Prince Charles Cinema

I, too, have signed the petition.

I suspect, however, that the “end game” of this is a replacement building with basement auditoria.

The ultimate parent company of the landlord (Criterion Capital) have a track record which speaks for itself, and surely doesn’t include an interest in cultural capital of a slightly quirky and offbeat nature. (They own the Trocadero and 1-3 Leicester Square, the latter of which contains what is now the 4DX auditorium of Cineworld Leicester Square at basement levels.)

I think what PCC very likely have in mind, therefore, is applying pressure on Westminster Council to insist upon a replacement cinema as a condition of any planning permission for a replacement building. Possibly, too, keeping the PCC open for the longest possible period until building work starts, which won’t be soon. (Come to think of it, Criterion also have been known to stretch out the duration to project completion: see their Trocadero redevelopment, which alas doesn’t bode well for business continuity of a single site cinema operator.)

The “downstairs screen” is one of the last bastions of 1960’s-era cinema auditoria design and offers very high quality projection and sound. The 4K NEC digital projection installed is suitable for a “PLF” auditorium and is “over-specified” for the modest screen size. However, sightlines can be poor and the downstairs foyer is not fit for purpose. Despite this, it’s still a great place to watch a film. Tabs and masking certainly were in use on a recent visit!

So many great times there even just in the past year - Nashville, The Thing, Hard Eight, Spartacus, A Woman Under the Influence, Stop Making Sense, Le Samourai

Now the landlords want to review the lease please everyone signe the petition to Save the PCC

https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-the-prince-charles-cinema

Grand opening ad posted.

Lionel: The flickr account holder “dusashenka” (your Eros Piccadilly link is to an album of that user) certainly does have an amazing and large collection of photos, and I’ve certainly enjoyed browsing through them! ;–)

I still get “goosebumps” in anticipation of seeing a presentation of a first class movie in a first class venue. I don’t think I ever took it for granted—as long as I’ve been old enough to go to the cinema unaccompanied, it was obvious that the largest auditoria were on “borrowed time.”

Less obvious were the coming changes to auditorium design, and, the move to digital photography and projection.

(In the former case, digital cameras, I remember suggesting to someone in the late 90s—that they would NEVER be good enough to match 35mm…!)

Even if we might not consider all the changes to be welcome, I don’t think it is necessary to get too nostaglic. This is an amazing time—ranging from dual 4K laser projection to the “immersive” sound formats to the latest 65mm sensor cameras from Arri, Panavision and Sony.

Select classic titles are getting digital re-releases with new full restorations from the original negatives, in some cases yielding far better quality than would ever have been seen from a release print. For example, just a couple of months ago “Apocalypse Now”—with a Q&A shown after the film.

I do hope you are seeking out the best cinemas in your neck of the woods and enjoy visiting them.

https://tinyurl.com/y4q4yjkr TIme Out’s annual love letter to London cinemas including of course the Prince Charles

Last month, I saw that the Mens toilets had been totally redone & were nice looking. Staff said they had been redone about 4 months prior to my visit. I don’t recall that the downstairs foyer or the ground floor space had changed. I enjoyed 2 classic movies, An American Werewolf in London (DCP) & Death Line (1972, 35mm), both perfect for this visitor from the States. As to the prior comment, I enjoyed better the sightlines from the balcony/circle, which had been open during weekday matinees, and alas is now the 2nd screen. I do have my favorite vantage point in the stalls, about the 10th row from the screen. I’ve not seen a movie in the upstairs auditorium.

I was reading all comments posted since the beginning. I remember the theatre when it was a single-screen theatre. I went only once, to see The Last Emperor in 70mm, in 1988. Visited the booth with the chief projectionist Ian Mitchell, his assistant was a young French lady. The stalls slope was inverted if I’m not mistaken, so the screen was quiet high for viewers seated at the rear of the stalls, but if you sat at the first row of the balcony as I did, you were almost facing the center of the screen, or at least the upper half of it, and it looked great.

Great great summer season of films in 35mm and 70mm…Caught The Right Stuff in 70mm last night stunning presentation…good popcorn and bar too…we need to support this!

Exterior photos from February 2009.

Interesting.

I remember it being pretty notorious as the only cinema playing Tinto Brass' dreadful ‘Caligula’ for seemingly years and years in London.

LM, that December 28, 2007 marquee was most likely a promo for French Connection UK, the clothing store. They were quite famous for their “FCUK Argentina” World Cup campaign.

Everyone’s above photos are repeats, repeats, repeats, repeats!