Empire Cinema
5-6 Leicester Square,
London,
WC2H 7NA
5-6 Leicester Square,
London,
WC2H 7NA
28 people
favorited this theater
The Empire Theatre was built and opened on 17th April 1884, designed as a music hall by architect Thomas Verity it could seat 3,000. The old Pit seating entrance can still be seen today if you go around to the left of the theatre into Leicester Street. In 1893 a new facade and foyer was built on Leicester Square, designed by Frank T. Verity. This facade and entrance is what is seen today, as on 22nd January 1927, the old Empire Theatre was closed, after it had been taken over by Loew’s Inc. in 1925. The auditorium was demolished and a new one built to the plans of Scottish born architect Thomas W. Lamb (from the USA) assisted by F.W. Boettcher (from the UK) and associated architect was Frederick G.M. Chancellor of the noted UK theatre architectural firm Frank Matcham & Company.
The new Empire Theatre opened on 8th November 1928 with Norma Shearer in “Trelawney of the Wells” and for the following 33 years became the London premier home to MGM feature films. It housed 3,330 seats in its massive and decorative auditorium. There were 1,916 seats in the stalls, 180 loge seats in the front of the circle and the remainder of the circle seated 1,234. The Empire Theatre had a fully equipped stage and for a period in the late-1940’s until February 1952, it was put to full use when a stage show accompanied the main feature film. The proscenium was 54 feet wide and the stage 35 feet deep. It was equipped with a WurliTzer 4Manual/21Rank organ. The Leicester Square landmark also had an opulent lobby and all the normal regalia of an American movie palace, its interior resembled the Adam style Thomas Lamb designed Capitol Theatre in Manhattan, New York, its exterior is in the Italian Renaissance style.
Of course, as the Empire Theatre was Loew’s premier theatre in the UK, all the MGM films which opened at the Empire Theatre over the years were UK premiere presentations, as were the occasional productions from other studios, but there were also many special premieres over the years: the first of these being a midnight charity premiere-4th September 1935, Eleanor Powell in “Broadway Melody of 1936”, gala late night premiere-31st March 1938, Robert Taylor “A Yank at Oxford”, evening premiere-concurrent with the Palace Theatre and the Ritz Cinema 18th April 1940 Vivien Leigh “Gone With the Wind”, Charity Premiere-10th August 1944 Irene Dunne “The White Cliffs of Dover”, Royal Command Performance (the first to be held)-1st November 1946 David Niven “A Matter of Life and Death”, Royal Command Performance-29th November 1948 John Mills “Scott of the Antarctic”, Royal Command Performance-30th October 1950 Irene Dunne “The Mudlark”, Royal Premiere-12th June 1952 Robert Taylor “Ivanhoe”, Royal Film Performance-27th October 1952 Mario Lanza “Because Your Mine”, Royal Film Performance-15th November 1954 Stewart Granger “Beau Brummel”, Royal World Premiere-16th May 1955 Richard Todd “The Dam Busters”, Royal Charity Premiere-16th November 1955 Jose Ferrer “Cockleshell Heroes”, Gala Charity Premiere-19th September 1956 Marlon Brando “Guys and Dolls”, Royal Charity Premiere-29th June 1957 Marlon Brando “Teahouse of the August Moon”, The Royal Film Performance-2nd February 1959 Alec Guinness “The Horses Mouth”.
A Charity Premiere-17th December 1959 Charlton Heston “Ben Hur” which ran for 76 weeks until 28th May 1961, was the last film to be screened in the original auditorium. For this final presentation a new projection box was built in the centre of the stalls, beneath the front of the balcony (loosing half the stalls seating due to the projection box and bad sightlines of seating on the extreme edges). The projection had a straight throw of 78 feet to a new 52 feet masked wide screen which had been erected just in front of the proscenium arch. The seating capacity was reduced to 1,723.
With its attendance already declining before the “Ben Hur” run, and mounting criticism of the theater’s technical quality, it had been decided to ’re-do' the theatre. It was closed and totally gutted internally. The building had been purchased by Mecca Ltd.
It re-opened on 19th June 1962 with Doris Day in “Jumbo”. The cinema had a completely new look inside the shell of the old theater. Designed by noted cinema architect George Coles, his last major project, it was in a ‘modern’ style for the 1960’s. Seating was provided for 1,330 on a single floor which was formerly the circle, now extended forward. There were 688 in the front seating section and 642 in the former stepped section of the circle. The former stalls area became a Mecca Dance Hall (which in 2006, became a casino). The original facade was entirely covered by a new advertising hoarding.
Later incorporating two other spaces, the adjacent Ritz Cinema and another small space off the foyer which opened as the 80 seat, Screen 3, on 29th November 1985 with Harrison Ford in “Witness”, the Empire Cinema was now a triplex. Many more premiers were held, and still are held, in the Empire Cinema’s magnificent main auditorium, which in 1989 was refurbished and was THX certified.
Seating 1,330 in the main Screen 1 (with a huge 60 feet wide by 25 feet high screen) and 77 in Screen 3. (Screen 2 in the former adjacent Ritz Cinema is listed seperately as ‘Empire Screen 2’ on this site, and has a current seating capacity of 349). The facade has since been restored. After many years being operated by UCI it was taken over by the Irish based Empire Cinemas Ltd. as part of a new circuit they are now operating in the UK. On 20th June 2008, two new screens 4 & 5 opened in spaces that had originaly been a toilet area and green room. In August 2009, a further four screens were created in the building, giving a total of eight screens, plus one screen in the former adjacent Ritz Cinema which is known as ‘Screen 2’.
Contributed by
Ross Melnick, Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 175 comments)
@MarkDHite
You know I still can’t aspect the new look of the front it looks cheap and bland kinder reminds me of coffee and I hate coffee. The colour of the panel that now sits on the front.
The look of the late 80’s was jazzy full of sparkle colour and chactutre that draws you towards the Empire away from the Odeon LS if you get my meaning. LOL It was like a magnetic THX force pulling you towards it.
Today it just looks naff! I’ve taken so many pictures myself of the new look, which they had cheap digital cameras around in the late 80’s to bring back home some Empire memories. The late 90’s look was like thumbs down as well.
Cinema is about glitz and style just as much as important on the outside as on the inside. I guess the like to wait and see the reactions of people going in first timers or do they even care to notice that?
It’s a shame the old curtains have gone in Empire 1 as that was style second to none and now its just cheap simple curtains that pull back, not upwards then outwards as they used to.
Oh, one more thing the sign on the doors the letterheads typeface is still there and new Empire typeface just doesn’t fit. It looks robotic and they even took down the gold brass typeface that stood above Empire 1 I think Empire 2 had similar typeface, I never cared for Empire 2 or 3, just as I don’t care for the new Empire screens only Empire 1 I won’t pay to watch a film on wimpy sound system even thou its JBL and I’m a fan of JBL. If I’m going to travel 120 miles its for Empire 1.
Also I think its Empire I forget which number its on the far left and side up a few stairs, and wow you can hear the lows from Empire 1 fitter badly into that no bigger to swing cat around auditorium. I bet its get a lot of complaints from customs paying to watch a film in silly sized room that is about the size of fair decent home cinema.
I think Empire got a little big for their shoes and it should be knocked down and used as store room because its not suitable as cinema, I think its Empire 9?
Vintage photographs of the Empire Theatre, and the console of its Wurlitzer organ;
http://www.ukwurlitzer.co.cc/1931.html
A vintage photograph from April 1955, showing the Empire Theatre playing the film “So Deep in My Heart” starring Jose Ferrer, and the Monseigneur News Theatre (later Jacey Leicester Square Cinema):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/allhails/5154554082/
Here’s a link to historical newsreel coverage of the 1928 grand opening of the Empire Theatre: http://www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=81113
Is this cinema feeling the pinch? Now advertising all tickets for all screens at £9.95 all day, every day. Seems an odd tactic for what should be a premier venue and must make it the cheapest first-run cinema in the West End
Auditorium pictured in this 1938 trade ad for the seating fabric known as Velmo Mohair Velvet: Boxoffice
As of this date, still 9.95 lbs all day everyday with website proclaiming that it is the Best Value in the West End.
Exterior photos from April 2008 and exterior and interior photos from February 2009.
the seating that was installed in 1962 (and is still in use today albeit refurbished a few times) was made by The American Seating Company. They are still in business.