Palace cinema celebrates 60 years at the heart of Broadstairs

Housed in an Edwardian building originally erected in 1911 to store a private collection of mediaeval armour, Broadstairs independent cinema The Palace first opened its doors to the public 60 years ago in 1965 this July. 

Then known as the Windsor Cinema, it was opened by local cinema entrepreneur Jack Field, filling a gap in the market left after the closure of the town’s two larger picturehouses. Prior to that, the building had been used for puppet shows and screenings of cartoons since the 1950s. 

It changed hands in the 80s and early 2000s, before coming under the ownership of Corinna Downing and Simon Ward in 2016, then recent transplants from South London to Broadstairs. Despite their background in the film industry, their switch to becoming cinema owners was not through any traditional route. 

“We found out at a kid's birthday party that the place was for sale,” recalls Corinna. “We walked straight from that party into the cinema and started a conversation which wound up with us getting the keys a year later.

“It was really not the plan,” she adds. “We had the classic DFL dream where, you know, we'd work part time and then other days we'd be walking along the beach by ourselves composing poetry or something. And then suddenly we bought a business that was open seven days a week.”

With the keys in their hands, the couple set about updating the Grade II listed, 111 seat, single screen theatre, putting in a new sound system, changing the lighting, installing air conditioning and securing an alcohol licence. But “the key thing”, Corinna explains, were the changes they made to the cinema’s programme.

“It had been broadly a mainstream programme for 50 years before we arrived,” she explains, which had particularly been aimed at drawing in tourists.

While they still show the big blockbusters, one aspect that sets The Palace apart from other cinemas in the area now is the variety in its programming. 

“We want this to be a real space for film culture as well as just going out for the night,” she says.

The Thanet Film Society had booked out the cinema on Tuesday nights since the 90s, which gave Corinna and Simon the confidence that there was an appetite for more diverse film screenings among locals. 

“It wasn't immediate,” she admits. “Three months after we started, we put on our first subtitled film, just in a regular slot as opposed to this Tuesday night slot. Five people came and we were absolutely thrilled because there could have been no one. We were just like, okay, I think we're alright.”

Now the cinema is known for its strongly curated programme, which has recently included a season of David Lynch films, a Q&A with the costume designer of The Salt Path, and a rare screening of classic 90s DJ culture documentary Hang the DJ. Alongside everything from A Minecraft Movie to Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy and Mission Impossible. 

“As a cultural institution, I think we're now a different space and we've made the Palace something different in ten years, which is rewarding,” she says. “Especially on the days when more people come in.”

However, there have been challenges, not least the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the lockdowns, “some people just haven't come back to the cinema.” Other issues common to many entertainment businesses continue to make operating difficult as well, particularly the ongoing cost of living crisis that means “people are working out where to spend their spending money in a different way.”

One perhaps less considered problem is the 2024 Hollywood writers strike, from which Corinna says the industry is still recovering a year later.

“The strike held up production, not just on the West Coast of America, for a year. And that's still having an impact now.

“If you've only got one screen, every film has got to have the best possible chance of working … but there's not a good percentage of sure fire hit films being released every week. So that's had an impact on numbers.”

This has meant difficult decisions “in terms of making the business work”, most noticeably, since March, cutting the number of days per week the cinema is open from seven to four.

“We are showing the same number of films but managing those overheads is essential for us to keep going. Also, I think it's much nicer for audiences to come to a show where there's 30 people in there rather than ten. It just feels like a different experience.”

That’s not to say Corinna isn’t positive about the future.

“We've built an audience,” she says. “And we've definitely got an identity and a role to play in the town and in Thanet.”

Recognition also spans further than the local area. The Palace has twice been named one of the best cinemas in the UK by Time Out, and was nominated for Cinema of the Year at the Big Screen Awards in 2023.

“Those sorts of things mean we're having an impact here, but also the impact has meaning beyond here.”

As they continue to build the cinema’s rich history, in the coming week’s they are turning their attention to the past as the Palace turns 60. And Corinna, who is also working on a PhD in Thanet cinema history at Canterbury Christchurch University, is keen to tell that story.

Part of both her doctorate research and the anniversary celebrations are recording sessions to collect an aural history of the Palace across its 60 years. A series of interviews were conducted earlier this month with people who have worked in the cinema and attended as audience members over the years. Now Corinna is on the hunt for people who remember it even further back.

“What I've been really keen to do is to get people in who remember it in the 50s, when it was used for summer entertainment for families, like cartoon shows and puppet shows.

“There are people who remember the puppets,” she says. “And who remember this space before there was a balcony, before there was a rake, when all the windows were open and not boarded up and remember it as that big light space.

“When you get slightly obsessive about the history thing, you're trying to think, what would it have felt like in here as a big Edwardian hall filled with light?”

Visitors to the cinema will find an exhibition in the foyer with pictures, stories and memorabilia running until the end of August. To delve even further, Corinna will give a talk on the building’s past on July 12. 

But to really transport you back in time, the cinema will be recreating its very first screening on July 11, 1965, 60 years to the day - a matinee showing of The Wizard of Oz with mid-60s cinema ads, short films, and an interval where an usher will head around the auditorium with a tray of drinks and snacks.

The ticket prices will be as close to the two and six downstairs and three shillings upstairs that people would have paid in 1965 - the (albeit temporary) return of a pricing policy that some people will be pleased to see.

“People still come in sometimes and ask if the prices are the same upstairs and downstairs,” smiles Corinna. “It's just like, no, that ended in the 80s.”

Other birthday celebrations include the launch of a revamped website, a new membership scheme, and a movie poster sale. The latter is the first of what is to become a regular event raising funds to subsidise the use of the venue for charitable events.

“We get approached quite often by charities wanting to do fundraisers here,” says Corinna. “But because we are we don't get funding from anyone else, we can't give it to them for free. We just can't afford to do that.”

Proceeds from holding poster sales once or twice a year “will go towards offering those community hires for free or for much less money.”

While much of what’s happening at the Palace over the coming weeks will be looking to the past, it’s also about thinking about the future and trying to secure the cinema’s next 60 years without losing its place in the local community. 

As pressures on independent cinemas continue, says Corinna, those with the best chance of success are “the ones that offer something a bit different and don't feel generic.”

And that’s why she and Simon will continue to make the Palace “a place that really is about film as opposed to two hours of entertainment.”

The Palace cinema’s 60th anniversary celebrations:

June 29: Poster sale at the Pavilion
July 1: Membership launch
July 1 to August 31: 60 Years a Cinema exhibition
July 12: 60 Years a Cinema talk
July 7 - 13: The Wizard of Oz screenings

For full details, head to the Palace website.