The Savoy and Dublin’s old cinemas

Grandeeod

I loved Screen two prior to it being subdivded.

Looks like there are plans to divide Screen One now according to reports last month.

Outlaw Pete

Hadn't been in Savoy in a long time until recently and was nice to see they have the Mr.Screen sculpture there now in the lobby.

They should have left it how it was. Would have been great to watch a film from front row of the balcony.

Grandeeod

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Yeah, those fire exits lights bother me too.

Was often going to email them about it but then never bothered.

Hadn't been in Savoy in a long time until recently and was nice to see they have the Mr.Screen sculpture there now in the lobby.

They should have left it how it was. Would have been great to watch a film from front row of the balcony.

Ah it wouldn't have been too great as the screen was pretty small back then. The Savoy was already a three screen cinema when I first visited. My Dad remembered it in its original guise and said it was a posh night out. He was always impressed by Screen One after the conversions started. Still my fave cinema, but it has been severely butchered over the years to convert it into a kind of multiplex so it can compete. Subdividing screen one will kill the place off IMO.

Outlaw Pete

Grandeeod wrote: »

Ah it wouldn't have been too great as the screen was pretty small back then.

I don't mean they should have kept the same screen too.. just the layout :P

They would have went bust long ago with only a single screen of course.

I used to love watching films from the balcony in the Ambassador.

Grandeeod

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

I don't mean they should have kept the same screen too.. just the layout :P

They would have went bust long ago with only a single screen of course.

I used to love watching films from the balcony in the Ambassador.

Ah so did I. Last film I saw in that Balcony was Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame with my young son. I saw so many films in the Ambassador over the years.

Here's a pic of the Savoy just after it was twinned in 1969. Two years before I was born.:D The restaurant was still there and would eventually become screen 3.

Grandeeod

This is how it looked when I first went. Most likely the original Star Wars movie in 1977/8.

Skerries

Grandeeod wrote: »

the 60's when you could put labels on your children

sabat

Skerries wrote: »

the 60's when you could put labels on your children

I know A-Wear used to be called Gaywear; maybe that place was connected with them?

Outlaw Pete

Here's the Savoy Cinema that's stuck in my mind. Loved the way the whole main sign used to be lit up.

Grandeeod

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Here's the Savoy Cinema that's stuck in my mind. Loved the way the whole main sign used to be lit up.

Brilliant! They ran the Commitments 24/7 on its first week of release. I saw it about 1am in the morning.

O'Connell Street had so much vibrancy back then with the Savoy on one side and the Carlton all lit up on the opposite side.

Outlaw Pete

Grandeeod wrote: »

O'Connell Street had so much vibrancy back then with the Savoy on one side and the Carlton all lit up on the opposite side.

Yeah, used to love the Carlton too. On Saturdays the queues on the street for films were crazy.

Couple of pics:

david75

We'd so many great cinemas in Dublin didn't we?
The Adelphi too. And the one up in granby way off Parnell square? It was the sad museum for years. Can't remember what it was called.

Grandeeod

david75 wrote: »

We'd so many great cinemas in Dublin didn't we?
The Adelphi too. And the one up in granby way off Parnell square? It was the sad museum for years. Can't remember what it was called.

The Plaza in my day.

david75

Grandeeod wrote: »

The Plaza in my day.

Was that it? I do remember seeing the fox and the hound and ET there when I was really small

Grandeeod

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Yeah, used to love the Carlton too. On Saturdays the queues on the street for films were crazy.

Couple of pics:

I honestley hope I'm not boring you having this chat. I loved the Carlton and Adelphi too. My earliest memory of the Carlton was a film called "The people that time forgot." I remember heading up the stairs to the screen and passing the old restaurant that had yet to be converted to another screen. Again around 1977/8. It was probably a 3 screen cinema at that point.

My last visit was in 1990 a few years before she closed.

Grandeeod

david75 wrote: »

Was that it? I do remember seeing the fox and the hound and ET there when I was really small

Yep. It was the Plaza alright in my day. I think it was originally called the Dorset before that. Became the Wax Museum in the 80s and is long since demolished.

david75

My first cinema memory is a double bill in the ambassador. Star Wars AND the empire strikes back.
You could say it was an important day in my life

Grandeeod

david75 wrote: »

My first cinema memory is a double bill in the ambassador. Star Wars AND the empire strikes back.
You could say it was an important day in my life

You mentioned the cinema on Dorset street. Here's how it looked after it was renamed The Plaza.



But it changed again in 1967 and the only photo I can get is below. It was basically surrounded by brick cladding. This is how I remember it and how you would remember it. (Right side of the picture.)

david75

That's it!!!
Thank you!!!

david75

So cmere!
I used to pore over the papers when I was small n look at the pictures pages/cinema listings in the press and the herald, remember them?

Which one was the curzon? On the quays? Or does anyone even remember the name

Grandeeod

david75 wrote: »

So cmere!
I used to pore over the papers when I was small n look at the pictures pages/cinema listings in the press and the herald, remember them?

Which one was the curzon? On the quays? Or does anyone even remember the name

Abbey Street, beside the Adelphi. It became the Lighthouse Cinema for a few years.

Jesus, I feel old!

david75

Grandeeod wrote: »

Abbey Street, beside the Adelphi. It became the Lighthouse Cinema for a few years.

Jesus, I feel old!

I remember this. If you were standing at the door of the Adelphi. There was a little cinema across the street to your right. Where the travel agents /epicurean food hall kinda is/was. Then there was one down on the right same side as the Adelphi.

Yeah I'm old too haha

Grandeeod

david75 wrote: »

I remember this. If you were standing at the door of the Adelphi. There was a little cinema across the street to your right. Where the travel agents /epicurean food hall kinda is/was. Then there was one down on the right same side as the Adelphi.

Yeah I'm old too haha

The one on the same side as the Adelphi was the Curzon that became the Lighthouse. Across the street was the Cameo.

ronano

Enjoyed the history on the thread! Anyone ever done a book on the cinema history of Dublin?

Grandeeod

ronano wrote: »

Enjoyed the history on the thread! Anyone ever done a book on the cinema history of Dublin?

Yep.

Marc Zimmermann - The History of Dublin Cinemas - 2007. Not sure if its still in print. Interesting book.

Wedwood

All Dublin's old cinemas were brilliant, each with their own character.

selected favourites:
1977 - Savoy, Star Wars
1980 - Ambassador, Empire Strikes Back
1982 - Adelphi, Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan

david75

Wedwood wrote: »

All Dublin's old cinemas were brilliant, each with their own character.

selected favourites:
1977 - Savoy, Star Wars
1980 - Ambassador, Empire Strikes Back
1982 - Adelphi, Star Trek II The Wrath of Khan

Thank you so much!!!

That was my first cinema experience ever!!!

Outlaw Pete

Grandeeod wrote: »

I honestley hope I'm not boring you having this chat.

Oh I never get bored talking about Dublin cinema, trust me :P

I used to bounce of school with mates and go to the flicks. Seen My Own Private Idaho in the old Abbey St Lighthouse.

Anyone remember the cinema where the Laughter Lounge is now? I used to love it. I think it was called Screen II. Seen 'Nightmare On Elmo St IV' in there. You could smoke then. Remember having the screen to myself watching it.

My first time at the cinema was Superman in the Adelphi. No wonder I'm addicted.

I notice that the old Abbey Hotel has renamed it's bar 'Adelphi' and they have seats outside of it that look like cinema seats. They wouldn't have somehow got hold of the old Adelphi seats by any chance? If so, there is a small chance that the first time I ever brought a girl to the cinema (Mannequin 1987) we sat in two of those chairs!








Nice homage to the Adelphi by the owner of the bar if so.

Skerries

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

My first time at the cinema was Superman in the Adelphi. No wonder I'm addicted.

Snap! and then we went across the road and had a burger in King Burger (no I didn't mix the words up)

Grandeeod

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

Oh I never get bored talking about Dublin cinema, trust me :P

I used to bounce of school with mates and go to the flicks. Seen My Own Private Idaho in the old Abbey St Lighthouse.

Anyone remember the cinema where the Laughter Lounge is now? I used to love it. I think it was called Screen II. Seen 'Nightmare On Elmo St IV' in there. You could smoke then. Remember having the screen to myself watching it.

My first time at the cinema was Superman in the Adelphi. No wonder I'm addicted.

I notice that the old Abbey Hotel has renamed it's bar 'Adelphi' and they have seats outside of it that look like cinema seats. They wouldn't have somehow got hold of the old Adelphi seats by any chance? If so, there is a small chance that the first time I ever brought a girl to the cinema (Mannequin 1987) we sat in two of those chairs!








Nice homage to the Adelphi by the owner of the bar if so.

Yea the seats are from the Adelphi allright.

The Screen on the quays was called the Odeon when I started going to it. The ground floor cinema had really decorative curtains, if memory serves me correctly. Last film I saw there was The Doors. When it shut the name transferred over to the Metropole on Hawkins st and sure thats closed aswell now.

Last ciggie I had in a cinema was in the Savoy 3 or 4 in 1990. The film was Lock Up. Ban came in a few days later.

And it was also the Adelphi when I first brought a girl to see a film. Teenwolf in 1986. Now where's my pipe and slippers.:D

Sad Professor

I’ve split this discussion off from the thread about Savoy 1 lighting issues. Keep posting!

Grandeeod

Sad Professor wrote: »

I’ve split this discussion off from the thread about Savoy 1 lighting issues. Keep posting!

Cheers SP! Looking forward to rebooting this thread.

I lived in Fairview for 6 years near the site of the old cinema there. But I was also out that way as a child around 1992 and remembered it as the Buena Vista screen used by Disney. Only ever saw it opened once and in the last couple of years the seats were removed from it.

david75

An aside but my first ever job was in virgin cinema. Cineworld now.
Richard Branson and all these celebs opening night. Yawn.

What I learned.

Best time to see a film is midday. Sad part. Weirdos coming in. Cinema to themselves. WNkin n all sorts.

Things people leave behind. Used condoms and needles up to sweets and wallets and clothes.

Always leave your rubbish behind in a cinema (within reason).
You keep someone in a job if you do that. Same with buses and trains.

thegreengoblin

Grandeeod wrote: »

Yep.

Marc Zimmermann - The History of Dublin Cinemas - 2007. Not sure if its still in print. Interesting book.

Also this one which I love dipping into now and then. Great thread by the way! Anyone remember Dublin's 'The Green' cinema? No prizes for guessing where it was located!

Sesudra

Karsini wrote: »

I lived in Fairview for 6 years near the site of the old cinema there. But I was also out that way as a child around 1992 and remembered it as the Buena Vista screen used by Disney. Only ever saw it opened once and in the last couple of years the seats were removed from it.

I did some film reviews for a website and was at a few screenings there, the main one I remember being the Jet Li film "Hero".

I also remember seeing "The Lion King" and "Independence Day" in the Classic near Harold's Cross. The curtains closed for the intermission during "Independence Day" after Will Smith punched the alien in the face

Grandeeod

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Also this one which I love dipping into now and then. Great thread by the way! Anyone remember Dublin's 'The Green' cinema? No prizes for guessing where it was located!

Gonna add that to my collection. Cheers.

I remember the Green alright. It was twinned by the time I went. I distinctly remember the long foyer area. The last time I was in it, it was literally out on its own as the SSG SC was being built. Some change along there now.

Grandeeod

Sesudra wrote: »

I did some film reviews for a website and was at a few screenings there, the main one I remember being the Jet Li film "Hero".

I also remember seeing "The Lion King" and "Independence Day" in the Classic near Harold's Cross. The curtains closed for the intermission during "Independence Day" after Will Smith punched the alien in the face

I was deeply saddened that I couldn't get back to the Classic before it closed. Saw a lot of re-released Disney stuff there in the late 70s/early 80s.

Anyone remember the State up in Phisboro?

pixelburp

Related to the subject: the Stella in Rathmines has been bought. I passed the place a number of times before I even realised it was a cinema back in the day.

The article below suggest it's going to be re-opened as a cinema once more, but hard to see how it'd compete with the larger, more modern Omniplex right across the road from it. Even if it catered for more independent and arthouse fare it'll struggle to making a shilling IMO.

http://www.thejournal.ie/screen-cinema-rathmines-3192039-Jan2017/

The Irish Times did a nice video blog & interview with the caretaker of the Stella while it remains closed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8yUb2YjGkE

Chain Smoker

There were a couple of these gigantic old theatres around where I was living in the US. They all seemed to have spent a few decades in disrepair until they became some rich person's passion project, were an absolute f*cking treat to go to though.



As far as making a commercially viable alternative to the omniplexes, if someone can get the Alamo Drafthouse system working okay with Ireland's licensing laws (and realistically probably England's too to make it profitable), they could stand to make a pretty decent amount of money in the larger cities.

conorhal

Chain Smoker wrote: »

There were a couple of these gigantic old theatres around where I was living in the US. They all seemed to have spent a few decades in disrepair until they became some rich person's passion project, were an absolute f*cking treat to go to though.



As far as making a commercially viable alternative to the omniplexes, if someone can get the Alamo Drafthouse system working okay with Ireland's licensing laws (and realistically probably England's too to make it profitable), they could stand to make a pretty decent amount of money in the larger cities.

The Alamo Draughthouse is absolutely the way to go, the short sighted attempt to carve up the Cinema to compete with purpose built multiplexes is a hiding to nowhere that has achieved nothing but making an amazing cinema bitty.

Sad Professor

I think cinemas will eventually go back to being what they used to be. Small arthouse, repertory and independent theatres with a few screens that actually care about the theatrical experience. The way Netflix et al is going they could be picking over the bones of multiplex exhibitors within a decade. Hollywood's superhero phase should be blowing up around the same time. The future of the blockbuster is in virtual reality gaming, not 3D HFR movies that try to immerse an audience who'd rather be texting and tweeting, so there will be no need for soulless multiplexes playing the same few movies all day.

Dirty Dingus McGee

I have only been in the Savoy once (for Tinker,Taylor,Soldier,Spy) a few years ago and I thought it was lovely.Really classy looking old fashioned type cinema it had genuine character to it unlike the cinema in Tullamore.

These types of buildings really should be preserved and left the way they are.Surely it should have some sort of listed building status considering it's history and where it is located, but thenagain they did allow Dr Quirkeys to be put on O'Connell Street so I suppose I can't expect too much.

gmisk

sorry just saw other post....this sounds like a disastrous idea to me

Vinculus

As a young teen, I would go to the Cameo Cinema a lot. They always showed double bills of recently released movies.
Raiders of the lost Ark and Piranha was first double bill I saw there. Then films like Top Gun with Pretty in Pink. And by far the best was Aliens with The Fly.

Vinculus

Apologies for killing this thread. It was really interesting before I killed it.
Sorry

miamee

I saw a news story yesterday that Savoy Screen 1 is to be closed and developed into 5 separate screens
Awful news. Must make a trip in there soon before it goes ahead.

looie

A sneak preview inside the refurbished Stella cinema in Rathmines

I think this is meant to be a cinema. Some gems from the article include:

double bed sized loungers

fancy versions of standard cinema chomping fare such as popcorn and chilli hot dogs and nachos

posh nosh small bites, including parmesan and wild mushroom risotto balls, tuna poke salad, soft tacos with BBQ Korean pork, buttermilk chicken tenders

And get this: the drinks – from beer to pop to an array of cocktails – all come in real glasses

One of my neighbors used to run the Savoy cinema, and at another point he ran the Carlton. Every few months he would arrive down to the house with a smile on his face and give us some free passes! Good times indeed when that happened.
I just wish I could remember the first film I saw in the Savoy, I think it might have been Back to the Future 2, and I can remember seeing Home Alone the next year.
I lived near the Forum cinema in Glasthule which was 50p to go and see the matinee, and what I thought was a very expensive 1.50 to go in the evening!
The first film I ever saw there was Flight of the Navigator at 6 years old. I can remember seeing the first Batman movie there and going on and on about how it was the best film I'd ever seen for ages.
My first evening visit to the cinema another neighbor taking me and his son to see Moonwalker one night and we were allowed eat whatever we wanted, which was one popcorn and one bag of sweets which seemed like so much at the time :pac: Oh and one popcorn back then was a bag of Manahattan which while it was about double the size it is now is a long way from the 5 liter popcorns of today!

edireland

Outlaw Pete wrote: »

I don't mean they should have kept the same screen too.. just the layout :P

They would have went bust long ago with only a single screen of course.

I used to love watching films from the balcony in the Ambassador.

Loved watching films from the balcony in the Ambassador too

Tony EH

thegreengoblin wrote: »

Anyone remember Dublin's 'The Green' cinema? No prizes for guessing where it was located!

Yes.

The Green was my first cinema experience. 'Star Wars'.