Booking was suspended at The Forum, which opened in St Helier 90 years ago this month, when the queue descended into chaos and the police had to be called to restore calm.
It followed months of excitement building up to the opening of the movie theatre in Grenville Street on Monday, 25 March 1935. The Evening Post dubbed it a “super-cinema” and reported that it “had been the almost sole topic of conversation in the local entertainment world for many months”.
The building of the cinema began on 27 June 1934, the same day that contracts with the builders were passed. It was designed by W F Hedges and built by Messrs Thomas and Edge Limited of London and Woolwich. Building work was completed on 10 March 1935.
The cinema could seat 1,500 people, with 500 in the balcony and 1,000 in the auditorium.
The Evening Post was given a preview of the cinema and the reporter wrote: “There can be no doubt that the Forum is one of the finest theatres in the Kingdom in design, decorations and comfort, and Jersey may well be proud of this latest addition to her amenities.”
Frequent updates had been shared in the newspaper leading up to the opening, including the arrival of new furniture and the new Compton Organ to accompany the entertainment.
One of the biggest pieces of news was made public on 13 March 1935 when it was announced that Edward O’Henry was to be the organist at the cinema. It was reported that he would take charge of the musical programmes at The Forum and his baggage included 8,000 pieces of music, weighing two tons in total.
O’Henry had become known nationwide after regularly featuring on BBC programmes playing at the cinema at Madame Tussaud’s and later at the Paramount Theatre in Newcastle.
He also made gramophone records for the HMV Broadcast and Panachord companies. He was an Associate of the Royal College of Music and had been playing theatre organs since the end of the First World War.
On 19 March, an advert appeared in the Evening Post entitled “Girls Wanted”. Smart and good workers were invited to apply to be usherettes and waitresses at the new cinema.
The growing anticipation meant the public were keen to attend the opening night and this led to the chaos in the ticket booking queue a few days later.
It was reported that the queue of people waiting to buy tickets began to form outside the cinema at 9.15am on 22 March. The doors were due to open at 10am. However, when the doors had still not opened by almost 11am, people started pushing forward.
When a side door opened, those at the head of the queue were pushed aside and lost all chance of booking seats. Such was the rush on the cinema, booking had to be suspended and customers had to wait until a policeman had arrived to restore calm. The manager of the cinema, E H Greaves, apologised for the incident.
The opening night of the cinema went much more smoothly. Special guests included the Lieutenant Governor, Major-General Martelli, and his wife, Mrs Martelli, who was due to perform the opening ceremony. They arrived at 8.30pm together with the Government Secretary, Lieutenant-Colonel Hulton, and Mrs Hulton. As they entered, organist O’Henry played the National Anthem.
Chairman of the Board of Directors Mr L J Sparke Davies made a brief introductory speech, acknowledging a number of people in the audience who had helped in the construction of the cinema.
Mrs Martelli then came forward and said: “I am sure you will all join with me in congratulating those responsible for the construction of The Forum. I have great pleasure in declaring this theatre open.”
She was presented with a basket of flowers by Bunny Le Marchand before joining the rest of the crowd to sit down and enjoy the entertainment.
The programme started with a Pathé Gazette newsreel showing the historic trip to Germany of Foreign Secretary Sir John Simon to meet Hitler.
It was boasted that the reel was being shown concurrently with London cinemas, thanks to help from Jersey Airways; cinemagoers were getting news that was more up-to-date than ever before.
At the close of the newsreel, O’Henry’s Compton Organ rose from the orchestra well and he played a medley of tunes, including ‘Beautiful Jersey’, accompanied by vocal solo parts that were perfectly synchronised via a sound film.
The star picture was ‘Abdul the Damned’, a story about the rising of the Young Turk party and the deposing of the sultan, Abdul Ahmed, in 1908. This received a mixed reaction and the Evening Post reported that it was “long drawn out” and that “it seems a pity that some more popular form of picture could not have been obtained for the opening week”.
However, the night was a great success and the newspaper reported: “The function must be written down as the most brilliant send-off any local place of entertainment has ever had: in fact, it was as if one were attending a London “premiere”.
“It was difficult to realise this was actually taking place in Jersey and, what is more, on a site which only a few months ago was occupied by houses and gardens.”
The Forum Cinema became a fixture in Jersey’s entertainment world for the next 46 years, hosting movies and variety performances alike.
Its last night was 17 January 1981 when ‘Raise the Titanic’ was screened. Soon after, the cinema fittings were removed and the building was demolished a few years later.
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This story has been told as part of a series in collaboration with Jersey Heritage.
To uncover more stories like this, visit Jersey Archive or search its online catalogue HERE and read some more from the series below…
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