Brighton on film: Brighton Rock, Quadrophenia and the Hove pioneers

About Brighton on film: Brighton Rock, Quadrophenia and the Hove pioneers

By the ULTIMATE Brighton Editorial Team

Editor-in-Chief: Jai Michael

Brighton & Hove has been on film since cinema began. In the 1890s the Hove photographer George Albert Smith worked in St Ann’s Well Gardens, where he built a glasshouse film studio, one of the earliest in Britain; Hove Museum tells the story of the Hove film pioneers. Graham Greene’s novel Brighton Rock (1938) became the film of 1947. In 1964, Mods and Rockers clashed on the beaches over a bank holiday weekend, the story later told in Quadrophenia (1979), set to the music of The Who; fans still seek out the narrow alley off East Street where it was filmed. Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa (1986), with Bob Hoskins, also has scenes in the city.

The Hove pioneers

At the end of the 19th century, St Ann’s Well Gardens in Hove became a film studio: George Albert Smith built a glasshouse there to film in daylight, and he and fellow Hove pioneers such as James Williamson made some of the first story films. Hove Museum & Gallery tells their story.

Brighton Rock

Graham Greene’s 1938 novel of the racecourse gangs, Brighton Rock, was filmed in 1947. The Cricketers on Black Lion Street has a room called the Greene Room.

See a film at the Duke of York’s at Preston Circus, and walk from St Ann’s Well Gardens to the alley off East Street.

Quadrophenia

Over a bank holiday weekend in 1964, Mods and Rockers clashed on the beaches of Brighton. The film Quadrophenia (1979), built on The Who’s album, retold the story; its most famous scenes were shot in the city, including the narrow alley off East Street.

Mona Lisa

Neil Jordan’s Mona Lisa (1986), starring Bob Hoskins, has scenes on the Brighton seafront.

Cinema today

The Duke of York’s Picturehouse at Preston Circus hosts CineCity, Brighton’s festival of world cinema (6–15 November 2026); Duke’s at Komedia shows independent films in the North Laine.

Our advice: watch Brighton Rock and Quadrophenia before you come, then walk their streets.

Opening hours, prices and seasonal openings change, so please check with Brighton on film: Brighton Rock, Quadrophenia and the Hove pioneers before you go.