A favourite place in my teens
I have very fond memories of the Embassy Cinema. My late mother used to take me quite often to that little cinema when I was in my teens. It was so cosy and had lots of beautiful photographs of the stars on the way in to the seating area. I can remember one day when one of my relations decided to join us by moving into our Hove flat on the seafront. Unfortunately he brought along with him all his DIY tools which took up the entire attic space. My mother said “Come on Jillian, lets get out of here” and we went to the Embassy Cinema and saw ‘All About Eve’ with Bette Davis, Marilyn Monroe, and the great Thelma Ritter.
An enjoyable escape
On another visit to the Embassy Cinema, water was coming through the roof next to me, and a bucket was hurriedly placed under the offending deluge. This did not interfere with my enjoyment of the films, they were a great escape from daily life. Its so sad to see the cinema gone now. Although I have ‘All About Eve’ on DVD it’s not quite the same as sitting in the Embassy Cinema watching ‘Carmen Jones’, ‘Fire Down Below’ and many others.
Do you remember the Embassy Cinema? What films did you see there? If you can share your memories with us, please leave a comment below.
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I saw ‘Fire Down Below’ for the first time on TV about a year ago. One of the actors, Eric Polhmann, was the father of a school friend, so I emailed him to ask how Eric enjoyed working with Rita Hayworth, et al. Apparently my friend had been in Germany on business years before, and the film was showing in his hotel, so knowing that his father was in the same country at the time in some show, decided to give him a call on just that subject. He couldn’t get a response, and went to bed. He was awakened the next morning by a relative and told the news that his father had died suddenly that very night!
I remember the Embassy, it was a lovely little cinema and I used to go there when I was a young boy in the 1960s. The one time that stands out for me is when I was about 8 years old in 1965 at Easter time. It was the first day of the Easter holidays from school and myself, my brother and some of his friends went to see a brilliant double bill of ‘633 Squadron’ and ‘The Dam Busters’. Both fabulous films and still watch-able today.
Some friends of mine used to live in the flat above. Once we all went right to the back and through a locked door into what used to be the projection room. The holes in the wall and the sliders that covered them are still there.
Fond memories of The Embassy cinema, but the only film I can definitely remember seeing there was A High Wind In Jamaica, which came out in 1965. I don’t think The Embassy was a first run cinema, I think it showed films a year or so after they debuted in one of the bigger cinemas like the Odeon or ABC. It was one of Brighton’s smallest cinemas, a bit further down Western Road from The Classic which I think became Waitrose.
I remember going here several times but on one occasion, around 1969, went to see Carry On Camping . I remember they had an organ here that came up out of the floor I think. It was always a bit dark and dusty inside.
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