The Electric Theatre/The Empire/The Forum

Stamshaw Road, Portsmouth

1912-1959

The Empire/Forum, Stamshaw Rd, opened December 1912 as "The North End Electric Theatre", in1913 the name was changed to "North End Cinema", in 1916 it was changed to "North End Cinerama". In 1926 the name was changed to "The Empire Cinema", the first sound film shown was "Sunny Side Up" in 1931. The cinema was closed in May 1938 for rebuilding and reopened in July 1938 then renamed as "The Forum". It finally closed in 1959.