Look what I found in this fab piece on the WW2 bomb damage on Bristol centre in the Post!

The still extant St Peter's Church is centre frame, but is that the bombed out Regent Cinema on the right? If so, it was HUGE! @bristolideas #BristolFilm2021

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/gallery/story-bristols-long-lost-city-4721882

The Regent opened on 30 July 1928. It was a "super cinema", with 2100 seats and room for 300 standing. The main Castle Street entrance opened onto a palatial "crush hall" accommodating 1000, with a separate entrance to the cheaper stalls on Peter Street. #BristolFilm2021

It opened with a mixed variety programme including a magnificent Wurlitzer Organ that rose from beneath the stage, live music from the 22-piece orchestra and a troupe of nine dancing girls known as The Regents. #BristolFilm2021

The first film to screen there was The Magic Flame (1927), starring Velma Banky and Ronald Coleman. Coleman later starred with Bristol born Cary Grant in The Talk of The Town (1942). #BristolFilm2021

The Regent was destroyed in the blitz on 24 November 1940. Luckily the cinema was closed due to Sunday trading laws, so no patrons were killed. The shell of the building wasn't demolished until August 1963, when the site was cleared. #BristolFilm2021