Movie posters are often so large and garish that they quite overshadow the buildings they’re attached to. This is a pity because cinemas can be interesting buildings. Some of the best come from the 1930s, like the one now called the Vue in London’s Cranbourn Street, just off Leicester Square. Like many cinemas this 1938 structure has been much altered over the years, but the owners have kept these two chunky expressionistic reliefs, high up on the entrance front, which obviously represent sight and sound. They are by Bainbridge Copnall and they do a better job of representing the aspirations of cinema than the tawdry typography and crude shopfront modernism that most cinemas resort to today. They're an asset to Leicester Square.
4 comments:
I love them, and want to create an alter ego (yet another one) called Bainbridge Copnall. Too good not to use again.
I hope to track down some of this artist's other architectural reliefs. He seems to have been active from the 30s to the 50s, so there must be quite a few more.
Hi Philip,
Have you checked out the Odeon Cinema Covent Garden on the Shafetsbury Avenue? It has a similar art-decco style design
Kalyan: Yes, that cinema is another good one. And also the one on Leicester Square, though much darker in colour, is also an outstanding example from the period.
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