The Rex

Prior to the development of the Rex Cinema, Egerton House, an Elizabethan mansion had stood on the site for approximately 350 years. Built during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the house was latterly noted for its literary association with J. M. Barrie, author of Peter Pan, through its brief occupancy by the Llewelyn Davies family. Egerton House was demolished in 1937 to make way for the Rex Cinema. In the 1930s, a cinema was already in operation in Berkhamsted High Street, the Court Cinema on the corner of Water Lane. It was acquired around 1930 by the Shipman & King cinema circuit, who also planned to open a second cinema in the town. Originally they intended to build on a site at the…

The Rex was designed in a striking Art Deco style by architect David Evelyn Nye. When the cinema was opened, the main entrance to the Rex was on the corner of the High Street, with a curved concrete canopy and tall vertical windows illuminating the double-height entrance foyer. Within the foyer, a large Art Deco chandelier hung from a decorated ceiling above a curved island ticket booth. In those days, cinemagoers would access the auditorium either via steps up to the stalls or via the two staircases which swept up to a central door to the circle seats. The auditorium was placed at 90° to the foyer, extending across the site parallel to the main road. To maximise the space, the projection…