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The Tyneside Cinema in Newcastle has been
restored to its art deco splendour in a £6.75m
scheme.
And, as Steve Pratt discovers, it is
destined to do more than just show films.
MIKE Leigh's new film, Happy-Go-Lucky, is playing silently on the big
screen in the art deco Classic
auditorium. Gigantic bags of
popcorn are stacked up against the
wall. Painters put the finishing touches to wall and
ceiling decorations. And chief executive Mark
Dobson sits talking pictures on one of the
handmade Italian leather sofas newly-installed in
the circle.
The refurbished Tyneside Cinema is gearing up
for tomorrow's public preview day, ahead of
Thursday's first public screenings at the building
that opened as the Bijou News-Reel Cinema on
February 1, 1937.
When the last remaining newsreel theatre in the
country re-opens, newsreels will be part of the
programme again. Mornings at 10am, newsreels
from the archives will be screened free in the
Classic, one of the three auditoria.
The first newsreel was screened at the original
opening. The big story is the Hindenberg disaster,
featuring dramatic footage of the airship crashing
to the ground in flames. The news programme
moves from trauma to trivia with a local story of
scouts lighting a bonfire in Newcastle.
Newsreel pioneers are remembered in a first floor
gallery, showing the heritage of the Tyneside
Cinema. Movie cameras are on display, with audiovisual
material telling the story of newsreels and
offering the chance to hear people from the region
talk about going to the cinema and the effect it had
on their lives, particularly during wartime.
The building isn't just a museum. The Tyneside's
makeover skilfully and successfully blends the old
and the new, as becomes apparent as you move up
the building. The first two floors remain the place
people know and love, but lovingly restored to art
deco splendour.
As much of the original decorative scheme as
possible has been recreated, while the roof has been
raised to accommodate a third screen and bar in a
light-infused extension.
The Tyneside reopens after an 18-month closure
and £6.75m makeover as a heritage attraction as
well as a cinema. Floor mosaics have been
uncovered, stained glasses windows, too. Original
iron grills for windows found during the building
work have been restored.
The News Theatre, as it became known, was
conceived, designed and built by local film
entrepreneur and pioneer Dixon Scott, great uncle
of Hollywood director brothers Ridley and Tony
Scott.
"He was an adventurer and innovator who ran
five cinemas across the region," explains Dobson.
"A lot of the old design reflects his eclectic taste as
a traveller, writer and explorer. One of his
particular obsessions was Persia and the Middle
East, which was reflected in the colours."
One of the aims has been to make the Tyneside
accessible to everyone. "It was a very difficult place
for people to come to in some senses because it's a
very old building and got into a very poor state of
repair. We wanted to make an eccentric old building
as accessible as possible," explains Dobson.
"We want to get as many people as possible to
come in and take part in what we do. We needed
more space to do more education. Adding a third
screen has a transforming effect. It allows us to
keep hits for longer."
The history of the Tyneside has been almost
entirely one of public demand. In the 1940s The
News Theatre was hired by the several film
societies to show foreign films because, despite an
abundance of cinemas in the city, they screened
mostly American mainstream movies.
In the 1960s the trend was to open branches of the
National Film Theatre outside London. The
Tyneside Film Theatre (TFT) was created, only to
run into trouble amid claims that audiences weren't
interested in "funny foreign films".
The TFT closed in 1975 and, once again, the public
demonstrated the demand for the Tyneside's
eclectic art house mix of world and independent
cinema. A 4,000-strong petition was raised calling
for the cinema to be reopened.
"After a while, the natives got restless and took
control, deciding to run it as an independent trust,"
says Dobson. "People occupied the building and had
guerilla double bills of movies just to prove there
was a demand."
HE'S taken a personal interest in the building.
"If I had visitors, I'd walk them round the
most interesting places in the city and this
was one of the buildings I was most proud of," he
recalls. "When it was refurbished and changed in
the 1980s, it was removed as an interesting piece of
public architecture. I was interested in seeing what
was left and bringing it back into use."
Moving to a purpose-built cinema felt wrong
"because there's something about the fabric that's
important to the cinema", he says.
"We took the decision that if we could find a
feasible way to achieve a fit-for-purpose building
here within this existing structure, that would be
Option A, although that is much more expensive
than building a new cinema."
He was sure of another thing. "We weren't trying
to create a Thirties theme park. Our aim was if it's
useful, let's protect it and have it for the public to
enjoy," he says.
Different spaces on different levels have different
characters. This extends further than having
different colours for seats in the three auditoria -
the Classic, Roxy and Electra. The move up from
the old to the new is brilliantly carried off.
More space has been provided for film education.
The Tyneside Studios provide teaching rooms,
along with film production and post-production
spaces for film-makers of the future.
All part of the Tyneside's ambition to do more
than just show films.
9:38am Saturday 17th May 2008
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