The Premier Electric
The Premier Electric, designed by the architectural firm Emden & Egan, was opened on 16 April 1910. It was built for London Picture Theatre Ltd as one of a small chain of Premier Electrics. By the time it closed in January 2003 it was the UK’s oldest operating cinema. The building still stands today on Frobisher Road by Duckett's Common.
Reporting its opening the local newspaper, the Hornsey Journal, described it in glowing terms and drew attention to its
"particularly handsome" entrance. The frontage and entrance area had been designed to echo colonial India. Palm trees were scattered around the foyer to foster the colonial feel.
The cinema's early newspaper advertising described the Premier Electric in glowing terms:
| “ | The Most Unique Picture Theatre in London
Handsomely decorated and upholstered throughout No expense has been spared to ensure the comfort of patrons The very latest productions in the world of animated pictures to be seen here |
” |
The auditorium was designed in the style typical of the period with a curved and banded ceiling and proscenium arch. Seating was provided for 900 on a single floor. During the first part of its life the cinema had its own Premier Orchestra which played during all films.
The entertainment bill during its early years was typical of its day. The programme for Thursday 30 June 1910 included the following:
| “ | In the Vicinity of the Laos States – a delightful travel series giving views of the Laos States situated in South East Asia. The series comprise (sic) pictures of the natives in their rude craft skimming the currents and an exquisite sunset – truly a glorious spectacle.
The Kidnapped Servant – Vexed housewives who have to face the problem of domestic servants will appreciate Brown’s position when he had to send to Zanzibar for a native! Brown junior seizes a black girl, confines her in a packing case and despatches her to London. Alas! She proves worse than the home-bred specimens. In the last amusing picture she is seen embracing the sweep, believing him to be one of her own kin – much to his disgust. |
” |
The Premier Electric saw its first changes in the early Thirties. It was bought by the River Park company and its name shortened to the Premier. In 1932 Turnpike Lane Tube Station opened nearby. Three years later as part of the development around the new station, competition arrived with the opening of the sleek new Ritz cinema.
By 1938 the Premier was under another set of owners, Gaywood Cinemas. The company also owned the nearby Palais Deluxe in Station Road, Wood Green. In that year both cinemas were modernised. The Premier closed for seven weeks on 22 January 1938.
What emerged was a new art deco cinema, renamed the Regal. The old building remained intact behind the new streamlined façade and most of the interior was left untouched apart from new seating and electrical work. The seating capacity was reduced to a more roomy 650. The cinema was set to compete.
It went through two more changes of ownership, reaching the hands of Newcastle based Essoldo in 1954. The chain also acquired the Coliseum Cinema on Green Lanes. On 6 October 1959, the Regal was renamed the Essoldo. By this time it was taking inferior class films and even showing some mild pornography.
The new owners saw more profit in bingo and converted both Harringay cinemas to bingo halls. The Frobisher Road cinema closed on 10 November 1963. However, whilst bingo seemed to succeed at the Coliseum, clearly the experiment didn't work at Frobisher Road. On 15 February 1964 it was reopened as the Curzon cinema. The new concept was to provide a small family viewing centre.
In 1977 the nearby Ritz (now operating as the ABC) was refurbished as a three screen cinema, competing directly with the Curzon's market. This was resolved by 1980 when the Curzon changed its programme to a regular diet of double sex films relieved only by Asian films on Sundays.
It closed in 1989 and, following a failed series of plans for a nightclub, indoor market, banqueting club and a community centre, it reopened in 1990 as a Quasar game centre. This short-lived fad caused damage to the fabric of the building. By 1996 the cinema's use had changed again when it was used by the Edmonton-based Church of Destiny.
The church found the building needing more care and attention than its worshippers and they pulled out within a year. It was then bought by an Indian businessman, Jitu Rivall who refurbished it as a 498 seat cinema. It was decided that the pock-marked ceiling was beyond economic repair and a new suspended ceiling was fitted. The premises were also equipped with a new sound system and huge new screen, brought forward of the original proscenium. The cinema re-opened on 31 October 1997 as the New Curzon Cinema, screening Indian Bollywood films.
On 16 April 2000 the New Curzon Cinema celebrated the building's 90th birthday with a special screening of the Peter Sellers film The Smallest Show on Earth. Sadly the New Curzon Cinema couldn't compete with the new Cineworld multiplex in Wood Green, which also screened Asian Bollywood films and the New Curzon closed in January 2003.
It was converted once again to use as a church and the current owners, the Liberty Church, moved in a few months later.
Read more about this topic: Former Cinemas In Harringay
Famous quotes containing the word electric:
“Remember dancing in
those electric shoes?
Remember?
Remember music
and beware.”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)