Gaumont Palace: Palace of dreams

When it opened in September 1934, it was heralded as “a palace that sold dreams”. For many, the Gaumont Palace, on Derby’s London Road, did just that for more than half a century until the final movie was projected onto the big screen in 1988.

As the town’s first purpose-built super cinema, the Gaumont was also one of its best-known entertainment houses.

A theatre, as well as a cinema, it played host to some of the biggest names in showbusiness, including Cliff Richard and the Shadows, the Walker Brothers, Bo Diddley and Little Richard, Gene Pitney, the Rolling Stones and The Who.

It also had a restaurant, seating 150, which later became the Victor Sylvester Dance Studio. And, later, there was bingo.

The building then became home to Zanzibar’s nightclub which opened at the end of the 1990s.

It was Derby mayor Alderman H Slaney who performed the official opening ceremony of the Gaumont Palace, a year after construction first started. The first guests were entertained to a varied programme of cartoons, news and films.

After a colour cartoon, a second feature film and the Gaumont British News, the main feature was a romantic musical, Evergreen, starring Jessie Matthews and Sonnie Hale.

And, as was so popular in those days, the £10,000 “mighty Compton organ” rose from the orchestra pit to bring on the popular organist, Con Docherty, to fill the interlude with a selection of popular tunes.

The event was rounded off, as all cinema visits used to be, with everyone standing to sing God Save the King.

The 1930s saw the early days of “talkies”, which brought the excitement of movies into the lives of a generation battling to survive the Depression, when there were few jobs available, and everyone was hard-up.

Beautiful film stars, handsome leading men and lavish musicals were a world away from the lifestyle of the majority of working folk.

“Going to the pictures” offered a few hours of escapism when people could forget their own problems and feel a part of the glamour and excitement that was Hollywood.

So, when the long-awaited state-of-the-art Gaumont Palace finally opened its doors, it was no wonder there was such excitement in Derby.

Thousands of people queued up, and those fortunate enough to get in were not disappointed.

Even the queuing must have been an enjoyable experience because it was such an impressive building, constructed of red brick, relieved by cream-coloured terracotta tiling.

There was a huge neon display sign near the roof, which could be seen for miles around. On each side were sculpted panels, created by Newbury A Trent, including a figure of a clown, Punchinello, Harlequin and Columbine, comical and tragic characters of Italian comedy, and symbolic of the range of entertainment to be found inside.

Inside were a series of staircases leading to the impressive auditorium, with seating for 2,300 people, and an enormous screen, which would come to life as the silk curtains swung open.

According to local cinema expert Ashley Franklin, the Gaumont Palace was Derbyshire’s first true purpose-built super cinema.

Although the Coliseum carried all the attributes of a super cinema, both artistically and technically, it was still a converted construction, without a classic cinema appearance.

What are your memories of the Gaumont Palace? Were you one of the thousands of young people who flocked to see the stars there in the Swinging Sixties? Did you meet your future husband or wife there? Why not share your memories by clicking on the discussion link at the top of the page.

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