Vue West End

A bunch of shoeboxes now. I remember seeing THE TOWERING INFERNO there in the 1970s and stuff like BATMAN and NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN etc, those days it was REAL theatre, and I remember portraits of hollywood's golden era stars as we walked throug a long corridor to their flagship screen in those days.

Its to bad Warner Bros didn't include one large screen in the complex.I guess the Odeon is the last screen in the West End with first class showmanship.London at least has the Odeon and a few other major screens where New York has not one major screen left on Broadway.brucec

From Summer 2004 all Warner Village Cinemas have been renamed VUE, the Warner West End is now VUE Cinemas, Leicester Square.

current exterior photo at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardbhaas/69196525/

A close-up view taken in January 2006 of the recently installed Vue signage.

OOOoops, here is the link I omitted to add above:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/82719501/in/pool-cinemasignage/

Never managed to visit the original Warner as a single screen but as a twin, triplex and even fiveplex it was much better than as this nineplex which is almost a grind house in comparison. Before the refit in the mid 90s the ads in Time Out were fullpage black and white with short synopses of the films and 4 out of 5 screens were worth the trip to the West End...Saw Driving Miss Daisy, Bonfire of the Vanities, The Grifters here
As a nineplex there are only 2 really great screens and the rest are good for filler and second run rather than first run...the crowds are also pretty unpleasant...Over the years have made it through The Fugitive, My Best Friend's Wedding, The Fifth Element, Gilbert Grape, Scream, Don Juan De Marco, Big Night, Gingerbread Man, True Romance and plenty more and more recently exclusive first runs of The Aviator and Brokeback Mountain but hate paying 12.50 pounds essentially 20 dollars for a mediocre multiplex experience

The Warner Theatre was still a single screen 2,500 seater 'Home to Warner Brothers' when I took this photograph in July 1964:
http://photobucket.com/albums/y191/KenR-UK/?action=view¤t=WarnerCranbourneStreet.jpg

There's little here to justify charging West End prices. It also has by far the worst film policy in the area, Cineworld and Odeon in the West End have far more diverse films on offer.

Shame that they are getting more exclusives, something like Brokeback Mountain or Chicken Little 3D would have been amazing in the Empire. Sadly I think I will end up forking £11.50 out for the latter film.

Any body have more information or photos inside and out of this theater when it was a single hard ticket house?
By the time I saw it in the mid 70's it was already a quad I believe.

My photo from April:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardbhaas/128449431/

My closeups of the exterior sculptural decoration:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardbhaas/128449430/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/howardbhaas/128449429/

Saw “Maverick” there in Dolby Stereo SR type THX sound system. One thing that I remember was the projectionist “Andy Symes” chief projectionists was on the ball when! Pop Berrr Blerrrrr sounds where coming out of all the loudspeakers, sounded like when you remove an RCA or phone lead where the negative end of the lead isn’t making contact with the audio component.

Still it was quite an impressive Dolby Stereo SR THX presentation, not as impacting as the Empire or High Wycombe. I did manage to get to talk to Andy, that day. He was kind enough to show me around the THX booth, very impressive.

nightime shot taken march 2007
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/429778257/in/photostream/

This was dominating two THX screens at the VUE cinema on Thursday well one actually it was (interlocked) and a few other substandard screens now that is taking the Mickey and I wanted to see Fantastic 4 in THX. So did I bother seeing The Simpson’s in THX no way in bugger that.

http://i174.photobucket.com/albums/w118/Brainstorm3417/Picture118.jpg

I recall the old Warner Westend shortly before demolition of the auditorium block. It was always a favourite place of mine to see a film in the 1980's even the smaller screens built in the basement were good althpugh I seem to remmember they were reached through a maze of narrow corridors and could be hard to find!! The replacement is awful and bland and as I remember has a very strange angled auditorium in one of the screens.

Here is another view of the Vue.

A photo of the Warner in 1987 here:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/1083440076/

And an earlier view from 1980 here:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/2157512511/

Here is another photo. I think this is December 2007:
http://tinyurl.com/2ll8xf

I think that's a photo of the Odeon Leicester Square.

yes, Lost Memory is correct. That's a photo of the Odeon, not of this theater.

Thanks Howard. This is another recent view.

Here is another 2008 photo.

Scarily enough haven't been here since Brokeback Mountain...the shame of the Vue and of Leicester Sq in general is the loss of identity of certain screens with certain studios i.e. the big WB movies would open here, Paramount/Universal product at the Empire and Disney/Columbia at the Odeons...the big screen here was still a great experience until the refurb

Here's a 1942 view of the exterior: http://images.google.com/hosted/life/l?imgurl=57cb2b0193324417&q=billboard+source:life&usg=__T6OTFnT4rhJX9anHumLEf5cPqDw=&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbillboard%2Bsource:life%26start%3D20%26ndsp%3D20%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN

I have to retract part of what I posted above, saw a film in the 'big' screen five last night and the sound/image quality was top notch.

saw , "the wild bunch," here when still a single screen. Frankly it was a better cinema then than this vue cinema is now.

Seth

I agree with that statement it’s a real shambles now! I think VUE has lost its THX licence for one of its two THX screens so they only have one THX screen now, not that it presents threat to Empire screen 1. Empire would just smile and VUE would tremble at the knees and fall to Empire’s feet begging for mercy.

Last film I’ve seen at the VUE was Wolverine in Dolby SR-D THX. And VUE has slyly sneaked in Martin Audio loudspeakers THX certified but I’m not a Martin Audio fan I’m a JBL fan have been for 20 years now.

The film before that was Maverick in THX Dolby SR.

Lost

I find the outside of the cinema just damn right ugly looking with that bright in your face orange logo that is so unappealing no worse undesirable.

For god sakes please change it back to Warner Bros the Warner shield logo looked the part, its if they VUE has robbed from the poor and need to change their name.

The spectacular neon display at night in this November 1955 photograph of the Warner Theatre:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allhails/2808549510/

Three views of the Warner Theatre on 3rd January 1957, the opening day of "Giant":
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allhails/2821640832/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allhails/2820798505/
At night:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allhails/2820804623/

VUE West End is due for new makeover this is the word.

This (Friday October 2nd 2009) just gone I was chatting to a chap who works for VUE in and (outside mostly) and word is starting around early 2010 VUE is going to get a brand new spanking makeover.

They’d been looking for archival pictures that date back to the 1930’s but can’t find any? I’ve only found ones on the internet that only go as far back as 1950’s.

Does anyone here have pictures dating as far back too 1930’s?

Thanks

Also VUE has just had its THX updated as well as Dolby tightening up the sound in all its screens.

A history of the former Daly's Theatre which stood on the site, including vintage photographs and memorabilia, plus some more recent photographs of the Village West End/Vue:
http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/DalysTheatre.htm

Ken - thanks for posting the link to arthurlloyd website which has so much interesting data on venues past and present in the Leicester Square area. I recall reading somewhere circa-1980 that the lower lounge of the Daly's Theatre had been preserved in the Warner's Cinema. At Daly's, when you entered from the street you were at the level of the first circle or balcony, and had to go downstairs to the stalls or main floor. So the lounge would have been in the sub-basement. It seems rather far-fetched to me that this lounge could have been preserved while the new cinema was being constructed. The Arthur Lloyd site does not mention this.

Ron; You are correct in stating the dress circle of Daly's Theatre was at street level, with the stalls seating located in the sub-basement. I have it on record that when the Warner Theatre was constructed, the original area occupied by the Daly's Theatre stalls seating, was taken up for a publc reception room (ie lower foyer) and engineering equipment chambers (ie possibly a plenum room, electrical intake rooms and boiler house).

The Warner Theatre was built on an extended site, with additional properties at the rear of Daly's Theatre on Lisle Street being demolished and added to the Warner Theater site.

I went to see the first of the Christopher Reeve 'Superman' films at the Warner, and was very disappointed with the picture and sound quality by comparison with the Dominion Tottenham Court Road and the Odeon Marble Arch.