Actors campaign to save cinema where Alfred Hitchcock saw first films
Protesters attended a candlelit vigil at outside the EMD Cinema in Walthamstow, east London, where Hitchcock saw his first movies.
Images of the filmmaker were projected on to the outside of the building and demonstrators wore Hitchcock masks on Sunday night.
The cinema, which first opened as a dance hall in 1887, closed its doors to the public in 2003 when it was purchased by Brazil-based religious organisation the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG).
The group's initial plans to turn the Grade II listed building into a church were rejected, but it is expected to submit new proposals to Waltham Forest Council.
The McGuffin Film Society wants the council to offer UCKG ownership of an empty building next to the cinema, allowing the popular EMD to be sold to operators who would reopen it.
Blackadder star Robinson said: "The cinema is an exotic masterpiece. It's where my teenage eyes were opened to the great jazz and rock and roll artists of the 1960s, and where I saw a host of great movies.
"At this exciting time in our history, when east London is about to be revitalised, it would be crazy to turn our backs on such a magnificent venue.
"If not for our sakes, then for the sake of the next generation of film and music lovers, let's ensure it is given the opportunity to reclaim its place as the hub of Walthamstow's high class entertainment."..
Read entire article at Telegraph (UK)
Images of the filmmaker were projected on to the outside of the building and demonstrators wore Hitchcock masks on Sunday night.
The cinema, which first opened as a dance hall in 1887, closed its doors to the public in 2003 when it was purchased by Brazil-based religious organisation the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG).
The group's initial plans to turn the Grade II listed building into a church were rejected, but it is expected to submit new proposals to Waltham Forest Council.
The McGuffin Film Society wants the council to offer UCKG ownership of an empty building next to the cinema, allowing the popular EMD to be sold to operators who would reopen it.
Blackadder star Robinson said: "The cinema is an exotic masterpiece. It's where my teenage eyes were opened to the great jazz and rock and roll artists of the 1960s, and where I saw a host of great movies.
"At this exciting time in our history, when east London is about to be revitalised, it would be crazy to turn our backs on such a magnificent venue.
"If not for our sakes, then for the sake of the next generation of film and music lovers, let's ensure it is given the opportunity to reclaim its place as the hub of Walthamstow's high class entertainment."..