Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Cinemas on the verge of closure

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-06-2002, 06:20 AM:

Had a pretty depressing experience yesterday evening. I'm spending the weekend with relatives in London and yesterday evening went to the 6pm show of Red Dragon at the Odeon, Wimbledon (screen 2). This old cinema (1937 single-screen, converted to 3 in the '70s and to 5 in the early '90s) is going to be closed in November when a new 12-screen multiplex opens above a supermarket just down the road.

They're obviously running the building down and you can really tell it from the way the place looks and the truly dreadful presentation last night. When we came into the auditorium, the cleaners' lights were on and there was no non-sync playing. The walls were dirty, the carpet threadbare and the screen tabs looked like they hadn't been dry-cleaned in years. The film started 9 minutes late with no ads or trailers, but despite this the ushers kept letting latecomers in until around 20 minutes after the advertised start time, causing a lot of disruption.

The focus was soft throughout (this could have been a soft print), the anamorph was fractionally out of horizontal alignment, and the picture was bleeding significantly onto the masking on all four sides. The print was already getting notably dirty for 100 feet or so around each reel end, despite the fact that this was a week-before-release preview day and that print would only have done 2 or 3 passes before I saw it. Several lab joins were left in the print, and there was an almighty 'crack' on the soundtrack (SR I think) at every join, indicating that there was either a problem with the pad roller or that the joins had been badly made. They'd also made a pig's ear of EQing the auditorium: I really struggled to hear the dialogue.

All in all, then, a very depressing experience and I certainly won't be going back to that venue in the two months or so until it closes. Odeon aren't doing themselves any favours by operating the building in that state: while they're continuing to accept people's money they should be delivering a satisfactory product, which clearly is not happening here. If they really can't justify a higher level of outgoings on that site, they should close it now and wait their new cinema to be ready.

Posted by Darren Briggs (Member # 1071) on 10-06-2002, 08:17 AM:

Hi Leo,
Talking of bad presentaion, at the local Warner, you get more picture for your money, when the show starts you get the countdown leader on screen as there dousers must have huge holes in them!

By the way Dick says hello, went to visit him on Friday.

Cya soon
Darren

Posted by Ken Layton (Member # 133) on 10-06-2002, 11:45 AM:

If they operate their old theater like that chances are they will operate the new theater the same way too! After all, the theater will be new so the public will accept the same poor presentation because the theater is NEW. Also in about a year the new theater will be just as dirty as the old one was.
Already here in the USA, there are some 15 and 20 plex theaters less than 5 years old that are either falling apart or filthy as a pig sty or BOTH!

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 10-06-2002, 12:11 PM:

I visited the place some years ago; I seem to remember that they had a pair of mag followers installed, I don't know why, there didn't seem to be any obvious reason for that particular cinema to need them. They were similar to the ones at the NFT, didn't look like a leftover from '50s 3-D.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 10-06-2002, 03:37 PM:

When the Royal Theatre chain in Honolulu was still in operation, their Primary house was the Royal Theatre in Waikiki. It was a beautiful house with about 700 seats and was capable of showing films in 35mm four track mag and 70mm six track. The Royal had the distinction of being Hawaii's first theatre with Dolby Stereo (A) and the sound in this theatre was awesome. Some of the movies I saw in this theatre in 70mm included "OKLAHOMA" (Revival), "SLEEPING BEAUTY" (Revival), "STAR TRACK 2-THE WRATH OF KAHN", the second Indiana Jones film and "TRON". I also had an opportunity to see the original "FANTASIA" in four track mag in this theatre. The last picture I saw at the Royal was "TRON" in 70mm and the show I caught was the final performance the night the theatre closed The theatre opened in 1964 with "BECKET" and closed eighteen year later in 1982. What was once an elegant theatre when it opened looked really bad during her final year when Royal stopped investing money in a theatre that was losing money. Damaged seats were never repaired, carpets were very dirty and the snack bar and bathrooms were only maintained to satisfy the state health inspectors.
The Royal started to go downhill right after Consolidated opened the Waikiki Twins in 1970. The only thing that kept the theatre in operation was the Royal's first run deal with Paramount, Disney and Embassy Pictures along with a few other smaller studios.

-Claude

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 01-03-2003, 05:00 AM:

Ken - you’re so right – the place makes little difference, it’s the people that count. I have now seen two presentations at the new Odeon and there were serious technical problems with both. The first was James Bond about a fortnight after the new site opened in November. There was an enormous queue to get in, the auditorium hadn’t been cleaned properly and the programme started 7 minutes late. During the lens change between bullshit and feature, the ‘scope plate wasn’t inserted properly, resulting in a large black bar on the right of the screen and picture on the masking on the left. Five minutes later this hadn’t been corrected, and wasn’t until I asked an usherette to get the projectionist to stick the plate in. I suspect that the plate would have stayed like that throughout the show if someone hadn’t complained. Finally there were noticeable cinch marks throughout the bullshit and feature, suggesting abrasion between emulsion side of film and platter surface.

Now I’ve just been to see Lord of the Rings, passing through Wimbledon on the way back from Christmas and New Year trips to the rellies. Once again, a large queue to get in and the presentation started late – 9 minutes this time. This time the bullshit started in ‘scope! Yup, anamorphic adverts for five minutes, until again I asked an usher to call the projectionist. He didn’t understand me, responding ‘You what?’ in an obviously non-English accent. Front of house staff who can’t speak English would be a great help in an emergency situation, e.g. a fire evacuation! Eventually I managed to raise a duty manager, who apologetically explained that ‘we’ve had nothing but problems ever since this place opened’, and said that the masking had failed. Well at least it failed in the ‘scope position! Masking stuck in 1:1.85 with a ‘scope feature about to start would have been a challenge… To be fair, the manager was very nice about it, and she can’t have been having a pleasant shift.

The 1:1.85 lens and plate was eventually restored around 8-9 minutes into the presentation, just as the ads were finishing and the trailers were starting. I can’t see how this can be anything other than projectionist error – even if the programme were started on a timer, surely [s]he should have noticed that the ‘scope lens was still in place when cleaning and relacing the projector? Presumably this 12-screen installation has automated lens changes: I can only recall making this mistake once in 10 years or so, even when doing all the lens and plate changes manually. When the feature kicked off there were obvious anamorphic focusing problems. For example, in the scenes of Liv Tyler speaking (what sounded to me like) Welsh, her face was pin sharp whilst the subtitles were so blurred as to be barely legible. There was a horrible, wide and deep emulsion tramline (it was green, ergo several layers of emulsion had been gouged out the film) running through about two reels, starting about 45 minutes into the film, and about 100 feet around each reel end was very dirty. Finally, although the sound EQ seemed very good to me, the volume differential between ads, trailers and features was enormous. In particular, the ‘Odeon’ snipes were so loud relative to everything else that I noticed people clamping their hands against their ears.

About the one positive point I’d make was that the auditoria are very well designed for sightlines and the seating arrangements worked well. On both occasions I asked for seats with lots of legroom at the box office (being 6”4’, Lord of the Rings in a centre seat is a recipe for deep vein thrombosis!), and was given reserved seats in the front row of a section which had about twice as much space as the rows behind it. But film can still be done wrong, even in a brand new installation. Furthermore, given that tickets in the new Odeon are now more expensive than the National Film Theatre, I can’t see myself going back there out of choice.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 01-03-2003, 05:38 AM:

Leo said "Odeon aren't doing themselves any favours by operating the building in that state"

Well, all I can say is Welcome To Cineplex Odeon! In the states they still have a couple of decent places.
Mark

Posted by Adam Martin (Member # 641) on 01-03-2003, 12:09 PM:

The UK circuit "Odeon" and the North American circuit "Cineplex Odeon" are completely different. Odeon recently merged with ABC Cinemas in the UK to form a self-proclaimed "superchain". Okay, so maybe they are the same. [Roll Eyes]

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 01-03-2003, 02:55 PM:

quote:
The Royal had the distinction of being Hawaii's first theatre with Dolby Stereo

Claude,
Do you happen to recall when the Royal installed Dolby or what their first Dolby Stereo engagement happened to be? I recall you mentioning a few months ago in another thread that the Cinerama Theatre in Honolulu installed Dolby for their engagement of Star Wars. There weren't that many Dolby releases prior to Star Wars that weren't test runs or limited market engagements.

Posted by Howard Johnson (Member # 62) on 01-03-2003, 03:02 PM:

Leo, I heard that the projectionists at the old Odeon Wimbledon were offered a paltry £20 extra per week to double their workload going from 5 screens to 12 . At least one of them quit rather than work at the new venue. Perhaps this explains some of the problems at the new Odeon.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 01-05-2003, 11:39 AM:

So Odeon invests millions in a new site and then fails either to increase the level of projection staffing (despite the new site having more than double the number of screens) or either offer decent training or a proper salary to the projectionists there. I'm glad some chains are committed to decent presentation! This is such a pity: they must think that hardly any customers will care, and they're probably right given that I was the only one who asked for the problems to be corrected in both shows I've seen there. Most of those who do care will stay away and watch DVDs instead. If I wasn't lucky enough to live in a town that has a cinema in which the presentation is as good as anywhere in the West End, I'd probably do that too.

Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 1542) on 02-12-2003, 04:26 AM:

I have just lately come across this thread, and feel that I must come to the defence of the old Odeon Wimbledon as I worked there.
The depressing experience in Screen 2.
The Odeon was built in 1933, not 1937, and closed December 2002.
I can not comment on the condition of the print of Red Dragon as I was on holiday when this film was shown, but it probably was delivered at short notice, and the projectionist was not able to check it properly. Not a lot of spare time when you are single manning a five screener, and showing up to five performances per day per screen, with no automation in four of these screens, and all five projection rooms were spread about all over the building. There were 88 steps between projection room 1, and 2.
The cleaners lights being left on was a common occurrence despite a written notice to the floor staff that they were to be turned off when patrons were in the screen. Us projectionists just gave up trying to get the floor staff to turn them off.
There was no non-sync because the CD player had broken down on this occasion. Normally there was music playing before the programme started.
Walls dirty, and carpet threadbare agreed, but how did you come to the conclusion that the screen tabs were dirty? They were left open, and could only be seen in their drawn back folded position.
The film probably started late because the person who worked out the time sheet allowed for trailers. If no trailers were schulded for this show then the film started at the feature film time.
You can not blame the floor staff for letting people in who arrive late.
The sound in this screen was Dolby A, and was set up by a Dolby trained sound engineer.
The anamorph being out of alignment was caused by the fact that the projector was not square on to the screen. Not a projection fault, but a projection room building design fault.
In answer to the query about the follower heads. These were installed in Screen 1, and were used about four times a year for running cutting copies of unfinished films. James Bond and The Full Monty being two that we ran.
I was the projectionist who quit when the new Odeon opened. I thought that a wage rise of £30 was certainly not enough to run another seven shows, and was also fed up with knocking my head against a brick wall trying to get things done.All equipment at the old Odeon was second hand.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-12-2003, 06:08 AM:

quote:
The Odeon was built in 1933, not 1937, and closed December 2002.

Allan Eyles' book on Odeon gives the opening date as '37. Given that it was originally the Regal, could '37 have been the date it became the Odeon (according to Eyles the first Odeon was in Worple Road opposite Elys, roughly where McDonald's is now)?

quote:
The cleaners lights being left on was a common occurrence despite a written notice to the floor staff that they were to be turned off when patrons were in the screen. Us projectionists just gave up trying to get the floor staff to turn them off.

I can certainly believe that. When I tried asking an usher to ask a projectionist to put the 1:1.85 lens in during the adverts in the new site, he (i) seemed completely disinterested, and (ii) quite literally could not understand what I was saying. I suspect that he could not understand even relatively basic English.

quote:
Not a lot of spare time when you are single manning a five screener, and showing up to five performances per day per screen, with no automation in four of these screens, and all five projection rooms were spread about all over the building. There were 88 steps between projection room 1, and 2.

As I wrote above, 'Odeon aren't doing themselves any favours by...', not attacking any projectionist individually. The fact that they did expect one person to operate five screens in this physical environment speaks volumes about how little importance they give to presentation quality, IMHO.

quote:
Walls dirty, and carpet threadbare agreed, but how did you come to the conclusion that the screen tabs were dirty? They were left open, and could only be seen in their drawn back folded position.

I'm sure they were closed before the start of the show I saw. I distinctly remember seeing what looked like a massive coffee stain. Given the state of them, it probably would have been better to leave them permanently open...

quote:
You can not blame the floor staff for letting people in who arrive late.

No, but you can criticise the management decision to continue admitting people up to 35 minutes after the advertised start time, especially in an auditorium with such a shallow rake that they are guaranteed to disrupt customers who can be bothered to arrive on time. If Virgin habitually delayed the departure of my morning train to work by 35 minutes in order to accommodate latecomers, it wouldn't go down very well! At all the City Screen sites I worked, one row of house seats was kept back for latecomers, which could be reached without disturbing anyone else. When those were full, ushers had instructions not to admit latecomers if this would make anyone else have to get up.

quote:
The sound in this screen was Dolby A, and was set up by a Dolby trained sound engineer.

In that case the acoustics of that auditorium were completely hopeless. I struggled to understand the dialogue throughout the commercials, trailers and feature (this was from the front row, near the centre aisle).

quote:
I was the projectionist who quit when the new Odeon opened. I thought that a wage rise of £30 was certainly not enough to run another seven shows, and was also fed up with knocking my head against a brick wall trying to get things done.All equipment at the old Odeon was second hand.

I'm not surprised! As I suggested above, this is clearly a corporate ethos issue (by 'it's the people that count' I was referring to the middle and senior management who have made the short-term decision to spend as little on presentation as they can get away with) rather than just a presentation issue - as demonstrated by the fact that I've experienced technical problems in two shows in a new venue using (presumably) new equipment. I've worked in one or two fleapits with management that couldn't care less, and can understand that this must have been really frustrating.

I do understand that a lot of these problems were ones which the projectionists could do nothing about - but 99.9% of the people who paid their £6 per ticket probably would not even have thought that far; those who cared about the films they saw and the cinema they saw them in probably just wouldn't have come back.

It's a bit sad, too - I think the Odeon Wimbledon was where I saw my first film (and certainly the first that I remember). It was Fantasia, and would have been mid to late 1970s.

Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 1542) on 02-12-2003, 11:45 AM:

I fear that Allen Eyle's is mistaken. The Odeon, or Regal as it was then, opened in 1933. I have the Architects plate with the date, and some of the original plans dated March 1933.
More details of the cinema, and projection equipment, of all types, can be found on my web site www.cinephoto.co.uk

I can not comment about the tabs being closed in Odeon 2 because as I said I was on holiday that week. It's a long story, but we were told never to close the tabs in any of the five screens. If there was a stain on the tabs it was probably Pepsi dripping down through the floor of Odeon 1. It also used to run down the walls in the box.
The cinema was originally a cafe, then a Dancing School, then the cinema bar, before being turned into Odeon 2. I remember one of the builders asking me how thick we wanted the walls to be. His building drawing was on a sheet of A4 paper with just a line to indicate where the wall was to go.
When it was first opened we had mono sound. No complaints until we had stereo installed. The odd shape, and the ceiling moulding was not conducive to decent stereo sound., especially as one surround speaker was masked by half of a wall at the entrance. I suppose the Dolby man made the best set up that he could under the circumstances.

Fantasia was shown in No2 screen ( later renamed 4) in 1972

I have always thought that most of the troubles that we now experience started when the Showmen died, and the accountants took over. I tried to explain to one accountant that it was better to spend £1500 on new tab motors & gearboxes that would last at least 20 years, than to spend £500 on second hand gear that would last , with luck, 5 years. His reply was that the £500 spend would look better on the end of year financial report.
Just what you to do with that type of logic?

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-12-2003, 12:10 PM:

Given that I was born in 1973, I think it's unlikely that I saw Fantasia at Wimbledon in 1972! I do just remember screen 2 being the bar, though. After that the bar was right at the top of the building, near the rear entrance of screen 1 if I remember correctly, and was about the size of a broom cupboard. Presumably the bar was dropped after The Broadway (pub) opened next door. I moved away from Wimbledon shortly after I became old enough to (legally [Wink]

) go in pubs, but do remember The Broadway as one of the grottiest in town.

Lovely website - I'd never seen a pic of the old Odeon opposite Elys before. Presumably the King's Palace is where the car park on the corner of The Broadway and Palmerston Road is now. I have a very vague recollection of the ABC, too - my parents took me to see E.T. there when it first came out.

quote:
If there was a stain on the tabs it was probably Pepsi dripping down through the floor of Odeon 1. It also used to run down the walls in the box.

Let's look on the bright side (about the one thing that was possible in screen 2 - the picture was so bright I virtually needed sunglasses!) - at least it didn't get on the screen!

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-12-2003, 02:31 PM:

Michael,

I am very sorry for not replying to the question you asked me in January about Honolulu's Cinerama and Royal Theatre's Dolby installation because I only noticed it today.

When the Cinerama opened "STAR WARS", the film played in mono for many months because the Cinerama was only set up for regular meg for 70mm and 35mm films. It was not until the film had played for almost seven months when George Lucas was rumored
to have paid for the installation of Dolby Stereo equipment in this theatre. Now that the theatre was finally equipped to play films in Dolby stereo, a brand new 70mm print began its run and played for another seven months. By the time the Cinerama was able to play films in Dolby stereo, The Royal and the Royal Marina Twins was already Dolby equipped.

-Claude

Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 1542) on 02-12-2003, 04:59 PM:

Hi Leo.

quote:
Presumably the bar was dropped after The Broadway (pub) opened next door

No, the cinema bar remained open until about 12 months before the Odeon closed. It was then turned into a childrens birthday party room. The Broadway Pub catered, at one time for the rowdy teenage, and early twenties crowd. It changed owners about 1996, and became a rather trendy place.

quote:
Presumably the King's Palace is where the car park on the corner of The Broadway and Palmerston Road is now.

I am not sure about this. I understood that it was in the Arcade, now demolished, next to the Theatre.
Glad that you liked my web site

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 02-12-2003, 08:08 PM:

quote:
Michael,
I am very sorry for not replying to the question you asked me in January about Honolulu's Cinerama and Royal Theatre's Dolby installation because I only noticed it today.

Claude,
Thanks for the update.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-13-2003, 02:25 PM:

Unless I'm misremembering, the Arcade must have been on the site of that car park. I can't think of anything else between the back of the theatre and Palmerston Road. The Regal/Gaumont/Odeon, ABC and King's Palace all within fifty yards of each other must have led to a bit of 'friendly rivalry'!

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 02-14-2003, 04:53 AM:

Hugh wrote,

quote:
I fear that Allen Eyle's is mistaken. The Odeon, or Regal as it was then, opened in 1933. I have the Architects plate with the date, and some of the original plans dated March 1933.

Allen Eyle’s details however are correct in his Gaumont British Cinemas book. The Regal was opened in 1933 by County Cinemas, taken over by Odeon. Renamed Gaumont in 1949, renamed Odeon in 1962.

I remember going to the King’s Palace a couple of times in 1952, one hell of a dump. I did relief for 2 days at the Elite (ABC) in 1954, tiny box with Ross and RCA equipment. The box at the King’s Palace was larger which I saw empty after closure. The Elite which opened in 1920 was later modernised and renamed ABC, closed in 1983.

Sad to hear recently of problems at Kingston and Wimbledon with staffing and the automation. I was told that Odeon had the best working conditions and wages, a 35 hour week and proper overtime rates.

Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 1542) on 02-15-2003, 05:41 AM:

quote:
Allen Eyle’s details however are correct in his Gaumont British Cinemas book. The Regal was opened in 1933 by County Cinemas, taken over by Odeon. Renamed Gaumont in 1949, renamed Odeon in 1962.

Do I assume that the Regal was taken over by Gaumont in 1937, but still retained the name Regal until Rank obtained the Gaumont circuit, and then the name was changed.

I went into the box of the Elite, or ABC as it was then called, sometime in the early 1970s. They had two FP20s and Peerless arcs.

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 02-15-2003, 08:37 AM:

Hi Hugh,

I would think if Gaumont British Cinemas had taken over the Regal Wimbledon from the County circuit, they would have renamed it the Gaumont Palace at that time! (2nd word Palace was dropped a few years later by GB). ODEON no doubt retained the Regal name, as their own Odeon Theatre in Worple Road was planned or under construction. Sure this is correct, also there is Alan Eyles account.

In Farnborough Hampshire where I lived for a while, there were two County Theatres, the Rex and the Scala, which retained their names throughout ownership by Odeon Associated Cinemas.

A school friend of mine took up projection at the then Gaumont, Wimbledon in 1952. He often mentioned the chief projectionist, Alf Stagg. I have some knowledge of the original equipment if you have no record.

Regarding pictures of the Elite (ABC) and King’s Palace, perhaps the CTA would be a source if you put an advert in their magazine. I take it that there is nothing available from local newspapers.

BTW enjoying your website with much interest. I must send you some pics!

Posted by Ray Faultless (Member # 903) on 02-15-2003, 12:38 PM:

Just wanted to point out the very first Odeon was at Perry Barr in Birmingham. Opened in 1930 it turned to a bingo hall in the late 60's. It now stands empty and doing nothing

Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 1542) on 02-15-2003, 03:52 PM:

Hello Bernard.
I shall have to get a copy of Alan Eyles book. It sounds interesting.
A friend of mine used to work with Alf Stagg at Wimbledon. Apparently he was a model train enthusiast, and sometimes built a track and had the trains running around the box. Sounds quite a character.
Any details of equipment would be most appreciated.
Regarding a photo of the Elite. I will try your suggestion of an advert in the CTA magazine. I did come across one photo, taken about 1955, but was unable to contact the owner as his e mail address did not work.
Glad that you like my web site. Please send me any photos that you think suitable.

Hi Ray.
I did not know that Perry Barr in Birmingham was the first Odeon to open. I always understood that the first Odeon was at Weymouth. The very first was going to be Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, but building was delayed because of legal trouble and it was not finished on time.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-15-2003, 06:10 PM:

At MOMI one of the exhibits featured a 1937 advert for Odeon Cinemas which mentioned that Perry Barr was the first one. The slogan at the end was 'BRITISH directorate, BRITISH capital, BRITISH labour'. It discreetly failed to mention British films, probably because Odeon hardly showed any!

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 02-17-2003, 09:22 AM:

Hi Hugh,

I remember the exterior of the old Worple Road; Odeon very well but never went inside that one, maybe because I worked at the Odeon, Shannon Corner (New Malden) on the same release. I much enjoyed visiting the Gaumont many times. From memory the equipment was Super Simplex, Western Electric Mirrophonic sound, Peerless Magnarcs, Stelmar spots. Never noticed that any stage shows run there though.

Unless I’m mistaken I seem to remember seeing a long closed (1940s?) cinema named the Plaza, almost next door to Wimbledon Palais dance hall, later changed to a furniture store.

According to the 1947 Kinematograph Year Book, there was also the Town Hall Kinema. Perhaps this was wartime or earlier use. Might be worth you visiting to see the projection box although changed of use. I wonder if the local library has any history and pictures of cinemas past that you might have missed.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-17-2003, 01:52 PM:

I dimly remember the Civic Hall, right next to the town hall (between the southernmost platform of the station and the town hall, which is now the Centre Court shopping centre). It was a pretty big auditorium as I recall, and could well have had projection facilities, though I never saw any films there. I guess it was knocked down in the mid-80s, and would guess that Marks and Spencer now occupies that site.

Posted by Pete Naples (Member # 761) on 02-17-2003, 05:03 PM:

Bernard, have you ever thought about writing your own memoirs?! ou never cease to amaze me with the detail you recall, whereas personally I often have trouble remembering what I did yesterday!

Our library has an excellent local history section, included in which is a mine of information on the towns cinemas. None of which are now operational sadly, although a couple of buildings still remain. One is now a bingo hall and the other, where my downward spiral in this industry began, is boarded up and currently under threat of being reborn as an egyptian themed night club! I ask you! Las Vegas this town (sorry city now) is not.

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 02-18-2003, 03:46 AM:

Leo,

Further to the Town Hall Kinema, Wimbledon. As you say it was a pretty big auditorium. In fact 1,394 seats, with a proscenium width of 35 feet, and stage 35 feet deep.

Pete,

Not sure if I could do that, although my family would like me to. I think I was fortunate to be interested in cinemas at a young age during the 1940s and working in the industry since 1952, and seeing so many changes from the days of nitrate film, fleapits, super cinemas, cine-variety, to name a few!

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-18-2003, 10:26 AM:

Thanks, Bernard. Is that the same auditorium which later became Merton Civic Hall?

Posted by Bernard Tonks (Member # 809) on 02-19-2003, 04:23 AM:

Hi Leo,

I certainly remember the name, Merton Civic Hall. So it could well have been the same auditorium. BTW, the stage was also equipped with a 25 foot fly tower.