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Topic: Who remembers Portland Films
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Barry Attwood
Phenomenal Film Handler
Posts: 1411
From: Enfield, U.K.
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted November 09, 2005 05:30 AM
I was reading the U.S. collectors memories of the Peerless Willoughby store, and it got me thinking about Portland Films. They were situated in a tiny shop in Shaftesbury Avenue, which is right in the heart of London's West End, and whenever I went up there to see a film or something I always popped into the shop. It may have been small, but boy did it have some films in it, they were at times literally hanging from the rafters, and as the shop was open 7 days a week to very late at night, they sure did some trade. I think they were aligned with Mountain Films, as they always had special offers on them, but they stocked films from all the major dealers, and even imported some rarities (I remember seeing the range of ABC features like "Cabaret" etc. in that shop many months before anywhere else). I got many a bargain from that little shop, and I was wondering if any other forum members remember it.
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Adrian Winchester
Film God
Posts: 2941
From: Croydon, London, UK
Registered: Aug 2004
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posted November 10, 2005 06:38 PM
I used to go there often in the last 3 years or so before it closed in 1986. It was on the north side of Shaftsbury Avenue, very close to Wardour Street, which was fitting (at least then). They had stacks of old Mountain releases, together with Derann product, etc. They also put out some 'Portland' releases in their latter years (eg 'Curse of the Cat People' full length) and they also re-released some Walton releases that they had negatives for. They also started selling second hand films in the last year or so. They even had some 16mm at times, such as Universal 8 releases, and (for some reason) a lot of 'Casper the Friendly Ghost' cartoons.
They twice had major sales, to clear out their Super 8 product, and then changed their minds and carried on! They also frequently changed around the interior of the shop, so you kept finding the counter in different places! I liked the way that you could have a night out and go in the shop AFTERWARDS, as they were open till 11pm!
An amazing fact that I found out chatting to a guy that worked there: the 200' b/w silent releases that they were selling for only £1 were not old stock. They had lots of b/w stock somewhere, and were still printing these silent items. The quality was not great but no one could complain at that price!
I was really sorry to see them go - it was a great advertisement for Super 8 to have a shop like that in the West End. I still have a national newspaper ad of theirs from about 1983 announcing a sale - almost certainly the last time Super 8 films were advertised in a UK newspaper!
-------------------- Adrian Winchester
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