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The Gaumont-Palace was a Movie theater located on Rue Caulaincourt in the Montmartre district of Paris. Originally constructed between 1898 and 1900 as the Hippodrome de Montmartre for the 1900 Exposition Universelle, It staged equestrian shows during its early and for a period was owned by Frank C. Bostock. Later, it became a skating rink. Originally built with a Belle Époque facade, the building was acquired by Léon Gaumont in July 1910 and subsequently converted into a cinema. When opened on 30 September 1911, it was the largest movie theatre in the world with 3,400 seats, and was the first in France to boast automatic projection equipment. It remained part of the Gaumont Film Company empire throughout its history.
In 1930–31, Gaumont spent 40 million French franc rebuilding the cinema to a design by Henri Belloc, Art Deco exterior.Tim Benton (2025). 082122834X, Bulfinch Press. 082122834X The largest cinema in France, it was used to premiere major productions from both France and abroad. With a capacity of 4,850, it commonly attracted between fifty and sixty thousand spectators a week in the early 1930s, with box office receipts of 21.3 million francs in 1932. The size of the cinema meant that it rarely held films over for more than two weeks before they were switched to smaller venues in the city such as the Caméo cinema. At the end of World War II, the Gaumont-Palace acted as a repatriation centre for returning prisoners of war, and in this capacity is mentioned in La Douleur (1985) by Marguerite Duras. It had earlier served as the model for Le Tarapout in Louis-Ferdinand Céline's novel Voyage au bout de la nuit (1932).
In 1952, the cinema featured in the comedy film Holiday for Henrietta. In 1962, it was converted for the use of Cinerama widescreen format. Increasingly, its large size was considered a disadvantage, due to poor audio quality. Plans were made for a further reconstruction but these were abandoned. In 1972, Gaumont sold the 7,000-Square feet site for 35 million francs, the cinema being demolished the following year to make way for a shopping gallery and hotel. The money the company received from the sale allowed it to renovate other parts of its cinema chain, including in Lille, Lyon, Marseilles, Bordeaux, Reims, Nice and Toulouse.
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