 |
Astoria Charing Cross Road, London
Built on a site of a jam making factory, and making use of some of the foundations of this factory
it opened in 1927 as "London's Supreme Cinema"
Seated 2000 people and had a downstairs ballroom
Architect: Frank Verity for the Astoria - Paramount circuit
Described in 1927 as "Designed upon Roman lines the cinema follows the pompeian style of decoration
The vestibule, 25ft wide, has vari-coloured marble columns flanked by gold and white decorations"
The proscenium was flanked by Doric columns, with a grill on each side concealing the organ
In 1927 the cinema was showing films to 25000 people a week
During the late 1950s the cinema was taken over by the Rank Organisation, and the interior
remodeled to make provision for the large screen needed for 70mm projection
Two Philips DP70 projectors (water cooled), with Cinemeccanica Zenith carbon arcs, and Perspecta sound (See VistaVision)
It reopened with "Around the World in 80 Days"
It also ran "55 days at Peking"
"The Fall of the Roman Empire"
"The Great Race"
"Chitty, Chitty, Bang, Bang"
In the webmasters opinion it had the best 70mm magnetic sound of any West End cinema
Closed 1976 as a cinema
After much refurbishment it re-opened in 1977 as a theatre for the musical "Elvis" starring
P.J. Proby, Shakin Stevens, and Timothy Whitnall
 Astoria
|
 Astoria Interior
|