Extinguishing Spotlights: the Uncertain Future of Cinematic Heritage in London’s Leicester Square
Published
Jun 18, 2018
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Alexa Raisbeck
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1792-9636
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1792-9636
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Abstract
London movie theatres have been considered some of the finest palaces to house the moving image. Even the tiles adorning the Northern and Piccadilly lines at Leicester Square tube station depict the iconic film perforations along its platforms. As the focal point of movie marketing, the fetishisation of stars and directors in the numerous film premieres hosted along the red carpets in the square have been recorded and disseminated worldwide via print and broadcast for decades. Today, the huge hoardings (now digitized) still attempt to entice those milling past to venture inside for the latest Hollywood blockbusters. However, as cinema attendance has waned the square has had to respond to the changes in public demand for a wider choice and different kinds of experience. Many of the former cinemas have now been multiplexed; their singular former grandeur stripped in favour of modernist simplicity and choice. Now in a much more worrying trend, parts of the square (including the Odeon West End) are in the process of being fully demolished. Audience demands for variety and spectacle plus industry developments in digital technologies and new trends in experiences such as giant screen formats, 3D films, and more immersive sound have fuelled the need for change to keep up with demand and profit. Using Leicester Square as a case study, this paper will explore the need of cinema holding companies to evolve in an increasing multi-platform era of choice. The question is at what cost to preservation and heritage is this current strategy having on our national and collective cinematic history?
Keywords
References
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Moore, R. (2014). Farewell, Leicester Square in The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.the-guardian.com/artanddesign/2014/feb/02/wes¬tminster-council-radisson-odeon-planning
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Savills (2014, March 26). A marked rise in lei¬sure investment activity. Savills. Retrieved from http://www.savills.co.uk/research_ar¬ticles/186866/174435-0
Simpson, D. (2016). (Cinema, Theatre Association - CTA). Odeon. Retrieved from http://cinema-theatre.org.uk/uk-cinemas/uk-multiplexes/ odeon/
Smith, D. (2014, December 14). Leicester Square: Do London’s Cinemas face a fight for survi¬val?. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc. co.uk/news/uk-england-london-30144260
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Wray, R. (2003). Deal Spells the End for Warner Vi¬llage. The Guardian. Retrieved from https:// www.theguardian.com/business/2003/ may/14/film.filmnews
E. Wright (2013, July 11). Heard our film may be the last to premiere in the Empire as it’s being carved into 2 smaller screens soon. [Twitter] Retrieved from https://twitter.com/ edgarwright/status/355377394057609217?l ang=en-gb
Barnes, J. (1998/1976). The Beginnings of The Cinema in England 1894 – 1901 University of Exeter Press: Exeter.
Baillieu, B. & Goodchild, J. (2002). The British Film Business. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons LtD–.
BBC (2003, March 18). Facelift Hope for Leicester Square. Retrieved from http://news.bbc. co.uk/1/hi/england/2861799.stm
Carder, G. H. (1984). The Man in the Box. Cornwall: United Writers.–.
Ceasers (2016). Entertainment Property Holdings UK. UK. retrieved from http://investor.cae¬sars.com/map.cfm?map=united_kingdom
Celluloid and Cinematograph Act. (1922). UK parliament 12&13 geo 5 Ch35. Recupera¬do de https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukp-ga/1922/35/pdfs/ukpga_19220035_en.pdf
Cinematograph Act. (1909). UK parliament 9EDW CH30. Retrieved from https://www. legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1909/30/pdfs/ukp-ga_19090030_en.pdf
Cinema Organ Society (2016). The London, Odeon Leicester Square. Retrieved from http:// cinemaorgans.org.uk/information/venues/ odeon-leicester-square/
Cinema Technology (CT). (2016). A Chinese Takeo¬ver. BKSTS, 29(3), 70 - 71.
Cricks, R. H. (1962). The Technical Equipment Kinematograph. Weekly 547(2882).
Dawtrey, A. (2010, May 20). An Alice in Wonder¬land Nightmare as Disney Battles the Cine¬mas . The Guardian. Retrieved from https:// www.theguardian.com/film/2010/feb/23/ alice-in-wonderland-disney-cinemas
Doane, M. A. (2009). The Location of Image: Cine¬matic Projection and Scale in Modernity. In S. Douglas & C. Eamon (eds) The Art of Pro-jection (pp. 151-166). Stuttgart: Hatje Cantz.
Empire Cinemas (2006). Empire Leicester Square. Retrieved from http://www.empirecinemas. co.uk/cinema_info/empire_leicester_square/ auditoria_information/c69/t5
Enticknap, L. (2005). Moving Image Technology. London: Wallflower Press.
Eyles, A. & Skone, K.. (2014). London’s West End Cinemas. Swindon: Historic England Publishing.
Eyles, A. & Skone, K. (1991). London’s Westend Ci¬nemas. Bristol: Keytone Publications: Sutton.
Eyles, A. (2002). Odeon Cinemas 1: Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation. London: CEA/BFI.
Field, A. (1974). Picture Palace: A Social History of the Cinema. London: Gentry Books.
Forde, L. (2003, May 12). Uk’s Warner Village Ci¬nemas sold to SBC for $402 M. Screen Daily. Retrieved from http://www.screendaily.com/ uks-warner-village-cinemas-sold-to-sbc-for-402m/4013294.article
Global City Holdings. (2018). Retrieved from http://globalcityholdings.com/page/37
Grater, T. (2016, July 28). Cineworld Completes $124m deal for five Empire cinemas. Retrie¬ved from http://www.screendaily.com/news/ cineworld-completes-124m-deal-for-five-empire-cinemas/5107103.article
Gray, R. (1996). Cinemas in Britain: 100 years of cinema architecture. London: Lund Hum¬phries Publishers.
Grundy, I. (2002). Vue West End. Cinema Trea¬sures. Retrieved from http://cinematreasu¬res.org/theaters/3778 (2002) last accessed 20/05/16
High, D. (1985). 1884 – 1984 The First Hundred Years, The Story of the Empire Leicester Square. Surrey: David High.
Hobson, R. (2000, February 21). Rank Sells Odeon Cinemas. CityWire Money. Retrieved from http://citywire.co.uk/money/rank-sells-odeon-cinemas/a203461
Jenkins, C. S.P & Twamley, G. (2013). Stories of London: The Theatre Organ. Retrieved from http://stories-of-london.org/compton-colourful-consoles/
Kine, W. (1962). Metro’s New Empire Theatre, Leicester Square. Kinematograph Weekly, 547(2882).
Laugharne, S. & Roe, K. (2000). Odeon Leicester Square. Cinema Treasures. Retrieved from http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/841
Lloyd, M. (2001). The Odeon Leicester Square. Arthur Lloyd.co.uk. Retrieved from http:// www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Alhambra.htm
Lloyd, M. (2003, September 22). Daly’s Theatre. Arthur Lloyd.co.uk. Retrieved from http:// www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/DalysTheatre.htm
Lowry, B. (2017, May 30). 4DX theatres seek to enhance movies as sensory experience. CNN. Retrieved from https://edition.cnn. com/2017/05/30/entertainment/4dx-thea¬ters/index.html
Lydell, R. (2003, September 22). West End street drinking to be banned. Evening Standard. Retrieved from http://www.standard.co.uk/ news/west-end-street-drinking-to-be-ban¬ned-6977089.html
Melnick, R. & Roe, K. (2000). Empire Cinema. Cinema Treasures. Recuperado de http:// cinematreasures.org/theaters/912
Melnick, R. & Roe, K. (2000). Odeon West End. Cinema Treasures. Recuperado de http:// cinematreasures.org/theaters/910
Minns, A. (2004). Cinemas Square up to future. Screen International.
Moore, R. (2014). Farewell, Leicester Square in The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.the-guardian.com/artanddesign/2014/feb/02/wes¬tminster-council-radisson-odeon-planning
Neville, S. (2013, june 10). Vue Cinemas Bought by Canadian Investors. The Guardian. Recu¬perado de https://www.theguardian.com/ business/2013/jun/10/vue-cinemas-canada-ontario-alberta-jobs
Odeon Cinemas (n.d.). Odeon Cinemas. Retrieved from http://www.odeon.co.uk/
Odeon LSQ (n. d.). Odeon Cinemas. Retrieved from http://www.odeon.co.uk/cinema/odeon-leicester-square/) last accessed 19/03/2018
Perkins, A. (2008). Then was the winter of our discontent. The archive hour, BBC radio 4. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/ uk_politics/7598366.stm
Peterson, W. (2013, July 16). Cordea Savills buys Vue Cinema in Leicester Square for £23.46m. Retrieved from http://www.propertymall. com/property-news/article/32979-Cordea- Savills-buys-Vue-cinema-in-Leicester- Square-for-%A323.46m
Prynn, J. (2014, September 22). Hollywood film stars’ hand print collection set for West End return after disappearance. Evening Standard http://www.standard.co.uk/news/ celebritynews/hollywood-film-stars-hand-print-collection-set-for-west-end-return-after-disappearance-9748007.html
Ruddick, G. (2012, January 30). Leicester Square Odeon Sold by Irish debt agency to hotel group. The Telegraph Online http://www. telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/cons¬tructionandproperty/9050415/Leicester- Square-Odeon-sold-by-Irish-debt-agency-to-hotel-group.html
Savills (2014, March 26). A marked rise in lei¬sure investment activity. Savills. Retrieved from http://www.savills.co.uk/research_ar¬ticles/186866/174435-0
Simpson, D. (2016). (Cinema, Theatre Association - CTA). Odeon. Retrieved from http://cinema-theatre.org.uk/uk-cinemas/uk-multiplexes/ odeon/
Smith, D. (2014, December 14). Leicester Square: Do London’s Cinemas face a fight for survi¬val?. BBC. Retrieved from http://www.bbc. co.uk/news/uk-england-london-30144260
Westminster City Council (2010). Leicester Square Gardens. Retrieved from http://myparks. westminster.gov.uk/parks/leicester-square-gardens/
Wray, R. (2003). Deal Spells the End for Warner Vi¬llage. The Guardian. Retrieved from https:// www.theguardian.com/business/2003/ may/14/film.filmnews
E. Wright (2013, July 11). Heard our film may be the last to premiere in the Empire as it’s being carved into 2 smaller screens soon. [Twitter] Retrieved from https://twitter.com/ edgarwright/status/355377394057609217?l ang=en-gb
How to Cite
Raisbeck, A. (2018). Extinguishing Spotlights: the Uncertain Future of Cinematic Heritage in London’s Leicester Square. Apuntes: Revista De Estudios Sobre Patrimonio Cultural, 31(1), 66–83. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.apc31-1.esuf
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