knock it down and build soul-less faceless and no doubt hideous apartments.
10 million squid that´s nothing! Roll up roll up let´s start a co-operative of sorts, if we get 1,000 or 2,000 or 10,000 people together, we can all own shares in the Rivoli, appoint a board of directors, own the Rivoli and make a profit to boot. THIS SHOULD BE EASY ON FACEBOOK! I would be surprised if there were not 10,000 people in London and out who love the Rivoli, are into saving historic buildings, or simply want a share in such a lovely building, a say in what goes on there, burlesque organisers and dance club owners who want to put on nights there, or just simply want to make a profit!
Two vintage photographs of the Rivoli Ballroom in July 1983:
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In March 2018 “Crofton Park Pictures” started a series of a pop-up cinema screenings, the first being Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction” on Friday 16th March. Since then, films have been shown roughly three times a month, on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. Projection is from Blu-ray/DVD. On Friday 14th June 2019 I attended the screening of “The Lost Boys” (1987) starring Jason Patric and Kiefer Sutherland. I estimated there were over 100 patrons, showing there is a healthy interest in screenings at iconic venues such as this wonderful former cinema.
newspaper article posted.