Public Hall Cinema

In Lowestoft, Suffolk, the Public Hall opened in 1873. It was used for the usual variety of meetings, concerts and functions, and entered the cinematic life of the town on Saturday 18th February 1911, when Messrs. Gale and Company leased the hall and opened up the Public Hall Cinema.

Matinees were held at 2pm and 5pm, with evening shows at 6.30pm and 8.30pm. At least 6,000ft of film was promised at each show, and programmes were changed on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

By around 1917 the cinema had been acquired by Messrs. Mullis and Reynolds; by 1920 programmes were being changed on Mondays and Thursdays only.

The final, known, advertisements were for shows called ‘The Yuletide Programme’: From Monday 26th December 1921 (“The Five Cursed Girls”, starring Yvonne Devigne, plus ‘super serial’ “Son of Tarzan”) and from Thursday 29th December (“Cup of Fury”, starring Helen Chadwick, plus comedies and other shorts).

The Public Hall then reverted to its previous non-cinema activities. It was destroyed by bombing during World War II.

By 1990, a branch of the Halifax Building Society was on the site.

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