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Gazetteer
cinema operated on the ground floor of the Town Hall, it was later renamed
the Little Cinema. The cinema could seat just 178 and was operated by
Leon Lennard. By WWII Mr Edwin Pearn of the Regent had taken over.
BTH: British Thomson Houston sound was installed but the cinema closed
after Mr Pearn's death in 1949.
There was originally a small foyer building attached to the town hall that
acted as an entrance to the cinema. This resembled a "pavilion" with
eastern influences. Today the room is a market. There is evidence that
the beams on the ceiling were cut out to allow for the beam of the
projector, and amazingly the stage and curtains are still in situ.
the Pavilion had a commanding position right next to the river and
the towns main bridge. It must not be forgotten that when built,
Looe was a busy fishing port. The entrance was facing the side of
the bridge and as a result lost some of its presence. The
proscenium was 18' wide.
The cinema was taken over by Edwin Pearn 6th April 1939 and the
name changed to Regent, the sound system was Gyrotone. There
were also modifications to the facade. With the passing of Mr
Pearn in 1948 Mrs S B Pearn took over. Although still run as the
Regent cinema, the building was altered in 1949 for additional
community use, known as Polean Pavilion. The alterations were
made to allow stage plays to be shown, a large stage was added,
resulting in the loss of seating, and the entrance was moved to
the river side where a veranda was built overlooking the water.
Films ceased around 1960.
In recent years it has become an indoor market on the ground
floor and a new floor added for an amusement arcade above. An
additional walkway bridge now accesses the upper storey above
the foyer entrance.
little operations of the near past. It was situated in Higher
Market Street, on the first floor of a traditional building of a type
commonly found in the fishing ports of Cornwall. So unassuming I
walked straight past it on my first visit and it did not even have a
name. The cinema was run by Michael Lee single handed. He
also ran the Olde Fisherman's Arms pub. The cinema had a 12'
wide screen and provided a cinema outlet far from any others
during the holiday season, and served Looe and the area for a
number of years. The projector used here had come from the
Princess Theatre, Torquay, where it had been used to show
advertisements.
rent increase was its demise. The last film shown was Eyes Wide Shut. The building was converted to
offices. The projectors went to the new cinema at Kingsbridge, Devon.
Looe does at least have a film society, running on digital format called Cinema by the Sea.
www.looefilmsociety.org.uk