Curzon Soho
93-107 Shaftesbury Avenue,
London,
W1D 5DY
93-107 Shaftesbury Avenue,
London,
W1D 5DY
1 person
favorited this theater
This cinema in Shaftesbury Avenue opened in February 1959 as the Columbia Cinema, leased to Columbia Pictures as an outlet for that studio’s films. It was sunk into the basement of a large office block and had 734 seats, a huge screen, and (strangely) supporting pillars – although these were down the sides of the single tier auditorium and did not interfere with sightlines. At ground level there is a very generous sized foyer.
Classic Cinemas chain took over the lease in 1982 but failed to make a go of the newly renamed Classic and it became the Premiere with an art-house policy. This was also short lived and eventually it was operated by Curzon who again renamed it and made a big success of the cinema.
Eventually in 1998 it was deemed too large and sub-division into a three screen complex took place. This was expensively done and the resulting cinemas – screen 1 with 250 seats, screen 2 with 130 seats and screen 3 with 110 seats – remain popular and continue to present a wide choice of Independent films.
Contributed by
Ian Grundy
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
Here is another photo of the Curzon Soho.
I visited the Curzon Soho last week for a screening of the French film “Lemmings.” Interesting film, but what I found most notable was that “Lemmings” was presented (in the largest auditorium of the Curzon Soho) in DLP without any promotion in the local press that the Curzon engagement of “Lemmings” was presented digitally.
A classy arthouse—-far superior to its equivalents in NYC such as the Angelika and Lincoln Plaza.
Photographed at night in August 2006:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zonca/214891038/
and by day in the same month :–
View link
This is another recent view of the Curzon Soho.
I worked as an usher there for a few months in the late eighties. The management used to run it along the lines of a theatre, and it was always a very highbrow crowd. The auditorum was all in blue, and the seats were extremely comfortable for the time. A shame to see it sliced and diced, though am not suprised. It was rarely very busy, though the new improved version seems to be doing a roaring trade in DVDs and carrot cake!
Here is an updated link for the photo posted on Apr 2, 2006.
Another photo of the Curzon here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4364914804/
press ad from august 1982 when it reopened as the Classic Shaftsbury Ave, with slightly less classy programming than todays
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/5447698533/
Described in this 1959 trade article: boxoffice