The Middy, November 11 1999

The Golden Age of the Silver screen

There can be very few of us who have failed to have been moved by a film.

Lord Attenborough describes cinema as "quite simply, the art form of the 20th century.

"Utterly new, utterly revolutionary when it first caught the public's imagination 100 years ago, there is nothing in my opinion,” he continues, "that can ever match the compulsive magic of that big screen in a darkened auditorium. "

If you were lucky enough to witness Al Jolson speaking in the first “talkie” in Sussex, when what is now the Odeon in South Street, Chichester, put on The Singing Fool on September 9, 1929, or whether you are a dedicated Hollywood buff who religiously learns the lines of the latest blockbusters, Lord Attenborough was clearly spot-on – the silver screen has captured audiences for generations.

Mid Sussex was fortunate enough to boast several within its boundaries.

Haywards Heath, now bereft of a cinema of its own, but one time had three tempting treasure houses – the Heath and the Broadway, on the Broadway and The Perrymount by commercial Square.

The Heath Cinema opened on September 26, 1911, next to the jewellers in the Broadway. Lillian Rogers, Haywards Heath historian, said: "I remember seeing King Kong there and when the ‘talkies’ came along, well they were wonderful.”

In her book, Haywards Heath – yesterday remembered, she says her family were not great cinema goers, but she remembers: "that was a big family from Gower Road, whose husband used to treat his wife to a trip to the Perrymount every weekend as a reward for looking after the children during the week."

Lillian said she preferred the Broadway Cinema where Capital House now stands, to the Perrymount, but they both made a big impact on the town and were very popular; "it was the Perrymount which was really hit by the advent of TV, and it is a shame there is no cinema today as the town is much duller without them."

The Heath opened in 1911 with three performances at 3 pm, 6:45 pm and 8:30 pm, and the opening 90 minute program consisted entirely of short films – full-length features were some years away.

The evening combined the appeal of exotic locations, with titles including Lost in the Jungle and Views of Finland with local interest items, such as the Haywards Heath fat stock show, probably filmed by the cinema itself to attract audiences.

And on Monday, January 19 1912, the cup tie between Brighton and Hove Albion and Darlington was screened for the benefit of football supporters. The cinema was initially run by Heath Theatre Ltd, but by 1915 was associated with the J. Van Koert  headed Southern Entertainments, who ran the Heath until it shut down on May 30, 1936.

The Heath’s only competition in the early years came from shows at the public hall in South Road and these drew to a close in the 20s.

By 1932, the Heath’s seating capacity of 400 was deemed too small to meet demand so a new larger cinema, the Broadway, was opened a few yards down the road.

This was run by “Chick” Fowl, who went on to manage the Astoria in Brighton, where long running musicals like South Pacific were shown. Upon his retirement “Chick” said the Haywards Heath golden years were the 40s and 50s. He said: "After the War there were queues up the Broadway in Haywards Heath, and I have never done business like it. In those days, everyone went to the pictures.

"A lot of servicemen were home after their time in the forces, and they all wanted a night out. The queues for both cinemas, the Broadway and the Perrymount were massive, we didn't have to compete for business.

"We both seemed to be playing too and capacity houses all the time – those were the days. 

In 1936, J Van Koert replaced the he's with the Paramount by commercial Square, which opened the very day the Heath closed.

Rosemary Hannah, a staunch Haywards Heath amateur dramatist said "I remember the first show up at the Perrymount Cinema as being the original version of mutiny on the Bounty starring Clark Gable and Charles Laughton. I went along and every child was given a free packet of Maltesers, that was a real treat and the show was absolutely wonderful.

"It was a big place and the only ground floor cinema with a dance hall. Every year they held the press ball and I remember it was a great occasion to dance to the band. We were all involved in ambulance duty at this time, so there was not a great deal of the time, but what we did was very wholesome like tennis, and day trips to the seaside.

"Mind, we always made sure we went to see all the Fred and Ginger films with a bag of nuts.

"When it was demolished my grandson was very upset and went down to watch. Haywards Heath really should have a cinema. "

Acknowledgements: Cinema West Sussex: The First Hundred Years (1996) Alan Eyles, Frank Gray and Alan Readman