All language subtitles for Scala - Portrait of the Cinema.mkv2

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The initial thought behind the scala
was...

to provide London with a repertory
cinema more on the lines of an American

repertory cinema, which changes the
program every day and has a very diverse

program. At the time, London had the
National Film Theatre, which was a very

staid and very kind of aloof cinema
showing films from around the

world, but in a very kind of academic
way.

But that notion of it being a fun
experience and something outside of the

straight jacket of normal cinema viewing
was kind of like very important to us.

There wasn't really a kind of eclectic
cinema at the time.

Hello Gala.

Yeah, from the 22nd we're showing Fritz
the Cat and Popeye cartoons.

The 27th we're showing Mondo Trasho and
Hairspray. That's Mondo Trasho.

Definitely the...

The eclecticism of the programme is very
much what defines this gala.

I believe that this comes out in all
different ways, as well as the fact that

the building accommodates features that
are like 1920s style, like the roof and

the floor and the chandeliers. And then
we've got this 1980s, late 80s style

graffiti, and that's quite physically
representative of the eclecticism of the

programme, which, as I said, includes
everything from Orson Welles to...

John Waters, Fire, Russ Mayer, and Akira
Kurosawa.

And it's very much the confidence in
being able to show a classic one day, an

absolute sleazebag film the next day,
that defines our attitude.

Action. Ian Johnston.

So, give me a stage.

Ready, sporting.

The Scala cinema could almost be classed
as an outlaw cinema as such, because

some of the films that have been shown
here, there's been white -hot

surrounding them. So, for instance, The
Evil Dead, when the Brightville

controversy was raging around that film,
the Scala would actually show this

film, and this was the only cinema in
Britain where you could see that film at

this time, uncut.

Well, The Scala really was the first
cinema in London that actually, and for

I know in England, actually took
exploitation films seriously in terms of

like David Lynch, Roger Corman.

And I would say that a lot of these
people owe their careers in this country

The Scala. I've been producing for
Palace.

I've been making...

Two or three films a year. Usually one
is my production, which I really work on

100%. And then one or two others that
are co -productions, where I either co

-produce or we accept produce.

And it was the same thing running a
cinema, the same thing of producing, of

wanting to know. As soon as I started
making films, I had to know what

did. So I knew that I could appreciate
the problems they had.

It's kind of like the smaller groups who
had these obsessions, a chance

to see the movies they wanted to see, so
that they would really take over for

the day, and they would be very heavily
involved in the programming. They would

bring their own Lauren Hardy reference,
or they would program their old TV

shows, and they would bring their
collection of TV stuff that they've

they would tell all their mates, and it
would become more like a club

atmosphere.

Ricky Baker.

The Scala for us has really served as a
good vehicle.

It's built up here as a situation of the
crowds. Now, look at the Scala and say,

Scala Kung Fu, Kung Fu Scala.

Most of the crowd in there are from
Scotland, Ireland, Manchester,

The atmosphere in there is so, so loud
and so noisy that some people say it's a

good job the film's a subtitle because
they would never, ever hear it.

If it was in English, it's English
language.

People with specialist knowledge will
approach us and say, will you hire us

a cinema? I want to do a certain show.

Now, for example, that includes the
Jackie Chan fan club who present a

arts film. And they present the whole
thing with maybe a guest speaker,

doing a bit of martial arts on stage.

Then there's Val Crows and his
psychotronic crew who come and do very

movies.

Val.

Can your heart stand the shocking fact
of Grey Rubber from Outer Space?

I wanted to put on some shows that
were...

It was a bit more than just going to the
cinema and watching a film.

And they had absolutely no hesitation in
agreeing to it. They said, let's go for

it. And so we did.

So we put a 3D film, which had never
been shown before, which is called

of the Moon, which was pretty amusing.
Huge tarantulas falling down in 3D and

rockets and things coming straight at
you.

There's lots of pointing at the camera
all the way through.

That was quite amusing.

Then we launched into our next one,
which was an all -nighter.

We thought, what if we have all night
Elvis?

So we planned a thing. We had Elvis
lookalikes and Elvis DJs, Elvis

Ooh, lots of that.

We had just people getting up on stage
and miming to Elvis records, obviously

showing Elvis films all night. And we
had a really good turnout for that. We

people coming out from the stand. There
was quite a lot of interest.

And we were just trying to think of more
and more ridiculous things that we

could put on, things that were more than
just cinema.

The next thing we did after that was a
festival by filmmaker Ed Wood.

I'd got a video company and we put out a
film, Plan 9 from Outer Space, which

reputation probably precedes it as the
worst movie ever made, and we really

wanted to set the record straight.

So we spent a long time. We got the
director of one of his last movies to

from L .A., a guy called Steve
Apostoloff, who was quite a character.

white silk suit, golden rings, smoking
Havana cigars.

He was about five foot high.

and spoke in a very thick Bulgarian
accent.

After we'd shown a lot of the movies,
things like Glen or Glenda, which was a

sort of semi -autobiographical film
about transvestism, because Edward was a

transvestite. And there's some great
stories about him in the Marines,

bra and panties underneath his Marine
combat uniform in the war.

And the first time Steve Apostoloff met
him at the Brown's Elby in Hollywood, he

said that he was sitting there, and the
waiter came up and goes, your dates here

in a very disgruntled voice and ed
walked in with a beret cashmere jumper

stilettos and a pencil skirt and a full
beard what is it that would happen were

this individual to appear this way on
the street you're doing it now laughing

yet it's not a situation to be laughed
at thus the strange case of

glenn who was glenda one in the same
person Not half man, half woman, but

nevertheless, man and woman in the same
body, even though by all outward

appearances, Glenn is fully and
completely a man.

Pretty outrageous.

Anyway, Steve came out and he was going
to give a lecture after the Herschel

thing. we didn't think we'd have any
problems but we didn't bank on his

which was very thick and he just stood
there for about half an hour just oh yes

nobody understood him

and then he had a load of trailers for
his films which he confided in me they

spent a lot of time putting it together
himself especially the first one came up

no problems in the second one spliced in
upside down and back to front, which

got a good cheer and made him walk out
of the theatre in disgust.

I had to go after him and bring him
back, but that was all right.

It was a good night.

Latterly, I visit the cinema because I
wish to express my discernment, and one

tribute I will pay to the Scars is the
variety one can

always get in its monthly program.

This is one of my reasons for visiting
the cinema as often as I do, to avail

myself of the pleasure.

of seeing some really good films.

I was surprised the other day when I saw
a Chinese film. I admit there was a

tremendous amount of mayhem in it.

And the mayhem took place inside a Roman
Catholic church.

And I am above all a son of Rome.

But, by and large, the Chinese film
called The Killers was a very

enlightening one indeed.

My name is Dr. Cecil Bartholomew Paul
Maximilian Bonner. Je m 'appelle Madame,

Monsieur, Monsieur le Dr. Cecil
Bartholomew Paul Maximilian Bonner.

Right in King's Cross, the well -known
fame, stands an edifice with an

illustrious name.

It is a haven for many kinds of folk,
and believe you me, this is no sick

The scholar caters.

for all types of humanity, from the
brilliant to those who will tolerate

even inanity.

Here come the saints and the sinners,
the losers and the winners, to

to circulate, or just keep a date.

The scholar, everything works out fine.

make room for all kinds and that is very
much reflected in our audience and

quite interesting as well that we can
have people like mark moore in lucky

training people like that and we can
have very um ordinary in the first

people like melvin rude we love this
girl we call her her her because we love

her she's just we look to her like a
person

We always look first to see, oh, look at
the blood and thunder first and book

all those up here. I mean, you know, so
keep the days free.

And we prefer those.

I don't like these, well, love -making

things, you know.

It's not so much bedroom scenes either.

These sort of films, I mean, you sit in
your seat and you're sort of transfixed,

aren't you? Especially as you're running
about with a wretched chainsaw.

Or that's one of them.

We like all that because, well, I find
it entertaining.

I know we like chasing up the streets
after one another, you know.

I love to see these cars go...

over hills, up in the air, you know,
flying sort of thing.

We like all that. I don't see there's
any harmony at all.

I mean, I don't go out of here wanting
to chainsaw somebody or...

Oh, I forget about it. I think it's a
good evening's entertainment, especially

if you get, like here, where you get at
least two films like that running

together.

It makes a jolly good outing.

We don't fall asleep in here like some
of them do. I mean,

I'm amazed at my son. I say to my son,
well, I don't know why they pay to come

in here to have a good sleep.

But we wake some of them up when it's
time to go home. Oh, it's over, you

The her and the cats are like people to
us.

I usually send them a Christmas card.

A Christmas prezzie of some sort, you
know, the cats.

It's a home for me, for horror movies. I
just associate The Scholar with

my whole fantasy horror genre that I
love so much.

And virtually every horror film of the
80s that will be recognised as a classic

in the future, I've seen here for the
first time, virtually in this seat.

I occasionally have the odd break, but I
like to try and see a movie virtually

every day.

To some people that might be quite
amazing, really.

But for one, I don't have a video.

And for two, I just haven't got a telly.
I haven't had a telly for years.

When I did have it, I used to sometimes
watch the older films on it, but it was

of no use to me, really.

And the best way to see a film is on
cinema, on the screen, on the big

So I like to pay a visit virtually most
days. In fact, I...

I tend to diarise most things. I have a
nice colour code for the previews and

what's on at the Scala, what's on at the
NFT.

And then I've got another nice special
little diary on which I record the films

I've seen.

And if I see sometimes maybe one, even
two

films a day...

Sometimes I take a day off and catch up,
you know, and see three or four that

are coming off.

And I'm probably heading for my all
-time record this year, approximately

films seen.

But my ex -wife, she had it to a certain
extent. She liked Hollywood, Disney and

the mainstream movies, but when it came
to horror and the schlock and the

fantasy and the foreign films, she just
couldn't handle it at all.

And it was perhaps a certain aspect of
the marriage that it just didn't work

that, you know.

She'd come and see quite a few films
with me, but she couldn't share that

delight of the old gripping of the seat
with the horrors, you know.

And over the past couple of years, I
decided to try putting a little personal

in Time Out and met such a variety of
women.

I'm sure some of them thought I was
absolutely mad, you know, having this...

extreme passion and love for film but
the adverts got a bit bigger and

the people got a bit more film conscious
and I think I've eventually found

someone that can share that passion
equally and within a bond of one hope's

and sharing the movies in fact we went
to Wild at Heart last night and to have

someone hold your hand at all the
gripping parts more or less continually

throughout the film

And to put a head on your shoulder,
well, that was really, really quite

something.

And if I found the two greatest joys
together now, all one needs is me.

Big, big influence.

I like to think of much of the music as
soundtracks to films that haven't been

made yet.

There's one track in particular called
Sprinkle, Step Into My Mind, which is

about someone totally in love with the
movies.

In fact, they're not even in love,
they're obsessed.

Totally obsessed.

Many a time I used to get thrown out of
the Scala.

one of us would pay to get in and he'd
go downstairs and open the back door and

about 25 of us would just run in
upstairs into the little coffee bar

jukebox was and uh you'd often see me
getting like a hold out by two guys this

character who i didn't know by name had
his ear bitten off it was actually at

the ica a clash gig his ear bitten off
went to hospital got his phone back on

and came back and was poloing in the
front like with his ear sewn on which i

thought was pretty disgusting anyway
this guy whose name was shane came to

scala and see a movie that i really
really really have been trying for years

get hold of which was called attack of
the foot woman which i loved and i

thought was a great i think it's a great
film just not a great trash film but

just the fun great film and the cinema
was packed and there was this love of

kind of like anticipation and uh
suddenly i heard this sound kind of

sound.

And these people two rows from me were
like standing up, alarmed.

And Shane had climbed onto his seat and
was pissing into the audience.

It was the same character who had his
ear bitten off.

And I've never resorted to violence in
my life, very hardly ever, except with

very, very, very, very small children.

And I jumped up and grabbed him and
pulled him out and threw him onto the

street, like with these people helping
me.

I just said, you know, you don't ever
come back to the cinema again.

The only performance that makes it, that
really makes it, that makes it all the

way, is the one that achieves madness.

Am I right?

Am I right?

I

think

the thing that's special about the Scala
is the fact that it's so diverse.

No two days are the same in this place.

We have quite a loyal gay audience,
sometimes on Mondays.

We have a larger crowd on Saturday
nights.

We have the art crowd.

We have a lot of fun. Students come in
and get everybody.

One of my fondest memories of this
gorgeous, gorgeous cinema The evening

couple of years back, I remember, when
they first showed Torch Song Trilogy on

special preview, and the vibes that
night were absolutely incredible.

It was an unforgettable evening, because
virtually the whole audience was gay,

and there were gay couples of every kind
and description, and to sit there in

that audience and share the laughter and
tears with them was one of the

experiences I'll never forget, really.

The Saturday night all -nighter at the
Scala cinema was the social highlight of

the week.

I used to meet my friend Barry down
there at around 2am.

Barry's job was to keep everybody awake
all night, but I can't discuss that with

you for legal reasons.

My highest score on the Space Invaders
was...

10 ,280 points.

And my favourite record was Beyond Good
and Evil by the Pop Group.

What film? I don't recall seeing any
films there, no. You've got the wrong

place. Sorry.

Ralph Brow.

I think a lot of young actors, when
they're starting out, start out tearing

tickets in theatres or working backstage
or whatever.

It's perhaps significant that I did
start out tearing tickets in a cinema

because that's really where I wanted to
end up working as a film actor.

People always ask me, you know, do I
prefer working in theatre or do I prefer

working in television or films?

I prefer working in films.

The most memorable time for me of that
period was the all -nighters.

I used to turn up for work at about 10 o
'clock and put the coffee on and watch

the gathering of the tribes who would
come in for the sort of ritual all

-nighter. Depending on what films were
being shown, you would get, say, a gay

crowd, which at that time would be very
unusual.

The Scarlet was one of the first
feminists in Farthom away who actually

programmed gay films.

Or you'd get the rockers, the bikers
down there, or you'd get the Blitz kids

coming in from the Blitz club.

There's a bunch of people who basically
went to Scala every Saturday night, late

night show, irrelevant of what was on.

and there'd be this wild party
atmosphere with people joining in and

comments at the screen.

If ever there was a disco scene or a
music scene in any of the movies that

being shown, people would get up and
dance, and it would be crazy.

You know, people say, all night film,
why people don't want to get up all

watching movies?

And they do, because I knew I did, and I
would if it was the right kind of

programming. I used to get bored when I
discovered Scala and all -night film

shows.

They've always been a haven for
runaways.

Tom Heslock.

Man -made chickens.

Strangest chickens I've ever seen.

We used to get quite a lot of very
strange people for the all -nighters.

One we had was a guy called Norman
Satan, who had been in previously and

couple of cashiers and the manager that
he should be letting free because he

owned the place. He couldn't de -own the
world, being Norman Satan.

I met Norman Satan one night when he
came in with his dog, and I tried to

him and said, I am Norman Satan. Do you
want to be damned?

I said, well, no, not really, but you
have to buy a ticket.

He goes, well, you're damned anyway, and
marched past.

The manager at the time, Andrew
Whiteman, stopped me from going up and

we'll call the police.

So they called the police, and we all
went to look for him, and he disappeared

with his dog.

We don't know where he was, up at
Brimstone.

Another character we had was the Swedish
streaker in white cowboy boots, who I

was downstairs.

They used to stand at the bottom of the
stairs while people were going in to pay

their tickets and basically to try my
best to intimidate so you wouldn't get

trouble. And this guy had gone up
looking quite normal apart from his pair

white cowboy boots and he was wearing a
red jacket.

one of the massive Swedish guy. We got
someone coming down saying, there's some

guy running around naked in the cinema.

So we rushed up and we saw him. He was
rushing around the cinema in his white

cowboy boots and nothing else, stark
naked.

We chased him around for a bit and he
went down back there and disappeared,

leaving his clothes in the toilet.

12, Kansas Stella.

Guys like you, one's too many and a
hundred's not enough.

The lost weekend.

Nick Rizzo.

Over the years I've been here, I've been
keeping a few diaries.

Here's a few extracts of them.

October, God knows when.

Sometime in the empty 80s.

Dress for sex night.

Movies like Let Me Die a Woman, May
Tress and Thundercrack. The Sweaty

-strings and see -through plastic skirts
are paraded around.

And that's just for guys.

All night, both toilets rattling away
with fevered enthusiasm.

12 flavours of ice cream and 7 flavours
of condom.

All night, horror. The wolf mum, early
20s but looking so much older.

Hairy face, hairy ears, hairy hands,
hairy.

There's even traces of it in the dirty
change he pushes over the counter

me. He sniffles and bares his teeth,
sharp yellowed incisors. He's happy

he's home for the night.

Warren used to like winding up the
audience.

His favourite film was Blade Runner.

And during a pertinent point from that,
he would suddenly launch himself into a

leap across the seats all the way down
over people's heads and have people

going, what's that?

We used to regularly get people coming
out and going, there's rats in there,

because what he'd do is weave through
people's legs and rub against them.

The best thing I saw Warren do was at
about five o 'clock on an all -nighter,

were showing a film by Herschel Gordon
-Lewis called Colour Me Blood Red, which

is one of the early gore films.

And there was this guy just flat out in
front of me asleep.

And it was during a very gory bit.
Warren obviously got very excited,

something, and walked up to the guy very
calmly and leapt on his head. And this

guy just went ten feet in the air.

I have a strange history of this
building.

From the... It was one of the first
buildings... I think, custom -built as a

cinema. When we took over, something
called a primatarium was going on here,

which they'd ripped all the seats out
and turned the auditorium into a grassy

down, and they had 17 slide projectors,
which showed the history of man from

primate to now.

I think people feel at home here because
the building is kind of slightly

shabby, and they feel at ease in that
kind of environment rather than a place

that's absolutely spotless.

It's a bit run down, isn't it?

I mean, I've had my colleagues and
people around the place calling it a

pit, but then that's, if you like it for
the atmosphere of a flea pit

atmosphere, that's why you come.

I always enjoy a cinema as a character.

I like the fact that we've got a cinema
cat and there's the occasional sound of

a train, and it adds to the memory of
the experience of seeing film.

We had an American director called
Penelope Spheeris on stage talking about

new film, which was The Decline of
Civilisation Part II, The Metal Years.

kind of a heavy metal documentary. It
was very funny. And she got on stage

afterwards to speak to an extremely
hostile audience of heavy metalers who'd

hated the film.

She opened her mouth and a tube train
went underneath and she screamed it's an

earthquake and just ran to the side of
the stage.

I don't really like coming to
Kingsclough. It has a reputation for the

vice. In fact, Mona Lisa was partly
inspired by my working here, working the

nights here, going up to behind the
station and being quite sickened. The

across the road, which was an amusement
arcade, I'm not sure if it's still here

now, you could go there at three in the
morning and play on

the machines and people would just be
lining up.

drugged on the top of a pimple machine.

What'd you get?

Nothing.

Nothing? Yeah, nothing.

What do you mean, nothing?

I mean nothing, Denny. The opposite of
something.

They drink tea.

She's lying.

Well, why would she lie?

I don't know. You'll find out.

How am I going to find out?

Well, take a picture. Climb a drainpipe,
find out.

I've got a picture.

You're trying to be funny, George.

I told you, Dennis, she drinks tea.

You are funny, Georgie.

I suppose I am, yeah.

Get something better.

Well, that's your main fare. I mean,
slimy, nasty, slimy, kinky.

I don't want to know anything about tea.

All right then, George.

According to British Rail, the King's
Cross development won't affect the Scala

at all.

They say two things at one time. One is
that the building won't be touched.

Two is that they want to knock a great
big public walkway right through.

the back corridor so really that that's
a question of yet to be seen the truth

is as a refugee cinema running programs
where you change every day there isn't

the opportunity to make very big money
if you have a real big hit then you have

it for that day that monday or that
sunday or that wednesday the notion of

breaking even becomes even harder
because the rent has gone up here i

tripled since i took it over since i ran
it and um

As cinemas become more successful,
people are looking for more screens.

So people have made offers for this
building and made offers to buy the

which we've turned down.

And we've got to somehow compromise to
make allowance for the future

so that we can still show the same kind
of films we're showing now in a cinema.

And one of the compromises we're making
is that we have plans to triple the

theatre, which is to have three screens,
one of which will be a repertory

cinema, one of which will be...

a first -run theater and one of which
will be a kind of art house it's going

be like the cannons you know you um you
feel you've got to tread lightly when

you're going well we don't go there
anymore but when we did used to go there

this is a homely little place the stream
stained with beer the whole place

shaped when the tube runs dancing some
crap but we love it mark moore at the

scarlet