Prince Charles Cinema in London / United Kingdom

 

The Prince Charles Cinema is not an average movie theater. It's one of the most famous movie theaters in UK.

The building was built by Richard Costain Limited for Alfred Esdaile and designed by Carl Fisher and Associates, originally functioned as a theatre. Later it was reinvented as a kind of soft porn cinema, and began showing European arthouse movies. By the 1980s it also showed horror films. 

The Prince Charles was taken over by Robins Cinemas in April 1991, and became largely a repertory cinema. It shows a rotating programme of cult, arthouse, and classic films on two screens (300 and 104 seats). It also regularly hosts a sing-a-long version of The Sound of Music, as well as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Room. The cinema has achieved a cult status amongst moviegoers and filmmakers.

The canopy above the cinema is not only used for regular advertising for films, also for sports and cult film quotes or other current messages. For instance in 2023 the cinema announced that it had no intention of changing its name after the coronation of Prince Charles.

The postcard is a work by Daniel Battams. In 2023, the cinema was threatened with closure, the artist supported with a new print the PCC.

BBB in Berlin-Kreuzberg / Germany

I found this postcard at the Stadtmuseum in Berlin in autumn 2025. It was an advertising card for the exhibition Berliner Höfe / Berlin Backyards. The photo was made by Ludwig Binder about 1976.

The cinema opened in 1911, and it was very badly damaged in the war. The building was reopened on February 11, 1955, according to the plans of architect Pierre de Born and named in reference to the pre-war cabaret "Berlins Bunte Bühne - BBB". It was no ordinary cinema - in front of the 14-meter-wide Cinemascope screen sprayed the world's largest water organ. And live performances could take place on a 200-m²-stage. But the era of big movie screenings was soon over.

From at least 1975 onwards, films in Turkish were shown here for Turkish-speaking cinema-goers. ATA FILM with Dr. Sakir V. Sözen operated this cinema until its demolition in 1977. 

Franklin Theatre in Franklin, Tennessee / USA

 

I got this postcard via Postcrossing from Whitney. Isn't it a heartwarming postcard?

The Franklin Theatre opened in Franklin near Nashville in 1937. First shown film was The Night Must Fall starring Robert Montgomery and Rosalind Russell.

Over the years, the cinema became an important place for the residents of Franklin, filled with cultural experiences and personal memories. That is, until 2007, when the theater had to close due to high costs and low revenue.

Already in 2008, the Heritage Foundation of Franklin and Williamson County launched the Save the Franklin Theatre campaign and begins fundraising and planning to restore the historic landmark. In 2013, the Franklin Theatre reopened its doors and offers different cultural events, among them of corse films. 

The postcard was created by Andy Gregg and Joel Anderson from the Anderson Design Group in 2011 in honor of this special building.

Grenzland-Lichtspiele in Ebersbach in Sachsen / Germany

 

This cinema opened in 1936 in Ebersbach - and it's still open!

Grenzland-Lichtspiele means Borderland Cinema and goes to its situation on the border with the Czech Republic, just across from the Czech town of Jiříkov. Another cinema Grenzland-Lichtspiele opened in 1919 in the town Neustadt in Sachsen, about 35 km away (and also still shows movies). Perhaps they have more in common than their proximity to the Czech border.

Later the cinema had the names Schauburg and Filmtheater.

The cinema in Ebersbach (since 2011 Ebersbach-Neugersdorf) has worked since 2008. Then it had to close because it needed renovations. But the owner didn't have the money. After careful consideration, the city bought the cinema and had it renovated. The prerequisite for this step was that the cinema would be operated as a non-profit afterward.

Fifteen film and culture enthusiasts came together and have been running the cinema since 2011. With a lot of enthusiasm and support, good films are shown here several evenings a week at Filmtheater Ebersbach.

The postcard was sent in 1943. On the roof you can see advertising for a hotel in the same building. Unfortunately, you can't read the film posters.

Dózsa Filmszínház in Dunaújváros / Hungary

 

The cinema Dózsa Filmszínház is the building on the left of the postcard. On the back of this postcard it says "Üdvözlet Sztálinvárosból = Greetings from Stalin City".

Sztálinvárosból (Stalin City) was the name of the city Dunaújváros from 1951 till 1955. The construction of this new industrial city in Middle Hungary started in 1949 with building a big metal industry complex. Houses, roads, administrative buildings, schools, hospitals and cultural facilities were built for the approximately 28,000 new residents. There are several public statues and reliefs in the town, which represent the allegoric union of workers, peasants and intellectuals, surrounded by traditional folk motifs. Thanks to the inspiration of Bauhaus the buildings and monuments of this era (1949–56), like the forge, the cinema, the theatre, the hospital and the city's schools where characterized by a structural functionalism, but the ideological function resulted in classicist decorations, like columns, tympanums and arcades, because of which the informal name of the style became 'Stalin's Baroque'.

The Dózsa Cinema was designed by György Szrogh (1915-1999). The Hungary's most modern cinema palace at this time was opened on December 20, 1951 with the 1942 Soviet film Оборона Царицына / The Defense of Tsaritsyn. 

The cinema named after György Dózsa (1470-1514). He was the leader of the 1514 peasant revolt and is still revered as a Hungarian national hero today. The cinema is called now Kultik Dunaújváros (at Dózsa György Place) and has two screens. It was declared a protected monument on April 13, 2004, and its surroundings were declared a protected monument area. 

Two other cinemas opened in the city in 1951: the Szabadság Cinema in Dunapentel on February 21 and the Vasmű Open-Air Cinema on August 17. The Dózsa Cinema still welcomes its audiences today, in keeping with its original function and the technical requirements of the time.

Stubnitz-Lichtspiele in Sassnitz / Germany

 

Sassnitz is a town on Germany's largest island, Rügen.

The 1992 closed cinema Stubnitz-Lichtspiele is a listed building. I found this information on the website (very detailed and with many pictures) of Landesdenkmalpflege Mecklenburg-Vorpommern:

"In 1948, a fish combine founded in Sassnitz with 2000 employees and the location with a Baltic Sea port led to the young town developing into an important GDR industrial location. In this context, numerous apartments and schools were built. The planning for the construction of a representative cultural center was already made in 1955, initially a different location was planned for this. 

The rapid development of the former fishing village into a town finally led to the construction of the cultural center with an integrated cinema, restaurant and spa, which was completed in 1958. With its location next to the train station and in a prominent urban development position, the Stubnitz cinema quickly developed into the cultural center of the town. 

For the development of post-war architecture in the GDR, the cinema building in Sassnitz is an important architectural document of socialist realism with a very good original tradition and state of preservation of high testimony value. The building is impressive in terms of design, functionality and quality of workmanship and was built in a traditional 1950s style, comparable to the cinemas in Crivitz, Lübz, Plau am See, Malchow and Pasewalk. With its extensive original condition and its architectural quality, the cinema in Sassnitz is one of the most important surviving cinema buildings of the 1950s in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania."

The name Stubnitz for this cinema refers to the hilly forest landscape near Sassnitz. 

The postcard was published in 1962.

Cinéma in Taglio-Isolaccio / France

 

Taglio-Isolaccio is a French commune on the island of Corsica.

There is a "Centre de Vacances, de losirs et de repos" - "Holiday, leisure and rest center" with a cinema hall. Unfortunately, I was not able to find out more about this place.

Parkhof-Lichtspiele in Harksheide / Germany

 

Harksheide now belongs to the city of Norderstedt and borders Hamburg.

The cinema Parkhof-Lichtspiele opened in 1938. It were located in a building that had formerly been the historic customs station on the border between Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, converted into a hotel at the end of the 19th century. The hall of this Parkhof-Hotel was remodeled into a cinema by Gustav Krausmann and Jan Cornils with 375 seats.

In 1958, the cinema was converted to Cinemascope so that films could be shown on a widescreen. In March 1970, the Parkhof-Lichtspiele closed, and in 1972 the entire complex was demolished.

The postcard was sent in 1942. On the backyard, there is written: "Parkhof Ochsenzoll. Tanz-Kaffee. Bes. Carl Hierlmeyer". You can see advertisement for the film Carl Peters. It is a 1941 German historical drama film directed by Herbert Selpin (1902-1942). It was produced as an anti-British propaganda film during the Second World War. Hans Albers (1891-1960) portrays German colonial leader Carl Peters (1856-1918), Bayume Mohamed Husen (1904-1944) plays his native guide.

Eden in Saint-Jean-d'Angely / France

 

An old postcard with a cultural building still in work.

And a good summary of the history on its homepage.

The Eden theatre-cinema was built in 1931 in just 76 days. This work designed by the architect André Guillon (1896-1992) presented at the 1935 Brussels World Fair, earned him a silver medal.  The hall could accommodate 1,100 people. The façade decorated with two bas-reliefs, one on the right "Ars" evoking the art and ballets of Joséphine Baker, the other on the left "Scientia" representing cinematographic science. The large entrance was framed by two high pilasters at the base of which were embedded the posters of the shows. Above the entrance, a large glass roof, in the shape of a butterfly wing, brought light to the interior bar. The entire interior, composed in the art deco spirit, columns of the bar and the entrance hall, capitals dressed in colored glass, was illuminated.

In 1984, the façade and the bar room were included in the supplementary inventory of Historic Monuments.

Since 2004 it has been closed due to dilapidation, the side facades and gables showed obvious cracks. A new small space, L'Éden Pasteur, replaced the old cinema from this time.

In May 2014, a fire destroyed the entire building, only two bas-reliefs were preserved.

Emblematic site for the people of Angers, the municipality wanted to breathe new life into this heritage echoing in the collective memory of the territory by recreating a performance hall, a facility serving a cultural policy facilitating access to culture for as many people as possible in the rural territory of Vals-de-Saintonge.

The New Eden performance hall opened its doors on 7 September 2018 with a modern hall (319 seats) for theater, galas, film screenings and various shows.

Tajikistan in Dushanbe / Tajikistan

Cinema Tajikistan in Dushanbe was built in the 1970s by the Ukrainian architect Alexander Makukha (1931-2008) on the southern outskirts of the city. The facade is a work by Asror Aminjanov (1930-1990).

The cinema has been closed for a long time and is falling into disrepair.

The first cinema in Dushanbe opened in 1928. In the same years, three more cinemas were opened in Tajikistan (Istaravshan, Khujand, Konibodom). In 1932, the Tajik-Kino trust had 65 cinemas or film distribution points (including 31 clubs: 9 military, 15 state-owned and 10 school). There were also 45 mobile cinemas in the republic. In 1929, the republic's cinema network had 14 cinemas. For the predominantly illiterate population, cinemas were of great importance as cultural venues.

In 1970, the number of cinemas reached 1,112. Several large-format cinemas operate in Tajikistan, including the former Jomi cinema (with 1,000 seats), Tajikistan (with 800 seats), and the Orlyonok children's cinema (with 500 seats) (Source: Wikipedia).

The postcard is from a postcard-collection from the Soviet Travel Agency Turist, more a souvenir than a postcard.