Coronet Cinema

Coronet Cinema ~ located in Notting Hill
www.coronet.org

I love old buildings and I love movies so last night we went to see Men Who Stare at Goats - I give it a B-

On Tuesdays all movies are half price so we bundled up and walked on over to the Coronet. This place is pretty sweet, half price tickets, popcorn with sweet salt ( yes, I said Sweet Salt, it is very good) wine, beer, liquor, candy bars, you name it, they have it. It was a sold out show.

As for the history of the Coronet...here you go...
The Coronet Cinema is a twin screen cinema that has been at the heart of the Notting Hill area for over 100 years and was built for the grand sum of £25,000. The building first opened it's doors in 1898 and was regularly frequented by King Edward VII. Many of the biggest stars of the day including Ellen Terry and Sara Bernhardt trod it's boards. The building became a full time cinema in 1923 and has been in operation as such continuously ever since

The interior of Cinema one, the original theatre, is plastered in Louis XVI manner and is still remarkably complete. A little faded these days, the auditorium still has the two original elliptically curved balconies. The screen is located in a square, enriched architrave to proscenium, flanked by blank bays where the original theatre boxes were. The box bays are framed by attenuated Corinthian columns with enriched lower shafts, set on lofty pedestals and carrying an entablature with segmental broken pediments.

The ghost of a female cashier reputedly haunts the cinema. Legend has it that when she was caught fiddling the box office receipts and confronted by the manager, she dashed out of his office, ran upstairs, then threw herself from the balcony.

Another threat came in 1989 when plans were put forward to convert the building into a McDonald's restaurant. Again this failed. In 1996 permission was given to open a small 151 seat screen on the stage area, providing it could be reinstated back into theatre use, if, and when required.

In recent years the cinema has featured in many films, TV programmes and adverts. Famously, the cinema featured in Notting Hill, starring Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant. The cinema was also the last cinema in London to allow smoking in its auditorium, a practise now discontinued.

When the cinema was put up for sale in 2004, the sale attracted a lot of controversy and media attention. Various schemes were put forward including one from Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the founder of EasyJet, to turn the cinema into London’s first EasyCinema. Hollywood stars Joseph Fiennes, and Gillian Anderson got involved in a petition along with filmmaker Bernardo Bertolucci. Once all the dust died down the cinema was bought by a local church, The Kensington Temple


Next cinema to hit...Gate Cinema...also located in Notting Hill just down the block from the Coronet...

Cheers,
WMMc