The first resident organist
was Walford James - a young man from Tonypandy then aged
17 who had had some cinema organ experience at Boscombe
before coming 'home'. He also managed the 'Cosy' cinema
in Aberdare town for the same company. However, the organ
was actually opened by Max Bruce who, although not well
known, was an excellent musician and held the distinction
of having been the first organist at the Tower Ballroom,
Blackpool in 1929 before Reginald Dixon arrived the following
year.
Walford went to live in the London area in 1940 to play
at the State, Dartford and the Capitol, Wembley. After
service in the R.A.F. he went into music teaching and examining,
and played the church organ. He retired to West Wales in
the mid 1980s where he lived until his death in 1994.
Left: Walford James at the Compton
Walford was followed by Doreen Chadwick, another youngster
(aged 18) who was from Maes-y-Coed, Pontypridd and had
been taught by Gene Lynn at the Castle cinema, Merthyr
Tydfil. She went on to great acclaim with Granada cinemas
in London, and later in the 1950s at the Gaumont, Manchester.
She is still playing (2005) in her 80s and has made many
recordings and broadcasts.
Right: Doreen Chadwick
The Compton wasn't a run-of-the-mill cinema organ. Most
organs in cinemas were pipe organs (such as the one at
the Castle cinema, Merthyr Tydfil), although many of the
public didn't realise this as the pipes were always hidden
away behind decorative plaster grille-work. In the mid-30s
the John Compton Organ Company of London had pioneered
an electronic add-on to their cinema organs called a 'Melotone',
and by 1938 this had been developed into a complete instrument
in its own right. Those installed in churches were called
'Electrone' whilst the cinema model was called a 'Theatrone'.
By 1939 the age of the cinema organ was nearly over, so
they only actually built about a dozen before the war,
but there were a few put into hotels and dance halls later
in the 1950s before production ceased altogether. The Rex
organ was one of the best Theatrones built before the war
as it was equipped with very good amplifiers and a very
large array of speakers installed behind the grille at
the left of the stage. It also had the standard Compton
console with illuminated glass surround.
Left: A Compton advertisment
At some point in the period after the
Second World War the organ fell into disuse. With television
taking audiences away from cinemas the services of an organist
were not only old-fashioned but uneconomic. Eventually
the orchestra pit at the Rex was boarded over and the organ
all but forgotten. In the 1970s at least two people had
tried to buy it, but the cinema's owner declined to sell.
The Rex eventually closed in 1983 and the organ was then
disposed of to an enthusiast near Cardiff, but once he
got it home he decided that it was beyond restoration and
the following year he put it up for sale again. It was
spotted by one of the people who'd originally tried to
buy it, and very soon it was taken to his home in Neath
where he spent the next three years restoring it to playable
condition. In 1987 - as its owner had by then acquired
a pipe organ - it was sold again, and for a time was playing
in a hall on the Isle of Wight. A change in circumstances
of its custodian there meant that it had to be removed
and placed in store, where it remained for the next 8 years.
Above: The Compton just after the
boards which covered it in had been removed
Stephen Dutfield made contact with the then owner at the
beginning of 2003, and in April of that year, travelled to
Ventnor with a large van to collect the organ. The original
loudspeakers had disintegrated before it was removed from
the cinema, and the original valve amplifiers had been scrapped,
but the console and the cabinet which contains all the electronic
components were found to be complete, although very dirty.
He has since obtained a smaller set of Compton valve amplifiers
and a matching large Compton speaker cabinet, and hopes to
commence restoration of the Rex organ later this year(2005).
We would like to thank our contributor Stephen J Dutfield
for all the information provided on this web page.
Left: Stephen J Dutfield standing alongside
the Compton Theatrone
2003.jpg)