Story of one of the most lavish cinema houses in England, The Gala in Tooting

The Gala Cinema, Tooting, is the most exotic movie house in England and possibly Europe. But it has not hosted a projector since 1973 – four months after a July storm led to flooding, which damaged its precious Wurlitzer organ. It had hosted some of the biggest names in light entertainment, from Frank Sinatra to the Rolling Stones. The 3,000-seater became the Gala Bingo flagship venue in the 1990s, but is now run by Buzz Bingo. TOBY PORTER outlines its history.

One night in 1968, and before their rebirth with Saturday Night Fever, the globally famous kings of falsetto the Bee Gees helped draw the curtain on live performances at the Gala Cinema, Tooting.

It became the first cinema to be Grade-I listed, in 2000, but its days hosting the latest movie releases were over.

Even now, the venue, which is probably best suited to award ceremonies, musicals and even opera, is still looking for a role to make the best use of one of the most opulent creations of 20th century architecture.

Its creation was the natural outcome of the battle for audiences, from the advent of the talkies in 1929 to the outbreak of war in 1939.

Three companies competed for the biggest slice of the cake – ABC, Gaumont and Odeon.

But Sidney Bernstein, of the smaller but growing Granada chain, wanted to make a statement.

He commissioned a former acting school director, Theodore Komisarjevsky – his father had taught the later highly influential Konstantin Stanislavski – to design the inside of a new palace of the booming business. His green-tinged Venetian Gothic interior is still astounding today.

The hall of mirrors, which was a foyer for patrons deserves to be more famous than its current lowly status.

Komisarjevsky, born in Venice and who had a short lived marriage to Dame Peggy Ashcroft, from 1934 until 1936, had fled Russia in 1919, fearing arrest by the secret police.

The outside was designed by Cecil Massey, who was also architect of the Grade-II* listed Granada Cinema in Woolwich – with Reginald Uren and Komisarjevsky – and the Granada Theatre, Clapham Junction both built in 1937.
The latter is now an award-winning housing complex and conference centre, on the junction of St John’s Hill and Plough Road.

Construction had begun in May 1930 and was completed by September the following year. An opening ceremony on September 7, 1931 saw more than 2,000 patrons turned away because it was full.

Trumpeters from The Life Guards performed, as well as Alex Taylor on the cinema’s Wurlitzer organ.

The opening films that night were Monte Carlo and the British short film Two Crowded Hours. Double-features like this one were the main component of the Granada’s programming. Variety shows would also supplement the screening schedule, including theatre and music performances as well as a small circus up until 1934.

Artists who performed there included Jerry Lee Lewis, Frank Sinatra, The Rolling Stones and on June 1, 1965 The Beatles performed two sold-out sets. The Bee Gees played there on April 28, 1968 – the last band to do so.

By 1971, only 600 people were buying tickets a week. Wandsworth council applied for listed status and, a year later, on July 28, 1972 it received Grade-II* listed status.

But heavy storms in July 1973 led to the flooding of the cinema, damaging the organ. This, coupled with the declining viewership, led to the closing of the cinema on November 10, 1973. The final films shown were The Man Called Noon and Perfect Friday.

The building would lie unused for almost three years until it was reopened on October 14, 1976 as the Granada Bingo Club – until May 1991 when it was taken over by Gala Bingo and became the Gala Bingo Club.

On October 5, 2000 the building was relisted as a Grade-I – the only cinema of its style to be given that honour. Although the organ had been repaired in 1984 it had been little used until a special concert to show it off on April 22, 2007.
But more storm flooding on July 20, 2007 damaged the organ chamber and console once again.

Following a year-long campaign by resident Dan Watkins in December 2015 the bingo hall was listed as an asset of community value. It became a part of the 119-venue Buzz Bingo chain earlier this year.

The Historic England website says: “A world class cinema – without doubt the most lavishly decorated interior of any cinema in Britain and among the most lavish in Europe; the finest evocation of the sumptuous movie palaces of the 1920s and 1930s, the flagship of the Granada circuit.

“It is the masterpiece of its creators – Sidney Bernstein, the architect Cecil Masey, the mural artists Lucien le Blanc (possibly alias Leslie le Blond) and Alex Johnstone, but towering above all, the inspiration and imagination of Theodore Komisarjevsky, the Russian expatriate prince and theatrical impressario who is now remembered chiefly for his cinema design.”