Cinema du Pantheon
13 Rue Victor-Cousin,
Paris
75005
13 Rue Victor-Cousin,
Paris
75005
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Cinema du Pantheon (Official)
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Pathe
Functions: Movies (Independent)
Previous Names: Pantheon, Europa Pantheon
Phone Numbers:
Box Office:
3314.046.0121
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Located in the inner city near the left bank of the River Seine. This is the oldest movie theatre of Paris still operating. In the narrow building of a former gymnasium, the Omnia Pathe chain opened a cinema in 1907.
After a long period with silent movies a young French producer Pierre Braunberger took over the management of the theatre in 1929 and in February 1930 presented an Ernst Lubitsch sound movie called “The Love Parade” starring Maurice Chevalier and Jeanette MacDonald. Patrons were mostly American and British because for the first time in Paris the program policy was English speaking movies, and at that time there were no subtitles.
The small balcony is located at the first floor with the projection booth in a corner at the same level. The Pantheon was run by the same owner for 60 years. This man was a major producer of the French “nouvelle vague” and discovered a lot of talent. His office was in a huge flat full of old projectors. He died in 1990.
The auditorium was in poor condition by this time and the original sound system was still there, unused.
A major renovation in 1990 returned the theatre to its original design. The Jean Jacques Beinnex movie “Diva” ran more than a year at the Pantheon, a full house every evening! This old fashioned movie theatre presents art and avant garde movies with its audience mainly comprised of students from the nearby Sorbonne University.
The original so-called “couples armchairs” in the theatre’s balcony from the 1950’s are still in place. The Tuchinski in Amsterdam also has this kind of seating in its balcony.
Contributed by
Xavier Delamare
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
A recent exterior photo here:
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Exterior photographs from November 2008.
Le cinéma du Panthéon n' est pas impressionnant uniquement par son nom… Il est aussi, après l' Eden Théâtre à La Ciotat, le plus ancien cinéma de France avec le cinéma Castillet à Perpignan inauguré le 7 novembre 1911. Le cinéma du Panthéon ouvre en 1907; avec sa longévité exceptionnelle, il est le second cinéma le plus vieux du monde. La France, où les frères Lumière ont donné naissance au cinématographe, est un vivant hommage aux deux géniaux inventeurs; c' est en France que se trouvent quatre des plus vieux cinémas du monde. Le Royaume Uni se distingue particulièrement avec une salle d' une exceptionnelle beauté, le cinéma “Duke of York” à Brighton, ouverte le 22 septembre 1910. La salle de cinéma L' Odyssée à Strasbourg, véritable joyau elle aussi, complète ce magnifique palmarès avec son ouverture en 1913. Il convient de citer, parmi ces cinémas les plus anciens au monde, le magnifique cinéma Aurora Theater à Saint Petersbourg, ouvert en 1913. Avec le Korsor Biograph Theater au Danemark (1908) et le Kino Pionier en Pologne (1907), nous achevons le panthéon des huit symboliques plus vieux cinémas du monde. Que vivent les cinémas!