History of Kilburn and West Hampstead

Surprisingly, Kilburn has had nine cinemas in the last 110 years, or ten if we include the Queens Park Electric in Salusbury Road, but today there is only one. The early days of cinema It is generally agreed that the first moving pictures in this county were shown in London in 1896. The early shows were given in ‘Penny Gaffs’ often with just a sheet hung in a converted shop. In December 1897, the large Bon Marche draper’s shop near Kilburn’s main line station, hosted what was probably the first moving picture display in the neighbourhood. They advertised, ‘The Cinematograph, animated photographs’ at the cost of one penny. They were showing early film of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee celebration parade which was held on the 22 June 1897 and The Two Macs, a comedy act. Bon Marche next to the Kilburn and Maida Vale Station Six-year old Charles Landstone who lived locally at 32 Plympton Road went along. Remembering the event he said, ‘I, of course, had no idea w...

The Biograph The Biograph was part of a chain of nine cinemas run by American-born George Washington Grant. It opened in May 1910 at No.236 Kilburn High Road which was renumbered as today’s No.248 in 1923. This renumbering has confused cinema historians who show photos of today’s number 236 which was Speedy Noodle and is now Duck, Duck, Goose. Site of Biograph Cinema (Jean Smith, 1979) The cinema building ran behind the narrow shop front, almost as far back as the Grange Park. The Biograph had a short life and closed in 1917, unable to compete with the much larger Grange cinema which opened nearby. The building became a billiard hall in the mid-1920s, run by W. Jelks, a well-known London maker of billiard tables and balls. Renumbering and separation of the old cinema from its High Road entrance, meant the retail premises on the main road became No.248 and the cinema building behind, No.246a. Musicians Steve Flood and Stuart Colman opened Master Rock Studios a...