Phoenix Cinema
Encyclopedia
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
in East Finchley
East Finchley
East Finchley is a suburb in the London Borough of Barnet, in north London, and situated north-west of Charing Cross. Geographically it is somewhat separate from the rest of Finchley, with North Finchley and West Finchley to the north, and Finchley Central to the west.- History :The land on which...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, which was built in 1910 and opened in 1912 as the 'East Finchley Picturedrome'. It is the 2nd oldest continuously-running cinema in the UK (the Duke of York's Picture House, Brighton is the oldest), and shows mainly arthouse films.
It is distinctive on East Finchley's high road by its large neon sign on the side of the building. Its patrons are Maureen Lipman
Maureen Lipman
Maureen Diane Lipman CBE is a British film, theatre and television actress, columnist and comedienne.-Early life:Lipman was born in Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Maurice Julius Lipman and Zelma Pearlman. Her father was a tailor; he used to have a shop between the...
, Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
, Ken Loach
Ken Loach
Kenneth "Ken" Loach is a Palme D'Or winning English film and television director.He is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his socialist beliefs, which are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness , labour rights and child abuse at the...
, Michael Palin
Michael Palin
Michael Edward Palin, CBE FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries....
, Bill Paterson
Bill Paterson
Bill Paterson is a Scottish stage, film and television actor.-Early years:Born in Glasgow, Scotland, Paterson spent three years as a quantity surveyor's apprentice, before attending the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama...
, Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood
Victoria Wood CBE is a British comedienne, actress, singer-songwriter, screenwriter and director. Wood has written and starred in sketches, plays, films and sitcoms, and her live stand-up comedy act is interspersed with her own compositions, which she accompanies on piano...
and Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode
Mark Kermode is an English film critic, musician and a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. He contributes to Sight and Sound magazine, The Observer newspaper and BBC Radio 5 Live, where he presents Kermode and Mayo's Film Reviews with Simon Mayo on Friday afternoons...
. It is run by a trust for the community.
The Picturedrome (1910-1923)
The 1909 Cinematograph ActCinematograph Act 1909
The Cinematograph Act 1909 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It was the first primary legislation in the UK which specifically regulated the film industry...
introduced laws to make cinemas safer. As a result, more purpose-built cinemas began to appear from 1910 onwards including this one. The Phoenix Cinema was built in 1910 by Premier Electric Theatres, however the company went bankrupt before the cinema could be opened. In 1912, the building was purchased by businessmen who had been involved in setting up East Sheen Picturedrome. They finally opened it as 'The East Finchley Picturedrome' in May 1912 with 428 seats. The first screening was of a film about the tragic Titanic ocean liner which has recently sunk. The natural fall of the land was utilised for the sloped seating with the screen at the High Road end.
The Coliseum (1924-36)
In 1924, the cinema's name changed to the 'Coliseum'. In 1925, the cinema was sold to Home Counties Theatres Ltd, which also owned the Athenaeum Picture Playhouse and the Summerland Cinema, both in Muswell HillMuswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...
. At this time, the typical programme was silent movies accompanied by live music, plus variety acts such as singers, magicians and comedians. But in 1928, British cinema went through a huge transformation when the first sound film, The Jazz Singer
The Jazz Singer (1927 film)
The Jazz Singer is a 1927 American musical film. The first feature-length motion picture with synchronized dialogue sequences, its release heralded the commercial ascendance of the "talkies" and the decline of the silent film era. Produced by Warner Bros. with its Vitaphone sound-on-disc system,...
, featuring the voice of the film’s star Al Jolson
Al Jolson
Al Jolson was an American singer, comedian and actor. In his heyday, he was dubbed "The World's Greatest Entertainer"....
, premiered in the London's West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
. Cinemas across London started the transition to sound and on 22 July 1929 this cinema was the first in the area to show a sound film, screening Al Jolson’s latest The Singing Fool
The Singing Fool
The Singing Fool is a 1928 musical drama Part-Talkie motion picture which was released by Warner Brothers. The film starred Al Jolson and was a follow-up to his previous film, The Jazz Singer...
.
The Rex (1937-1975)
In 1937, the building was redesigned and rebuilt in a more art decoArt Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
style and reopened as the 'Rex' in September 1938. From short silent presentations, often part of stage variety shows with musical accompaniment, film had moved on to full-length sound feature films as we know them today. The major alterations of 1938 were a response to competition from the new 1000 seater 'picture palaces' being built by chains such as Odeon
Odeon Cinemas
Odeon Cinemas is a British chain of cinemas, one of the largest in Europe. It is owned by Odeon & UCI Cinemas Group whose ultimate parent is Terra Firma Capital Partners.-History:Odeon Cinemas was created in 1928 by Oscar Deutsch...
, ABC and Gaumont
Gaumont British
Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was the British arm of the French film company Gaumont. The company became independent of its French parent in 1922, when Isidore Ostrer acquired control of Gaumont-British....
in the surrounding area.
So in 1938 the cinema underwent a transformation, reopening in September as The Rex with a new modernist façade by Howes and Jackman and
Renowned cinema interior designers Mollo & Egan redesigned the auditorium. The original 1910 barrel vaulted ceiling was retained, but decorative Art Deco panels were added along the walls. The auditorium was reversed, with the screen moving to the opposite end. This involved considerable alteration to the flooring to create a rake for the seating. The colour scheme, like today, was red, bronze and gold.the number increasing to 528. A projection box was built over the foyer to satisfy the requirements of the Cinematograph Act 1909
Cinematograph Act 1909
The Cinematograph Act 1909 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . It was the first primary legislation in the UK which specifically regulated the film industry...
, with shutters over the windows to the auditorium which could be closed in case of fire. A pair of Kershaw Kalee II arc film projectors with RCA sound heads and an RCA high fidelity 6-valve amplifier were installed. Behind the screen were two RCA loudspeakers, where they remained for over 60 years. Modern heating and ventilation systems were also installed. These alterations together with the improved sight lines from the seating raised the standard of the Rex to meet those of its north London competitors.
The front of the cinema was transformed by architects Howes & Jackman with a move to the sleek lines of 1930s art deco architecture. The turrets and decorative plasterwork were removed to give the exterior a more 'modern' look. Glazed black tiles set against cream plaster and a new canopy stretching across the width of the cinema were accompanied by a neon sign with the new name, The Rex.
The Rex opened as an independent cinema compiling its own programmes, unlike the nearby chain cinemas, whose schedules were decided by their allied production companies.
Advertising from 1938 reassured the public that 'If it is good it's on our screen'. There was a full programme with a double-bill of two features, a major and minor release, a short and a newsreel, all at the same prices as the chains. Advertising, neglected by the Coliseum, was embraced by The Rex and it was always keeping up with innovations from the larger distributors.
Rex's programming policy in the late 1930s allowed it to tailor its presentations to its public's tastes. British films were therefore favoured and popular films were presented that had previously gone round the big circuits, allowing patrons to see films they had missed elsewhere or to see a favourite film a second time around. Sunday showings of older films and a standard mid-week change of programme (when the circuits were holding a film for a whole week) provided a rich diet for even the most enthusiastic cinemagoer.
In 1973 the Rex was acquired by the Granada Group. Within weeks the programming policy changed to commercial circuit releases and the previously steady increase in admissions stalled. The EFNA (East Finchley Neighbourhood Association) produced a petition and an accusatory article, Granada Wrecks the Rex, was published by Keith Lumley resulting in a new owner and a programming policy reversal
The Phoenix (1975-present)
The cinema took its current name in 1975 when it was purchased and run by the distribution company Contemporary Films and concentrated on showing independent, foreign and specialist films, as it does today.In 1983 a property company applied to Barnet Council
Barnet London Borough Council
Barnet London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Barnet in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in the United Kingdom capital of London. Barnet is divided into 21 wards, each electing three councillors...
for planning permission to build an office block on the site occupied by the cinema and the two lock-up garages behind it. Audience patterns were changing and Contemporary Films considered that the cinema was no longer economically viable and took the opportunity to take retirement. The Barnet Planning Committee approved the development but the Greater London Council
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
rejected the proposal. After the consequent public inquiry in April 1984 permission for the office block was granted. Widespread opposition by local residents (with the patronage of Maureen Lipman
Maureen Lipman
Maureen Diane Lipman CBE is a British film, theatre and television actress, columnist and comedienne.-Early life:Lipman was born in Hull in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, the daughter of Maurice Julius Lipman and Zelma Pearlman. Her father was a tailor; he used to have a shop between the...
) finally resulted in yet another change of hands into the Phoenix Cinema Trust, which now relies on its own income and donations to survive. Francis Coleman
Francis Coleman
Francis Coleman was a conductor and television producer and director.Born in Montreal, Canada, Coleman began working in an office at the age of fourteen while studying music at evening classes...
, who was prominent in the opposition, was the Trust's first Chair.
In 1999 an English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
review resulted in some thirty cinemas acquiring listed status in recognition of their historic and architectural importance. Many of the 123 cinema buildings already listed no longer showed films but listing does ensure that the auditoriums or fascias remain as a reminder of the golden years of cinema construction. English Heritage recognised the importance of the Phoenix's original 1910 barrel-vaulted ceiling and the 1938 Mollo and Egan decorative wall panels and in 2000 the cinema received a Grade II listing. As one of the earliest purpose-built cinemas in the UK and one of even fewer still operating as a cinema, the Phoenix is therefore protected from demolition or damaging alterations.
Phoenix Cinema Trust Ltd
The non-profit making Phoenix Cinema Trust Ltd was created by Hazel Sharples (London Borough of BarnetLondon Borough of Barnet
The London Borough of Barnet is a London borough in North London and forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 331,500 and covers . It borders Hertfordshire to the north and five other London boroughs: Harrow and Brent to the west, Camden and Haringey to the south-east and Enfield to the...
's Arts Officer) with the help of Michael Holden Associates. Francis Coleman with a lifelong career in TV and film production, became the first Chairman of the Trust.
Charles Cooper, owner of film distributors Contemporary Films, wanted to sell the cinema and retire. He had maintained what some call 'Arthouse' standards against heavy odds. Upon his retirement, the fate of the cinema hung very much in the balance. There were several proposals for a sale, but they were dropped when in June 1985 the GLC
Greater London Council
The Greater London Council was the top-tier local government administrative body for Greater London from 1965 to 1986. It replaced the earlier London County Council which had covered a much smaller area...
offered a grant of the same value to the Trust to purchase the cinema and the garages behind it.
The Trust was incorporated as a private Limited Company on 11 November 1985 and the building and the adjoining land were bought by the Trust in December 1985.
At the beginning of the Trust's ownership, there were barely funds to run the cinema. The heating was antiquated. So was the projection equipment with its carbon arcs. Programming was another challenge. Contemporary Films had won a quota system against mainstream distributors for newly released American and UK films, which meant that the Phoenix was able to 'claim' every fourth or fifth one.
In 1989 the Trust enlarged the upper foyer by repositioning the stairs and creating a new entrance to the auditorium. In 2010 there was a further renovation to celebrate the cinema's centenary, which introduced a new cafe-bar along with a general refurbishment and restoration of the whole building to celebrate the cinema's centenary.