Empire Cinemas - London Haymarket

AdoraKiaOra on January 6, 2008 at 5:44 am

It is hoped that during the run of ‘Brief Encounter’ that the two smaller screens will run old black and white movies such as Ealing comedies etc. I think the whole idea and set up is wonderful and i wish it every success.

Ian on September 9, 2007 at 8:19 am

Two September 2007 photos of the foyer here:–

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AdoraKiaOra on May 3, 2007 at 6:16 am

The only reason to visit this place is to see the screen 1 auditorium as seen in Kens photo above. The building is a perfect example of ‘ couldnt give a damn cinema managment’ I was a regular there in the 80s and from what i hear its just got worse andworse as the years go by.

JFM on January 7, 2007 at 1:53 am

In my day the staff rooms were downstairs, the mens on the right next to the managers office on the ground floor, and the ladies downstairs between screens 2 and 3.

There were 2 floors of offices above the main projection room, which in the Classic cinema days were the main head office. Once they were bought by Cannon and acquired offices in other locations those floors were rarely used, until they converted one of the floors into a state-of-the-art computer facility which housed the companies main financial records. I can remember having a cardkey to access the floor, which was quite unusual in those days.

I wonder if the old lift is still there? It actually started from the first floor rather than the ground, and was on the right hand side as you walk in – you go up the main stairs and it’s immmidiately on the right. Very small, 2 people max and a rickety old thing it was too, forever breaking down.

And what about the Soda Fountain restaurant in the basement? I am a little hazy on the full history, but I believe it was either never actually used or only opened for a very short time, some time in the 70’s. It was located downstairs on the same level as the screens, but had a separate door which was accessed on the way to the main exit door.

When I worked there, it was actually used for premiere receptions and press receptions/special screenings. The soda fountain counter was used as a bar (it still had the metal trays, scoops, the lot), it was in reasonably good condition and actually had fountains, though they did not actually work.

Over the years there were various attempts to sell it off to outside companies, which never came to anything.

Unfortunately there were a lot of problems with the mens toilets which were directly above, they had some flooding and this completely ruined the restuarant – soaked carpets, mildew on the walls etc and it became unusable.

I often wonder what became of it, anyone know?

JFM on January 6, 2007 at 3:11 am

I worked at this theatre from 1984 to 1992.

In 1986 there was a fire which gutted most of the foyer. It as believed to have been started deliberately by someone ho had broken in at night, and was set in a cupboard on the right side of the theatre as you walked in the main doors, where the public telephones were located. As a result the theatre was closed for about 6 months, and the film Purple Rose Of Cairo was due to start there the next day. The film, and indeed most of the staff were relocated to the Cannon Royal cinema in Charing Cross road instead.

Because of where the fire started, the structure and the wooden staircase at the left side of the foyer was largely intact, so that side of the cinema was cleaned up relatively quickly and the theatre opened for business while the other part of the foyer was cordoned off and restored. Once the right side was restored, the left side was then closed and restored properly while the right section was opened.

The greatest loss was probably the original ceiling – drawings were taken from the remains and new sections were created to look as close to the original as possible.

Because of the extensive damage to the woodwork on the right side, the bannister and stairway had to be replaced – the difference in quality to the left side in very noticable.

A great shame, as it was one of the fewer older cinemas left in London’s West End.

HowardBHaas on December 2, 2005 at 2:19 am

May 2005 photo at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardbhaas/69196524/

woody on February 18, 2004 at 9:25 am

the lobby and screen 1 retain much of the very rich italian renaissance plasterwork although they are painted in very gaudy shades of pink and purple, the interior is very close in design to that of the nearby Plaza which has recently been gutted again this time to become a supermarket!
UGC are rumoured to want to expand the ground floor of the Haymarket from 2 screens to seven and make it a dedicated arts film venue, it does need some money spending on it, the exterior is very grimey and the signage is rusting and faded (not what one would expect from a top price west end hall)