It’s the dream of many film-lovers - to have their own cinema.

In the late 1920s, one young man realised that dream by setting up his own cinema in the front room of his father’s home at 52 Kingsley Road in Maidstone.

Alex Smith’s cinema only sat eight people, but in all other respects, it was a proper cinema of the time.

Set up in the terraced property, it had upholstered seats, an art deco proscenium arch, uniformed attendants and a flashing miniature organ that rose up through the stage for musical interludes.

It was said to have been modelled on the Central Picture Playhouse, which - somewhat larger at 1,250 seats - had opened in Maidstone’s King Street in 1921. The site is now occupied by Boots.

It even, according to a Kent Messenger report of the time, had “the refinement” of ashtrays on the back of the chairs.

The cinema, known as The Alexia - or colloquially as Smith’s Theatre - operated throughout the 1930s.

Although the first “talkie” came out in 1927 (Al Jolson’s The Jazz Singer), The Alexia showed silent movies but Mr Smith had a whole range of sound effects at his fingertips to provide the noise of galloping horses, whistling trains, gunshots or screams as appropriate.

Mr Smith made no charge for entry but admission was by invitation and the cinema’s proprietor kept meticulous records of his guests.

One page from May 18, 1936, records two patrons as being from The Granada - the luxury cinema at the foot of Gabriels Hill. Perhaps they were looking for tips on how it was done?

A review by one visitor at that time shows how inventive Mr Smith was.

When he played recorded music to accompany the films, he played it from two gramophones simultaneously at opposite ends of the room to give a stereophonic effect, even before stereo had been invented.

Mr Smith showed his films using first a Pathescope Kid projector, which cost him 55 shillings (£2.25), but later he upgraded to the all-British state-of-the-art Pathescope 200B projector.

Mr Smith kept details of all the films shown - and all the organ music played.

Audiences were treated to a full two-hour show.

On February 26, 1939, for example, audiences enjoyed a film about Maidstone, which Mr Smith had made himself, trailers, a Mickey Mouse cartoon, a supporting feature called Tragic Railway, and the main show was the Further Adventures of the Flag Lieutenant, starring Henry Edwards.

Contemporaneous newspaper reports frequently mentioned that the audiences completely forgot they were viewing the film in someone’s house until it became time to leave.

Regular shows ceased in the 1940s. Whether this was due to the restrictions of wartime, or changing tastes, is not clear.

The last performance was in 1951.

Alex Smith - his full name was Alexander - was an only child. His mother had died young, and his father, also called Alexander, clearly rather indulged his son.

Alex was born in 1910. He worked initially as an electrician but later went into his uncle’s painting and decorating business.

He was a member of the Maidstone Photographic Club where he met Doris Waghorn, who was to become his wife.

She shared his passion for the cinema and helped him keep the records and also acted as an usherette.

They married in 1942 and set up home at Chancery Lane in Maidstone where they had two children, Roger in 1944 and Celia in 1948.

Celia, now Celia Cooke, said: “My father never really spoke about the cinema.

“He was a quiet man - kind, but he was very upstanding and liked everything to be just right.

“I think the cinema was a youthful enthusiasm that he left behind when he became a parent.

“I do remember him showing us films though when we were children, Mickey Mouse and also a film that he had made for the cinema advertising local businesses - a hairdresser and a fish and chip shop.”

“He also made a film of the singer and actress Gracie Fields when she visited Maidstone to open Garrard Tyrwhitt-Drake’s zoo one season.

“My mother talked about the cinema more. She said how the Alexia sometimes had quite famous guests - the organist Reginald Dixon was one, and I remember her showing me her usherette’s uniform.

“My father died in 2001 and my mother in 2010.

“My brother cleared out their Chancery Lane home after that and put a lot of stuff in storage.

“I had forgotten all about the cinema and it was only quite recently, when we went along to clear out the storage unit, that we found a box labelled Alexia with all the memorabilia related to the cinema inside.”

Today, there is nothing about 52 Kingsley Road to suggest its glamorous past as Maidstone’s smallest cinema.

If you want to learn more about Alex Smith and his Alexia Theatre, you can visit the Kent Museum of the Moving Image (Kent MOMI) in Deal where there is an exhibition featuring many original documents, reviews, letters and records about The Alexia which Mrs Cooke has donated to the museum.

The cinema’s organ has been restored by Kent MOMI volunteer Alan Deeks and is also on display.

The exhibition, designed by Rosanne Moulin, includes clips from some of the films shown at The Alexia.

Mrs Cooke said: “I’m so glad the museum was able to do something with it. They have made a wonderful exhibit.”

Kent MOMI is a not-for-profit museum that explores the history of the moving image from the days of candle-lit magic lantern through to the heyday of modern cinema.

The museum in Stanhope Road is open on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays from 11am until 5pm.

To find out more, visit here.

Entry is £7 and includes free repeat visits for a year.