I rememeber seeing Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams in the late eigties. The inside of the Lumiere felt like it had been designed by Habitat, there was a cool and classy feel about the place. It was probably THE place to see arthouse movies at the time. Shame to lose it. Like the Odeon Haymarket and the Curzon Soho, these 600-700 seat cinemas couldn’t make it in modern London.
I worked here for a few months when they were showing, Terminator 2 and The Silence of the Lambs. The place used to take your breath away from the top of the rear stalls, where I would frequently nip into the fire escape and have a cheeky fag. It was impressive. When the lights went up however, the seats were all shabby and looked a bit moth eaten. The manager was a bit of a tyrant.
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!
Man, this place was an oddity. Can’t remember what i saw there, but I went a couple of times. the auditorium used to shake as the trains went past, and the auditoria were really narrow. Used to show some very weird stuff as well.
God, this little place is a really rotten place to see a movie, it’s so bad, there is almost a charm to it. The screens are tiny, even the ones at the swiss centre seemed bigger (despite being smaller) as there was a feeling of space. At Panton Street, the seats are buched togethyer and the ceilings are low. I saw Running on Empty, Men Don’t Leave and Three Colours Red there among others.
I worked at this place in the late eighties in the box office, which was pretty shabby. Rank had a policy of putting certain films on exclusive presentation there, on my first day When Harry met Sally sold out 5 presentations on a single saturday. Rank underestimated the power of Meg Ryan faking and orgasm, and it’s effect on the zeitgeist….The box office was dead shabby, and while the auditorium looked pretty, I remember the seats were made of really itchy material. They also had a problem with fruit flies, due to crates of empty tomato juice bottles from the bar. That summer the air conditioning broke down, but still they squeezed 500 people underground on a sweltering August evening. Loads of people complained and got refunds. I am not suprised it closed down. But it did have a lot of character, and you will be hard pressed to find a cinema like it these days.
I rememeber seeing Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams in the late eigties. The inside of the Lumiere felt like it had been designed by Habitat, there was a cool and classy feel about the place. It was probably THE place to see arthouse movies at the time. Shame to lose it. Like the Odeon Haymarket and the Curzon Soho, these 600-700 seat cinemas couldn’t make it in modern London.
I worked here for a few months when they were showing, Terminator 2 and The Silence of the Lambs. The place used to take your breath away from the top of the rear stalls, where I would frequently nip into the fire escape and have a cheeky fag. It was impressive. When the lights went up however, the seats were all shabby and looked a bit moth eaten. The manager was a bit of a tyrant.
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!
This place looked really seedy from the outside
Man, this place was an oddity. Can’t remember what i saw there, but I went a couple of times. the auditorium used to shake as the trains went past, and the auditoria were really narrow. Used to show some very weird stuff as well.
God, this little place is a really rotten place to see a movie, it’s so bad, there is almost a charm to it. The screens are tiny, even the ones at the swiss centre seemed bigger (despite being smaller) as there was a feeling of space. At Panton Street, the seats are buched togethyer and the ceilings are low. I saw Running on Empty, Men Don’t Leave and Three Colours Red there among others.
I worked at this place in the late eighties in the box office, which was pretty shabby. Rank had a policy of putting certain films on exclusive presentation there, on my first day When Harry met Sally sold out 5 presentations on a single saturday. Rank underestimated the power of Meg Ryan faking and orgasm, and it’s effect on the zeitgeist….The box office was dead shabby, and while the auditorium looked pretty, I remember the seats were made of really itchy material. They also had a problem with fruit flies, due to crates of empty tomato juice bottles from the bar. That summer the air conditioning broke down, but still they squeezed 500 people underground on a sweltering August evening. Loads of people complained and got refunds. I am not suprised it closed down. But it did have a lot of character, and you will be hard pressed to find a cinema like it these days.