- Joined
- Jan 20, 2008
Palace Picture's boss Stephen Woolley regularly used this cinema for events. Palace pictures was set up by Woolley and Nik Powell. I never realised untill todays research that Nik Powell was previously an early buisness partner with the now billionaire Richard Branson: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nik_Powell .Woolley states in this interview that The Evil Dead had it's world premier at The Scala. Pictures of admission tickets online showing an American premiere seem to contradict this claim. It would be intersting to find out the truth and timeline on those premiers. Either way, Woolley at that time took the unprecedented ballsy move of simultaneously releasing The Evil Dead on VHS and in cinemas. I don't think anyone's attempted that since. These interview articles from the Guardian newspaper says more about those days than I can though I do remember the one and only time I went to The Scala (mid 80's), staff/volunteers were cheerfully collecting 50p coins in buckets from punters because they were being fined so often for showing stuff they weren't allowed to .. The Scala was definately the UK premier venue for The Evil Dead. I'm told the earliest showings were mainly late night and mostly populated by London punks. If we have to blame anyone for The Scala's closure ........ Stanley Kubrick. Stan made the film 'A Clockwork Orange' detailing possible future gang culture and moral decay in Britain and then, after a couple of copy cat crimes decided to ban/withdraw his film himself. The Scala was hit with a lawsuit in '92 for, once again, defying authority and showing it (it was still banned at the time). Warner Brothers obviously had more money and influence than Woolley ... you know the rest ...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/aug/05/scala-cinema-vintage-goodwood
The average Scala experience:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jul/31/scala-cinema-london
The Grandfather of gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis at the Scala:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzfEydKwNOM
Rebirth ! .. today's Scala Forever movement. The programmer/commitee obviously have a sense of humour as the last film they're showing is the same one that that got them originally shut down: the now not banned 'A Clockwork Orange'
http://londonist.com/2011/07/preview-scala-forever.php
A fun irony/coincidence not to be missed is that the first film Stephen Woolley projected to an audience when he took control of The Scala in 1979 was King Kong. Way before The Evil Dead crew and Woolley had ever met, during production on The Evil Dead, Tom Sullivan projected King Kong onto one of the walls inside the cabin/set ... and then they eventually met, Woolley then releasing and championing The Evil Dead.
The history of The Scala:
http://www.scala-london.co.uk/scala/scalashistory.php
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2010/aug/05/scala-cinema-vintage-goodwood
The average Scala experience:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/jul/31/scala-cinema-london
The Grandfather of gore, Herschell Gordon Lewis at the Scala:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzfEydKwNOM
Rebirth ! .. today's Scala Forever movement. The programmer/commitee obviously have a sense of humour as the last film they're showing is the same one that that got them originally shut down: the now not banned 'A Clockwork Orange'
http://londonist.com/2011/07/preview-scala-forever.php
A fun irony/coincidence not to be missed is that the first film Stephen Woolley projected to an audience when he took control of The Scala in 1979 was King Kong. Way before The Evil Dead crew and Woolley had ever met, during production on The Evil Dead, Tom Sullivan projected King Kong onto one of the walls inside the cabin/set ... and then they eventually met, Woolley then releasing and championing The Evil Dead.
The history of The Scala:
http://www.scala-london.co.uk/scala/scalashistory.php