In spring 1936 the buildings on the corner of Eteläesplanadi and Kasarmikatu were demolished to make way for a new building. The property’s owner A. Ahlström Ltd christened the new building Industripalatset. Completed in 1937, the new premises were rented out to companies active in Finnish industry. The building also housed the Savoy Restaurant and the Savoy Cinema, which had an 845-seat auditorium, a projector room and a foyer. At the time it was popular to feature funny acts and musical performances during intervals, so a small orchestra pit and stage was included in front of the big screen.
The building was designed by the architectural firm Jung & Jung with influences taken from Germany and Austria. RadioMusic Hall in New York City was allegedly also an inspiration. The cinema’s original lights were specially manufactured by Iittala according to a design by Gunilla Jung.
The cinema’s first public screening was held on 1 September 1937. The film was ”Souls at Sea” and culminated in a storm scene that was extentuated by opening the curtains wider and raising the volume in the middle of the screening. There were two sets of curtains. When the lights went down a velvet curtain covering the stage area opened up and revealed a silver lamee curtain illuminated by colour lights. This curtain was whisked aside once the lights had gone out and the moving picture appeared on the screen.
During the war the Savoy Theatre was used for the first time for revue performances, which took place after the film screenings. One of the main organisers of these performances was the Swede Palle Hagman, who booked such acts as the famous dancer Josephine Baker to perform at the Savoy. After the war the Savoy Theatre hosted late night performances by Punainen Mylly (Moulin Rouge) on New Year’s Eve and May Day Eve. The theatre was also used as a recording studio in the 1950s.
In February 1944 a bomb fell outside the theatre on Kasarmikatu, causing severe damage to the building. The temporary outer doors of the theatre remained in place until the early 1990s. From 1937 to 1953 the theatre was run by Nils Dahlström, first in co-operation with Suomi-Film and from 1943 onwards as an independent entrepreneur. From 1953 to 1983 the theatre was run by the charismatic sea captain Lars Nilsson, whose company owned nineteen cinemas throughout Finland at its peak.
When the Maxim cinema on Kluuvikatu grew too small in the 1950s, the Finnish Film Archive temporarily moved its venue to the Savoy Theatre. In the 1960s a second projector room was added to the balcony, and a curved white screen covering the entire front wall was installed.
Lilla Teatern’s production of Hamlet in 1986 was the first evening-long spoken theatre performance staged at the Savoy Theatre.
The current role of the Savoy Theatre as a venue for guest performances began in 1986, when the Helsinki City Cultural Committee decided to propose to the city government that the Savoy Theatre be leased to the City of Helsinki under the administration of the Cultural Office.