Curzon Bloomsbury
Brunswick Square,
London,
WC1N 1AW
Brunswick Square,
London,
WC1N 1AW
3 people favorited this theater
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The 2014 link to architectural drawings of the change to six screens no longer works. However, Takero Shimazaki Architects' site has some photos and, at the bottom of the page, some drawings of how the new screens fit into the space:
https://www.t-sa.co.uk/project/curzon-bloomsbury/
1977, 1978, 1981, 1986 grand opening ads posted.
Grand opening ad from January 18th, 1972 posted.
Photo posted (4 Sept.2016) of the map advert for the brand new Bloomsbury Cinema and the first presentation referred to in our first paragraph.
An August 2016 photo here:–
CURZON BLOOMSBURY
In a nice nod to the company’s cinemas from the past, five of the new Curzon auditoriums are named Renoir (the largest, with 141 seats plus 9 more in a small balcony), Lumiere, Plaza, Phoenix and Minema (I believe the smallest, with 21 seats). The sixth is the Bertha DocHouse, devoted to showing documentaries; this has it’s own lounge/reception area. Inevitably, shoehorning six auditoriums into a relatively restricted space has led to the five smaller ones being rather cramped.
2 auditorium shots uploaded as it was when ABC briefly ran it.
The Curzon Bloomsbury is opening on 27th March, with six screens designed by architect Takero Shimazaki. The fifth one will retain the name Renoir and be the largest with 139 seats and 10 more in the balcony. Other screens are around 30 each except the 55 seat Bertha Dochouse screen 6
This cinema closed 1st June 2014 with “Boudu Saved from Drowning” for sub division into 6 screens, reopening in December 2014 as the Curzon Bloomsbury. The architecural drawings show 1 “large” screen of 155 seats in the centre of the original auditorium, 1 “medium” 59 seat screen on the stage, and 4 small screens of either 24 or 29 seats each towards the rear of the original auditorium.
Details at http://www.curzoncinemas.com/news/all/renoir_cinema_curzon_bloomsbury.aspx
The place had similarities to the Angelica Film Centre in Manhattan – great art house film selections, but awkward auditoriums. The cinema had been unsatisfactorily twinned down the centre in 1981.
So, sad to see it close in it’s current format, sad to see the loss of it’s name, but hopeful the reopened cinemas will be better.
another press ad from dec 1979 for The Outsider showing exclusively at the Gate Two
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/4701021075/
a press ad from dec 1979 for the late shows at the Gate Two (and the Gate Notting Hill)
View link
I visited this cinema on business in 1976, when it was still a single screen. The thing I remember most was the massive projection suite, which extended cross the entire back wall of the theatre. There was also a toilet in one corner, if I remember correctly.
Flyer for Luchino Visconti’s 1943 Ossessione at the Renoir.
Photographed in 1988:–
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Photographed in 2002:
http://www.moviebunker.com/renoir_cinema.htm
Another photograph from the ‘closed for refurbishment’ perion in Summer 2005:
http://flickr.com/photosdanrkelly/91757143/
Photographed in Summer 2005 during refurbishment:
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An exterior photograph prior to the 2005 refurbishment here:
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Named after Jean Renoir, the film director.
Was this cinema named after Jean Renoir the film director, or his father Pierre-Auguste the painter?