With over one hundred cinemas scattered across its boroughs, London stands as a veritable paradise for film enthusiasts. Behind the curtains of many beloved picture houses lie captivating stories waiting to be told, and the Regent Street Cinema is undoubtedly one of these treasures. This month marks a significant milestone: 130 years since this iconic venue became the birthplace of British cinema, hosting the Lumière brothers' groundbreaking Cinématographe show in 1896. That moment forever altered the landscape of entertainment. Over the subsequent decades, the institution has presented everything from dubious nature documentaries and X-rated films to nude theatre performances, while playing host to royalty and rock 'n' roll legends alike. As this glimmering, golden single-screen cinema commemorates its anniversary with ten days of special events, we delve into the University of Westminster's archives to explore the rich history of one of the capital's most storied cinematic venues.
Explosions and Experiments: The Polytechnic Institution (1838–1862)
In 1838, The Polytechnic Institution at 309 Regent Street opened its doors to the public. This educational centre quickly earned a reputation for Victorian-era technological innovation, featuring Europe's first photographic studio in its roof from 1841 and adding a crucial theatre space in 1848. 'It was like a mix of the Science Museum today, with lectures and laboratories,' explains University of Westminster archivist Elaine Penn. 'There were experiments with electricity, explosions, and even a diving bell that could fit six people.' One particularly famous optical illusion, known as 'Pepper's Ghost', made a spectre appear on stage during a Christmas Eve performance of Charles Dickens' The Haunted Man in 1862, foreshadowing the venue's future as a temple of visual storytelling. 'We take things like CGI for granted today,' Penn continues. 'But these things were being done manually, and they really were quite magical.'
The Birthplace of British Cinema (1896)
History was made once again in 1896 when the Lumière brothers selected the Regent Street Theatre to showcase their short films Workers Leaving the Lumière Factory and Train Pulling into a Station using their revolutionary Cinématographe machine. This event marked the very first time moving pictures were projected on-screen in Britain. While tales of paying patrons fleeing the building in panic may be somewhat exaggerated, a February 1896 edition of the Polytechnic Magazine captured the awe of the moment in a glowing review: 'It is, briefly, living photography,' the article gushed, '[and] the effect is really most wonderful.' The cinematic revolution was not instantaneous, however; as late as 1899, the theatre was still being utilised for other purposes, including tailors' cutting classes.
Rallying the Troops (1899-1913)
At the dawn of the twentieth century, the theatre began to establish itself as one of the country's first permanent cinema spaces. Photographer Alfred West's Our Navy and Our Army films played continuously over a fourteen-year period starting in 1899. With the Second Boer War commencing that same year, these promotional shorts, depicting troops on manoeuvres, were designed to aid recruitment efforts. West would later claim that over two million people had viewed these films.
Wonders of the World (1923-1931)
The programming grew even more colourful after The Times declared the Polytechnic Cinema 'a permanent home for travel films' in 1923. 'It became very well known for nature films depicting expeditions to places like Africa and the Himalayas,' says Penn. 'It was things that people were reading about in the news that they could come and see on the screen.' These silent films, enriched with live narration, music, and animal noises—some recorded at nearby London Zoo—included titles such as Chang: The Serendipitous Screen Epic of the Jungle, shot in Thailand, Climbing Mt. Everest, and The Wonderland of Big Game, which was screened an astonishing 280 times in just three months.
Things Get Musical (1936)
A comprehensive refurbishment between 1923 and 1927 introduced a curved balcony and art deco styling, transforming the venue into a 610-seat cinema. Then, in 1936, the cinema acquired its famous John Compton organ, which remains in use today for monthly recitals and play-along score performances during 'Matinee Classics' screenings of films like The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, The Third Man, and The Ladykillers.
Lifting Morale (1939-1951)
During World War II, the venue screened newsreels to keep Londoners informed as loved ones fought overseas, but it also showed morale-boosting films like The Wizard of Oz as the UK endured the Blitz. Renamed the Cameo News Theatre and later the Cameo Polytechnic, it built a reputation for screening racy foreign films described as being 'on the art-sex boundary'. Sensational promotional flyers were employed to attract audiences to films such as The Secret of Mayerling (1949) and Minne, l'ingénue libertine (1950). In 1951, the venue made history again by becoming the first in the UK to screen an X-rated film—though the 'adults-only' rating for La Vie Commence Demain (1950) was attributed more to images of animal dissection and atomic destruction than to any salacious content.
The Rock Star Years (1962-1970)
As the Polytechnic's student population produced bands like Pink Floyd in the 1960s, pop culture icons from The Rolling Stones' Keith Richards to actress Sharon Tate flocked to the 'Cameo Poly' for premieres of films such as Roman Polanski's Cul-de-sac (1966). This decade saw the cinema flourish as a trendy art house, with the foyer decorated to depict scenes from the Japanese classic Kwaidan (1964) one week and showcasing works by Italian auteurs like Fellini and Antonioni the next. 'It became a place for people to be seen,' says Penn, noting that royals including Princess Anne attended the gala premiere of Laurence Olivier's Three Sisters in 1970.
Letting It All Hang Out (1972-1977)
When its lease expired in the mid-1970s, the cinema—referred to as the 'Classic Poly' from 1972—transitioned into a theatre, hosting musicals and risqué productions. One notable example was Let My People Come, which arrived from New York's Greenwich Village. 'It was a nude theatre performance,' explains Regent Street Cinema tour guide Kate Fothergill—the entire cast performed in the nude. The show ran for three years and proved a roaring success for what was then known as the 'Regent Theatre'.
A Memorable Centenary (1996)
In 1980, the theatre-cinema was fully reclaimed by the Polytechnic Institution for teaching space and closed to the public. It reopened for 'The Lumière Festival' in 1996, a centennial celebration of the first film screening at the site. Among the attendees was Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence director Nagisa Ōshima, who was photographed with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle while promoting his documentary '100 Years of Japanese Cinema'.
The Make-Over (2012-2022)
Between 2012 and 2015, the University of Westminster undertook a full restoration of the building at a cost of £6.1 million, with the cinema redesigned by Tim Ronalds, architect behind the Hackney Empire and Wilton's Music Hall. It finally became the Regent Street Cinema, with cinema director Shira MacLeod emphasising her desire for the 187-seat single-screen space to 'support British films' while also operating as a repertory cinema 'doing double-bills'. Since then, filmmakers and stars from Edgar Wright and Luca Guadagnino to Gary Oldman and Daniel Craig have graced its plush yellow velvet seats.
Celebrating 130 Years
Today, Regent Street Cinema screens everything from Wicked, Marty Supreme, and Sunset Boulevard to documentaries on The Doors and Picasso, utilising 35mm and 4K digital projection, 7.1 surround sound, and all modern conveniences. February marks the 130th anniversary of that historic first movie screening, and the cinema is pulling out all the stops to celebrate. 'We're showing everything from those Lumière brothers' films and Buster Keaton's The General to The Matrix and Parasite, dedicating roughly a day per decade of cinema,' says head programmer Anna Paprocka. 'We might all need to take the week off to watch them!' Some events will even feature tickets priced at just £4 to roll back the years. 'That correlates with the prices that tickets have cost historically,' Paprocka explains. 'We calculated it by the shilling!' There has never been a better time to rediscover one of Britain's most historic cinematic temples.
