Hi Ken, a correction – one of the closing films was “herbie goes bananas” the derby evening telegraphs witty headline was NOBODY GOES BANANAS AS CINEMA CLOSES. At some point in the late 80’s the building had a lot of money spent on it and the mini cinemas were removed and the whole building was opened up to bingo, I think at this point it was called Cascades Bingo.
It was only demolished a year ago to be replaced by a supermarket, a fate that had befallen its nearby competitor the Majestic – another terrific deco super cinema with a similar fin tower. Derby was very lucky to have some amazing cinema buildings, virtually all of which have now gone.
Interesting note – if you look at photos of the Gloria you can see that the brickwork above the deco grill is a lighter colour, this is where it received bomb damage in the war and a large curve of brickwork was replaced.
Reopening today (Sept 16) the Greenwich Picturehouse now has five screens – 175, 129, 115, 74 and 32 operated by Picturehouse Cinemas www.picturehouses.co.uk
The architects for the £3m conversion are Panter Hudspith, the interior is very stylish with a streamlined moderne flavour and a few art deco touches. The lobby is dominated by a two storey fibre optic and glass droplet chandelier by artist Kate Williams who had a recent show at the V&A.
The Greenwich Picturehouse has full digital capability and will be fitted early in 2006 with a 2K HD digital projector, it also has a 70MM projector in Sc1 and a whole calender of screenings coming up.
The cinema will show quality mainstream, arthouse, cult and a lot of classic rep screenings as well as documentaries and short film as well as experimental cinema.
The fifth screen in the basement is a huge lounge area with red suede reclining armchair seats that for the first three weeks will host the video installation work of five artists.
The Picturehouse also has three bars an organic cafe and opening later this year will be its own organic restaurant.
The cinema reopens on Sept 16th, the building will be open for guided tours as part of Open House London on the 17th and 18th.
There are lots of building photos on the website www.picturehouses.co.uk
Here is the latest email newsletter/press release info… the cinema sounds amazing and should set a new standard for London.
Hi Mel,
Ive got a full history of the Gate in photographs and logos and floor plans that i can email to you, also there are pictures online and a full history at www.picturehouses.co.uk
The David Theatre i visited in the early 90’s was located next door to the Ameritania Hotel on Broadway, it was a single storey classical facade and a grubby little theatre with a sloping floor. Badly projected porn films flickered on the screen while bored looking sleazoids and fat cab drivers cruised the aisles, it had hard plastic seats (easy to clean… if that ever happened) there were also endless corridors and blocked overflowing toilets full of silent sex hunters, one particular vivid memory is of cockroaches falling on peoples head as they climbed up the rickety spiral staircase behind the screen to the upper rooms where lonely sad naked guys sat waiting for someone to love them
Alas another victim of the clean up and theme park-isation of new york, all the character has been drained from this once wonderful city.
No great loss architecturally, it was a sweaty room with little decoration, a screen was lowered and clips of porn films were shown, then the lights would go up, the screen would wobble up into the ceiling and a bored voice would announce “and now the delicious and tallented whoever” and some random guy would bounce (or be pushed) on stage and do a striptease, he would then disappear and there would be more film, then the same thing only this time the poor dancer would be naked and aroused and gather up dollar bills from along the catwalk, then the film would resume…
you could also meet the dancers in the lobby next to the grubby vending machines.
The Gaiety acheived its pinnacle of glamour when Madonna filmed her EROTICA pop video there and a photo session for her SEX book.
The decor could only be described as greasy mid-western cafe/lap dance bar, but what the place had by the bucket was atmosphere and an undercurrent of danger, of being mugged, robbed or simply sitting in something unpleasant.
So there we have it, a genuine piece of NY history, not neccessarily a cinema treasure but deserving of listing and recording.
It also plays host to regular q&a’s with top talent, recent guests include M. Night Shyamalan(digital village screening), Spike Lee (masterclass), Michael Winterbottom and Kieran O'Brien (9 Songs screening and q&a) and director Ken Loach. Which is quite amazing given its rough but vibrant neighbourhood, its in an equivalent area to the Kings in Brooklyn and no less iconic to its local supporters and residents.
this theatre is rumoured to be heading for demolition to be replaced by a marriot hotel covering the whole block, apart from the rather battered facade, very little remains worth saving, the rear is a hideous mass of corrugated asbestos sheeting.
Shame as its a great place to see films, especially the big screen downstairs, even though there is little legroom (a typical odeon trait)
The Empire is one of the cinemas that the newly merged Odeon and UCI chains will have to dispose of, it will be offered to the highest bidder via an agency.
Given its high running costs and the struggle to get decent films to fill 1330 seats, unless one of the two other big chains buy it, its days are numbered which is a tragedy as its one of the finest auditoriums in the world (well screen one at least)
The building is currently a complete building site, most of the frontage has been removed and will be replaced with a glass cutain wall, behind which will be a cafe on the ground floor and a new roof top bar above.
The three former screens have been rearranged into four stadium seated screens with more legroom and less seats, and the former basement will become a flexible space fifth screen with leather sofas and its own bar.
The Greenwich Picturehouse will reopen in September this year.
The programme will be quality mainstream, world cinema, documentary, short films and touring festival packages as well as rep screenings of classic and cult reissues.
The cinema will be the flagship site for Picturehouse Cinemas and also feature an art gallery and organic restaurant in the former public house next door.
ps – the eros closed on feb 14 1985, the closing film was BOLERO
Nothing remains of the cinema but some of the fittings including the front doors went to the museum of london
does anything of the original interior survive? when i last went in the early 90’s the interior seemed very modern and bland. Even if the building dates from 1909, if its a modern interior you cant really compare it to visiting such well preserved Edwardian time capsules as the Duke of Yorks in Brighton, Electric or Gate in Notting Hill or Electric in Harwich.
NB.on the rear of the building you can still faintly see the painted TATLER name
The timing would be about right, i took the pic of the doors through the filthy security grill in early 1995, and last action hero filmed in 1993
wonder what became of the doors, they were amazing and looked very authentic
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
woody
commented about
Cine 42on
Jan 29, 2005 at 12:48 pm
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
Prior to the redevelopment of 42nd st about 9 years ago, when all these theatres were boarded up i took some photos and a close-up of the original amazingly ornate doors of the empire, they had carved greek-style faces and around the face was the inscription “pandora theatre"
i cant find any reference to the empire being called this?
anyone shed any light?
here are a couple of shots of this terrific deco building I took a couple of years ago
View link
View link
here are some pics of the interior and an early evening exterior shot of this fantastic hidden gem
View link
View link
View link
Hi Ken, a correction – one of the closing films was “herbie goes bananas” the derby evening telegraphs witty headline was NOBODY GOES BANANAS AS CINEMA CLOSES. At some point in the late 80’s the building had a lot of money spent on it and the mini cinemas were removed and the whole building was opened up to bingo, I think at this point it was called Cascades Bingo.
It was only demolished a year ago to be replaced by a supermarket, a fate that had befallen its nearby competitor the Majestic – another terrific deco super cinema with a similar fin tower. Derby was very lucky to have some amazing cinema buildings, virtually all of which have now gone.
Interesting note – if you look at photos of the Gloria you can see that the brickwork above the deco grill is a lighter colour, this is where it received bomb damage in the war and a large curve of brickwork was replaced.
ive put up a load of photos of the State at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969
the chandelier in the pic in the main lobby was copied from one in Buckingham Palace
UPDATED DETAILS
Reopening today (Sept 16) the Greenwich Picturehouse now has five screens – 175, 129, 115, 74 and 32 operated by Picturehouse Cinemas www.picturehouses.co.uk
The architects for the £3m conversion are Panter Hudspith, the interior is very stylish with a streamlined moderne flavour and a few art deco touches. The lobby is dominated by a two storey fibre optic and glass droplet chandelier by artist Kate Williams who had a recent show at the V&A.
The Greenwich Picturehouse has full digital capability and will be fitted early in 2006 with a 2K HD digital projector, it also has a 70MM projector in Sc1 and a whole calender of screenings coming up.
The cinema will show quality mainstream, arthouse, cult and a lot of classic rep screenings as well as documentaries and short film as well as experimental cinema.
The fifth screen in the basement is a huge lounge area with red suede reclining armchair seats that for the first three weeks will host the video installation work of five artists.
The Picturehouse also has three bars an organic cafe and opening later this year will be its own organic restaurant.
As do their modern counterparts, the Greenwich Picturehouse and Stratford East Picturehouse which are also taking part in Open House Weekend.
Additional art deco gems open for inspection include the Isokon Flats in Belsize Park and the Park Lane Hotel
The cinema reopens on Sept 16th, the building will be open for guided tours as part of Open House London on the 17th and 18th.
There are lots of building photos on the website www.picturehouses.co.uk
Here is the latest email newsletter/press release info… the cinema sounds amazing and should set a new standard for London.
Forging Ahead!
The work is progressing well on site with the technical fitout now
underway.
Thankyou all for your patience with our second temporary closure of
the Greenwich High Road last month – this was to allow for the
structural glass façade and roof to the first floor bar to be
installed. The glass panels are full height and currently gleaming in the sun.
This glass wall provides panoramic views towards the centre of London and will make the building watertight allowing the finishes to progress at a fast pace.
The final details of finishes and colours have now been resolved
creating a unique interior for the foyer bar and café spaces. Each
space within the building is to have a slightly different feel.
The bar area will have a rich hand made carpet with a mix of reds and deep yellows. The bar itself will be edged in leather and set against dark timber walls and ceilings. The café will have a tall clean space mixing deep reds and organic greens to reflect the organic produce it will serve.
The focus of the foyer will be a central light sculpture
like a waterfall plunging down from the second floor in the centre of the space. Climbing the stairs around the sculpture offers changing views from every angle.
Our membership schemes will be launched very shortly, so watch this
space for details of how to join.
We’re still on track for a September opening and look forward to
welcoming you very soon!
Hi Mel,
Ive got a full history of the Gate in photographs and logos and floor plans that i can email to you, also there are pictures online and a full history at
www.picturehouses.co.uk
The David Theatre i visited in the early 90’s was located next door to the Ameritania Hotel on Broadway, it was a single storey classical facade and a grubby little theatre with a sloping floor. Badly projected porn films flickered on the screen while bored looking sleazoids and fat cab drivers cruised the aisles, it had hard plastic seats (easy to clean… if that ever happened) there were also endless corridors and blocked overflowing toilets full of silent sex hunters, one particular vivid memory is of cockroaches falling on peoples head as they climbed up the rickety spiral staircase behind the screen to the upper rooms where lonely sad naked guys sat waiting for someone to love them
Alas another victim of the clean up and theme park-isation of new york, all the character has been drained from this once wonderful city.
No great loss architecturally, it was a sweaty room with little decoration, a screen was lowered and clips of porn films were shown, then the lights would go up, the screen would wobble up into the ceiling and a bored voice would announce “and now the delicious and tallented whoever” and some random guy would bounce (or be pushed) on stage and do a striptease, he would then disappear and there would be more film, then the same thing only this time the poor dancer would be naked and aroused and gather up dollar bills from along the catwalk, then the film would resume…
you could also meet the dancers in the lobby next to the grubby vending machines.
The Gaiety acheived its pinnacle of glamour when Madonna filmed her EROTICA pop video there and a photo session for her SEX book.
The decor could only be described as greasy mid-western cafe/lap dance bar, but what the place had by the bucket was atmosphere and an undercurrent of danger, of being mugged, robbed or simply sitting in something unpleasant.
So there we have it, a genuine piece of NY history, not neccessarily a cinema treasure but deserving of listing and recording.
It also plays host to regular q&a’s with top talent, recent guests include M. Night Shyamalan(digital village screening), Spike Lee (masterclass), Michael Winterbottom and Kieran O'Brien (9 Songs screening and q&a) and director Ken Loach. Which is quite amazing given its rough but vibrant neighbourhood, its in an equivalent area to the Kings in Brooklyn and no less iconic to its local supporters and residents.
this theatre is rumoured to be heading for demolition to be replaced by a marriot hotel covering the whole block, apart from the rather battered facade, very little remains worth saving, the rear is a hideous mass of corrugated asbestos sheeting.
Shame as its a great place to see films, especially the big screen downstairs, even though there is little legroom (a typical odeon trait)
The Empire is one of the cinemas that the newly merged Odeon and UCI chains will have to dispose of, it will be offered to the highest bidder via an agency.
Given its high running costs and the struggle to get decent films to fill 1330 seats, unless one of the two other big chains buy it, its days are numbered which is a tragedy as its one of the finest auditoriums in the world (well screen one at least)
the movie is “a woman of affairs” starring john gilbert, it opened in 1928
The building is currently a complete building site, most of the frontage has been removed and will be replaced with a glass cutain wall, behind which will be a cafe on the ground floor and a new roof top bar above.
The three former screens have been rearranged into four stadium seated screens with more legroom and less seats, and the former basement will become a flexible space fifth screen with leather sofas and its own bar.
The Greenwich Picturehouse will reopen in September this year.
The programme will be quality mainstream, world cinema, documentary, short films and touring festival packages as well as rep screenings of classic and cult reissues.
The cinema will be the flagship site for Picturehouse Cinemas and also feature an art gallery and organic restaurant in the former public house next door.
ps – the eros closed on feb 14 1985, the closing film was BOLERO
Nothing remains of the cinema but some of the fittings including the front doors went to the museum of london
The cinema featured is the exterior of the eros cinema 7 shaftsbury ave (currently a gap store)
the interior shots in the film were a studio set
does anything of the original interior survive? when i last went in the early 90’s the interior seemed very modern and bland. Even if the building dates from 1909, if its a modern interior you cant really compare it to visiting such well preserved Edwardian time capsules as the Duke of Yorks in Brighton, Electric or Gate in Notting Hill or Electric in Harwich.
NB.on the rear of the building you can still faintly see the painted TATLER name
The timing would be about right, i took the pic of the doors through the filthy security grill in early 1995, and last action hero filmed in 1993
wonder what became of the doors, they were amazing and looked very authentic
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
Check this link to the UK Cinema Theatre Association CTA Online Yahoo group.Ive added six photos of 42nd st area cinemas, including a 1995 photo of the Adonis, the David, the Empire, Cine 42, New Amsterdam and Harem
As well as two postcards one of 42nd street in the snow in all its eighties sleazy glory and one very early eighties one of it at night…enjoy!
View link
posted by woody on Jan 29, 2005 at 3:42pm
Prior to the redevelopment of 42nd st about 9 years ago, when all these theatres were boarded up i took some photos and a close-up of the original amazingly ornate doors of the empire, they had carved greek-style faces and around the face was the inscription “pandora theatre"
i cant find any reference to the empire being called this?
anyone shed any light?