Once the main hall on Canvey, Bohemia Hall was erected c.1902.
In its heyday it served the community well acting as theatre, assembly
room, conventicle, village hall, club room, cinema, headquarters of
the Home Guard, and finally a factory. The Hall stood just before the
approach of Small Gains Corner; today the area is covered by a housing
estate. It may be remembered for its bazaars, Armistice services, stage
performances and its showing of silent movies. Long before the Rio,
Bohemia Hall was Canvey's first cinema. The quality of the picture was
frequently poor - often stars such as Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford,
Harold Lloyd and Tom Mix seemed to be acting through constant rain and
snow storms due to the severe scratch marks on the film. For all its
discomfort the Hall did have its own air conditioning - an aircraft
propeller from the First World War, suspended from the ceiling. This
novel idea was introduced by Mr. Henry Pettit who had served in the
war. Henry was responsible for the running of the cinema and the hiring
of films. The early silent movies had captions underneath and these
did not always run in time with the picture. The showing of a film set
in the 17th century, Captain Blood, provided a fine example of
this - in a scene where the fiercesome, swashbuckling Captain was giving
chase to another sailing ship, the text read the command 'Full steam
ahead'. However the amusement that this caused ensured that the film
drew big audiences.
Local businesses had their advertisements printed on the safety curtain
so that they could be read before and after the show. Some of the island's
more daring children crept in through the back wall to watch their favourite
films, and Henry Pettit was once heard to call upon the audience for
volunteers to help throw the children out. Today big cinemas with luxury
seating and high quality blockbusters are taken for granted, but just
as much enjoyment was had in the Bohemia Hall.
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