8mm Forum: The smallest cinema in Britain closes

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Posted by Mike Peckham (Member # 16) on February 19, 2008, 08:09 AM:

Just read the article in the Independent about "La Charette" a 24 seat cinema in a Swansea backgarden that has been showing films since 1953. Unfortunately, due to the deterioration of the Railway Carriage from which it was built, the cinema is due to close and be demolished. However, the final performance is due to be a premier attended by Mr Brannagh himself, what a fitting end for a back garden cinema.

You can read the full article here; http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/branagh-and-cox-lead-farewell-to-the-smallest-cinema-in-britain-784026.html

Mike [Cool]

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on February 19, 2008, 08:23 AM:

Yes it a shame it has to close, but what a way to go!
This little cinema is only a few miles away from me. I was offered a private look at it by one of the members I had become friendly with a few years ago, but my illness prevented me from going.
The La Charette is featured in Keith Wiltons original Armchair Odeons part 2 video.
Hopefully Keith will be releasing an updated dvd version so we can all see it in its prime.
Mal

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on February 19, 2008, 03:36 PM:

Thanks for posting that Link Mike. As Mal has stated 'La Charrette' is featured in Armachair Odeons - a segment which I particularly like. Gwyn Phillips would be proud of this final tribute to his beloved cinema.

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on February 19, 2008, 08:04 PM:

Guys from UK,

Can you give me an idea what sort of fare they charged for a ticket? (considering only 23 seats were available).

And for comparasion, what is the ticket fare at regular cinema now in the UK?

When the article says they played "Saving Private Ryan" does it mean they played it at the same time (or around) this movies was released or they used out of date film for screening? (so cheaper for cost of renting)

thanks,

Posted by John Clancy (Member # 49) on February 20, 2008, 03:47 AM:

They ran 16mm prints Winbert so I suppose it depended on when the film became available on 16mm. Probably generally a couple of months after a film's general release.

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on February 20, 2008, 04:09 AM:

Thanks John, any idea how much they charged for a ticket?

Posted by Mike Peckham (Member # 16) on February 20, 2008, 04:54 AM:

A very strange coincidence, having never heard of “La Charette” prior to reading about it in the paper, I got home last night to a large stack of magazines that had been sent to me by one of our forum members (thanks Keith) and the first one I opened, the March 1989 edition of Making Better Movies, had an article about Gwynn and his remarkable little cinema.

As a tribute to Gwynn from the forum I shall reproduce it here:

quote:
“It must be a disease or something – once you get into it, you can never leave the damn thing alone… It gets into your blood and then that’s it!”

They could be the words of a government anti-drugs advert, but they in fact belong to Gwynn Philips, the man who runs what he firmly believes is the smallest cinema in the country. It is certainly the only cinema to be found in a railway wagon. He has shown films for most of his life in many cinemas, but being a projectionist has never been his living.

It all began in 1942 when he was 12 years old. A Tarzan film with Johnny Weissmuller was showing at the Lido and he’d arranged to go to the matinee with his friends. He got held up at his piano lesson and on arrival at the cinema, the doorman told him that his friends had already gone in and that there were no more seats left.

Seeing his disappointment, the doorman asked if he wanted a job. Gwynn accepted it. He was given a can of film and told to take it down to the other nearby cinema. This was the newsreel, which had to be shared between cinemas during the wartime due to the shortage of celluloid.

I don’t know whether Gwynn would say this incident was an act of God or merely stoked up the fire of an existing passion. Whatever the case he found himself with a regular after-school job.

At first he simply took the cans to and fro. Then the projectionist showed him how to put the film onto a reel, then how to put the reel onto the projector. Before long he was not just carrying the newsreel but showing it as well.

The good side of the job was the money, “I was the only 14 year old with a wrist watch”. The bad side was that he had little time for friends, being immersed in the cinema every night.

At age sixteen, his mother told him that he had to get himself a trade. He replied that he already had one – the cinema. She was having none of that. Like thousands of parents through the years she wanted her son to have a real job.

And so it was that he spent his days training to be an electrician, a career that he followed most of his life. But at night he was back in the projection booth, dimming the house lights and rolling the reels.

He built his first cinema in a redundant coal shed in 1953. It held 16 people and used a pair of 16mm Bell & Howell projectors. However the 1960s brought Cinemascope to 16mm and disrepair to the coal shed, after ten years it was time for change and he decided to buy a railway wagon.

He was rather stuck for a name. He considered calling it “The Wagon” but thought the name seemed rude. Eventually a friend suggested “La Charette” which he liked a lot, especially when he was told it was French for ‘the wagon’.

La Charette has been progressively improved over the years and now boasts a high level of comfort and technical specifications. The first projectors were Bell & Howell 621s, which were replaced by Debries. These had to go when the parts became too expensive and were superseded by four Elf projectors, which gave a brighter picture and superior sound.

He has raked the seats making the rear of the hall 18 inches higher than the front and put in three steps. He has also dug out the floor and built a solid brick wall to insulate the projection room. The 23 seats came to him from a local cinema, which was being converted into a bingo hall. The manager was a former colleague and he persuaded him to do him a favour for old times sake. This the manager did telling the owners the seats were water damaged and passing them onto Gwynn cheaply. These went in 8 years ago. The most recent improvement has been the addition of a small entrance foyer.

He has a Pearlux mini perforated screen which can be masked off to show any picture ratio from standard to Cinemascope. The hall is lit by green, yellow and red lights.

Everything is operated from a well-equipped projection room. He has a winder, electric splicer and tape splicer and a ‘long runner’, which enables him to put the whole show on one reel in the event of an emergency. One feature from the past is a slide, which can be placed in front of the projector to put up messages for people at the bottom of the screen. Remember “Could the owner of the red Vauxhall please move it”?

Gwynn lives in Gorseinon, a small town near Swansea. When he stated his own cinema there were five others in the locality. Now there are none. In 1969 he put on the final roll of film at the last remaining picture house – the Lido where it had all begun. He still remembers the film: it was ‘The Dirty Dozen’.

He screens films once a month, showing each one three times. For future presentation we have: The Last Emperor, Hope and Glory and Empire of the Sun. It is far from cheap to hire recent features, but his is no ordinary audience, they are true film fanatics.

Some people will suggest a film they would like to see and Gwynn will check on the availability and price. If it is a popular choice, the film is hired and the cost split between all the audience. All the showings are fully booked. You could say it is the ultimate film club.

When the video explosion happened he really thought it was the end of his little cinema. In the event, about ten regulars fell away, but there were ten more waiting to replace them. Now that the novelty of video has worn off, he says that the lost sheep want to return to the fold.

His customers complain to him about their experiences at the Odeon in Swansea, recounting how they have to sit through three-quarters of an hour of trailers and adverts in order to see the film. No such problem at La Charette. With shorter movies, Gwynn selects a suitable supporting film, usually an interesting documentary.

His work does not stop there. He has another projectionist who has been with him for 17 years. They take the two projectors out on the road to provide a mobile film service, showing sports films for local clubs, documentaries for pensioners, holiday films for travel agents and feature films at community centres. He can even screen films in Cinemascope on a 22ft portable screen.

His personal film favourites are the MGM musicals, especially South Pacific, West Side Story and My Fair Lady. By strange contrast, his modern favourites are Clint Eastwood films. Well, I suppose Clint did not appear in Paint your Wagon.

He considers that his wife is more of a television person. She does like to visit the cinema, but they rarely have the time. Gwynn, does, however claim that the cinema is the reason that they never argue. “If I feel the air getting a bit heavy in the house, I escape out to the cinema and I shove on a reel of film that I may have seen a dozen times before, and when I come back it’s cooled off a lot. “You’d be surprised how well it works”. Certainly very unconventional marriage guidance advice.

He claims that he has attempted to give up the cinema, but could never break the habit. “I’ve tried leaving it go… I really have tried… I did leave it go once for six months”, he says, “but after five o’clock I didn’t know what to do”.

Mike

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on February 20, 2008, 05:18 AM:

A few years ago the cinema, which was more of a film society,gave up on 16mm after a lottery grant enabled it to go a totally digital presentation.
Mal

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on February 20, 2008, 10:19 AM:

What a great article! Thank's again Mike. Gwyn's 'La Charrette' is an inspiration to all film collectors.

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on February 20, 2008, 02:07 PM:

I remember the "La Charette" from the Armchair Odeon tape, shame it is to close, Mike thanks for sharing such an interesting article.

Regards Graham.

Posted by Colin Edwards (Member # 183) on February 22, 2008, 04:28 AM:

Nice article, by Fred Attewill in todays London Metro a free newspaper .about the Oscars and the closeing of the La Charrette
in Swansea, also a few nice photos.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on February 22, 2008, 09:29 AM:

Tomorrow night (Sat Feb 23) is the big night, apparently a black tie event, which will be filmed for a BBC documentary about La Charrette.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/south_west/7248253.stm

What a great send off for Gwyn's pride and joy! [Smile]

Posted by David Park (Member # 123) on February 23, 2008, 03:32 AM:

See BBC News 24 they have item on this cinema today, just watched it. Guess they will repeat the item as it is a rolling news programme.
By the way it says of late they use DVDs for the films, allthough it does show the use of an Elf 16mm projector, the film on screen is in in Dolby Stereo.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on February 23, 2008, 01:41 PM:

I wonder if Keith Wilton is down in Wales covering this event?
Keith probably has the only filmed interview of the late Gwyn Phillips talking about La Charrette.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on February 23, 2008, 09:50 PM:

Here is the link to the BBC News video of Branagh's film premiere at La Charrette tonight. Can you believe they had searchlights in the sky over Gorseinnon!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediasel ector/check/player/nol/newsid_7260000/newsid_7261100?redirect=7261158.stm&news=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&bbram=1&asb=1

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on February 25, 2008, 01:00 PM:

For those interested, La Charrette will be featured on The Culture Show, Saturday evening at 7.10pm
Mal

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on February 25, 2008, 05:33 PM:

Hi Mal,
Did you ever go to a film show at La Charrette?

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on February 26, 2008, 05:42 AM:

Hi Paul,
Sadly I didn't visit La Charrette.
I became friendly with one of the members who offered me a private tour. However, not long afterwards I became severely ill with two lots of cancer so all plans came to nothing. I recently met the person again and he told me what had happened in the meantime.
If all goes well I shall try to see the cinema in its new home when it is relocated and rebuilt.
regards,
Mal

Posted by Mike Peckham (Member # 16) on March 03, 2008, 07:55 AM:

Mal

Thanks for mentioning that La Charette was going to be featured on the Culture Show, what a great send off it had! It was really heart warming to see the longest standing visitors to the cinema turning up in the limo dressed in their finery, and what a great touch to have a red carpet and a spot light!

I was intrigued to see that the film was collected in a can, which indicated it was a cine film, presumably 16mm (?), and not on disc. As La Charette had had digital projection facilities installed some time ago I assumed the “final premier” would be in that format, it was perhaps fitting that it should have been on reel film though – a little like taking the cinema back to its routes, I’m sure Gwynn would have been proud.

I understand it is going to be dismantled and then reassembled in a heritage park. Mal, do you know which one and where? It would be nice to be able to see it up and running again and perhaps returned to its former glory.

I was interested to hear in the post show discussion in the studio the comment that there is likely to be more bijou cinemas popping up in response to a need for more intimate viewing venues.

We’ll see…

Mike [Cool]

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on March 03, 2008, 08:51 AM:

Hi Mike,
The plan is to re-build La Charrette in the Gower Heritage Centre but when that will be has not been announced yet. The centre is a few miles further west than Swansea, about 16 miles from me.
Using Google, type in Gower Heritage Centre and the results lead you to 'how to find us' where they give the necessary info. Hope that helps.
Regarding the comments about more Bijou cinemas in the future, perhaps they should look at Keith's Armchair Odeons and see they are here already!
regards
Mal

Posted by David Park (Member # 123) on March 03, 2008, 10:32 AM:

Wow, my big shed might be famous one day!
Mind you only 12 ex-Odeon seats.

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on January 06, 2009, 01:49 PM:

Here's a little update.
There was an item about La Charrette on our local TV news programme this evening.
The cinema has now been rebuilt at the Heritage centre in full working order.
It is hoped that a film club (digital projection) will be established there within the next couple of months.
Mal

Posted by Michael O'Regan (Member # 938) on January 06, 2009, 02:05 PM:

Nice to know it'll keep going. I recall this chap from the DVD you so kindly lent me, Mal.

PS. Its been a while since we heard from you on either forum, sir. Hope all is well.

-Mike

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on January 06, 2009, 03:49 PM:

That's great news Mal - Gwyn would be proud.

Posted by Jose Artiles (Member # 471) on January 07, 2009, 06:48 AM:

Sadly is digital projection,that cinema must be keep the film running and not digital,that what i hate on this days,everytime a cinema is rebuilded..go to digital,when they undesstand that digital is not cinema..just tv projectd? [Mad]

I hope in the future someone buy it and keep running just on film. [Wink]

Posted by Mal Brake (Member # 14) on January 07, 2009, 08:28 AM:

Mike - some unwelcome problems are keeping me occupied at present so I won't be posting much anywhere for a while. Thanks for asking.

Jose,
From the first-hand information I was given it was no longer feasable to use 16mm. The hire fees and lack of product forced them to take the digital route to keep La Charrette open for as long as they could.

There were a few 'real' film fanatics involved, I know one also collected S8mm so they were saddened to see 16mm go.
However, the place still retained the atmosphere of a real cinema after the digital switchover and that's what counts I suppose.
Mal

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on January 07, 2009, 08:50 AM:

I think you have to be practical. There are not many people around who have a clue how to maintain and run 16mm and super 8mm projection equipment, so going digital was obviously the best way to keep La Charrette up and running. I also suspect that if Gwyn were alive today, he would (like most of us) probably have at least partial digital presentations in his cinema.
Mal, I wish you the very best for 2009.

Posted by Dan Lail (Member # 18) on January 07, 2009, 02:08 PM:

Jose,

That is exactly what I was going to post. Why go digital? Why not keep it unique and true to it's orignal intent? [Confused]

With digital it could be called "The smallest digital projection in Britain"(nothing unique about that!), although it would probably not be the smallest anymore compared to other dvd projection rooms.

There is nothing as good as the original, especially if you have a good machine to play it on. I have in my great room a turntable dedicated to 78rpm records. It has a light weight arm and 2.75 mil diamond stylus(This stlus rides deeper the groove in order to pick up untouched info). It is ran through a processor and then into a high watt amp and four high watt speakers. When I play records from the 1940's, wow! do they sound great. They sound superior to digital remasters and even earlier LP remasters. [Cool]

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on January 07, 2009, 04:40 PM:

There's a really nice old movie house near here that saw some bad times. After it sat closed a few years it was converted into a theater for live performances. It seems it was built for dual use from the start and the entire time there was a stage in back of the screen. It's having a really good go of it and I think it's going to succeed.

http://www.johnwengemantheater.com/

While I'm really glad the place didn't wind up a McDonald's (etc.), my only gripe is in the process they removed all capacity for cinematic shows. It would still be a great place to see classic films.

Much the same, "La Charette" would be better off with at least dual cinematic and digital projection. It would be much truer to its own history. Digital only is like going to a fancy restaurant and being served a TV Dinner!

Posted by Stewart McSporran (Member # 128) on January 08, 2009, 04:47 PM:

Dan,

Is that a KAB Vintage Signal Processor that you use with your 78s? About 10 years ago I took an old Realistic direct drive turntable and hacked the motor to let it run at 78 RPM and do the same as you did. I had to import the stylus from the US and customs tore the box to pieces! I guess the high value and light weight / small size just was too much for them.

And yes, they do sound great - except for a pretty rare Bunk Johnstone disk that I cleaned with a patent cleaner which tore off the shellac coating and left the disk unplayable.

Posted by Dan Lail (Member # 18) on January 15, 2009, 06:43 PM:

Stewart, I don't recall the name of the signal processor off hand. I picked it up in a thrift shop about seven years ago for a mere $15.00. The turntable is a mid sixties Panasonic(thrift shop) with four speeds(16 thru 78) and a lite weight plastic tube tone arm. I think 3 grams is optimum tone arm weight for 78rpms. The diamond stylus came all the way from Great Britain! [Smile]

It is a size smaller than the 3 mil. I think I am getting off topic. Maybe I'll start a new post with pics.

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