Everyman Cinema front, Hampstead, July 2021 (02)

The Everyman Hampstead is the original site of the

Everyman Cinemas Everyman Media Group plc (known as Everyman Cinemas) is a cinema company based in London, England. The company was founded in 2000, when entrepreneur Daniel Broch bought the original Everyman Cinema in Hampstead, London, which dated to 1933, ...

group, a boutique independent cinema chain, located in Holly Bush Vale,

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

, in North West London. It shows new releases, as well as classic films and special events, such as the New York Metropolitan Opera,

National Theatre Live National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London, which broadcasts live via satellite, performances of their productions (and from other theatres) to cinemas and arts centres around the world. About I grew ...

, film festivals, live Q&As, and seasons. The venue features two screens (a 122-seat room with club suites, gallery seating and a vaulted ceiling; and a more intimate 72-seat screen), as well as a private hire room, a licensed bar and restaurant, Sony Digital 4K projectors, and Dolby Digital surround sound.

History

The building was first opened as the Hampstead Drill Hall and Assembly Rooms in the 1880s. Later it was transformed into a theatre, the ''Everyman Theatre'', which opened in 1920 under the direction of Norman MacDermott (1890–1977), with the first British production of

Jacinto Benavente Jacinto Benavente y Martínez (12 August 1866 – 14 July 1954) was one of the foremost Spanish dramatists of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1922 "for the happy manner in which he has continued the illustriou ...

's ''The Bonds of Interest'' (''Los intereses creados'', 1907). '' You Never Can Tell'', opened two weeks later and was a success, leading to the performance of more revivals from

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

. Another notable performance is that of

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...

's ''

The Vortex ''The Vortex'' is a play in three acts by the English writer and actor Noël Coward. The play depicts the sexual vanity of a rich, ageing beauty, her troubled relationship with her adult son, and drug abuse in British society circles after the ...

,'' which was first performed there. Everyman Hampstead Screen 1

The Everyman opened as a cinema on Boxing Day 1933. The opening programme consisted of Rene Clair's ''Le Million'', ''Turbulent Timber'', a

Mack Sennett Mack Sennett (born Michael Sinnott; January 17, 1880 – November 5, 1960) was a Canadian-American film actor, director, and producer, and studio head, known as the 'King of Comedy'. Born in Danville, Quebec, in 1880, he started in films in the ...

comedy, a

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

cartoon and

Paramount News Paramount News is the name on the newsreels produced by Paramount Pictures from 1927 to 1957. History The Paramount newsreel operation began in 1927 with Emanuel Cohen as an editor. It typically distributed two issues per week to theaters across ...

. The Everyman had been bought by a local solicitor, James Fairfax-Jones. "FJ", as he was known, lived with wife, Tessa, in a sprawling manor house in the secluded Vale of Health. He ran the Everyman as a hobby rather than as a business, hoping that its 302 seats would generate enough money to pay the staff and the overheads as well as his annual treat – attending the

Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival or Venice International Film Festival ( it, Mostra Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica della Biennale di Venezia, "International Exhibition of Cinematographic Art of the Venice Biennale") is an annual film festival h ...

, which he surveyed from the splendour of the Cipriani Hotel. His staff, principally projectionist Tom Robinson and manager Dennis Lloyd, stayed with him for decades. Usherettes were all part-time and were an extraordinary mix – some were wartime refugees, others local au pairs, language students and so on. One woman who worked in the cash desk selling tickets owned the West End furniture store Heals. Fairfax-Jones died in April 1973. His son, Martin, took over as Managing Director of the cinema, which was programmed until 1977 by one of its managers, Adrian Turner, and subsequently by Tony Dalton and Peter Howden. Since 1933 the Everyman always showed a wide range of movies in repertory seasons - the Marx Brothers, the Maxim Gorky Trilogy, Jean-Luc Godard, Humphrey Bogart and Ingmar Bergman being especially popular with the local Hampstead crowd. Local residents such as

John Gielgud Sir Arthur John Gielgud, (; 14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000) was an English actor and theatre director whose career spanned eight decades. With Ralph Richardson and Laurence Olivier, he was one of the trinity of actors who dominated the Brit ...

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was a British stage and film actor. He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and began working in the theatre, gaining recognition as a Shakespearean actor at the Bristol Old V ...

and

Melvyn Bragg Melvyn Bragg, Baron Bragg, (born 6 October 1939), is an English broadcaster, author and parliamentarian. He is best known for his work with ITV as editor and presenter of '' The South Bank Show'' (1978–2010), and for the BBC Radio 4 documen ...

were regulars. HRH

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon, (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, and the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth ...

brought her two children to see ''

High Society High society, sometimes simply society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open to men based ...

''. In the 1980s, the Everyman had various owners, with one turning the basement into the second auditorium. When the cinema was threatened with closure in 2000, it was bought by entrepreneur Daniel Broch as the flagship for the new

group, a company that has seen subsequent rapid expansion.

Cultural references

The cinema is referred to in the song, "Hampstead Incident" by

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

, with the line: "Standing by the Everyman, digging the rigging of my sails." The 1960

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a seri ...

psychological-horror classic ''

Peeping Tom Lady Godiva (; died between 1066 and 1086), in Old English , was a late Anglo-Saxon noblewoman who is relatively well documented as the wife of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and a patron of various churches and monasteries. Today, she is mainly reme ...

'', credited as a founder of the slasher genre, mentions the cinema twice by name. Two original posters for the film still hang in the lobby.

References

External links

The Everyman Hampstead Official Website

Everyman Theatre records, 1920–1923
held by the Billy Rose Theatre Division,

New York Public Library for the Performing Arts The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center, at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, is located in Manhattan, New York City, at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts on the Upper West Side, between the Metro ...

{{coord, 51.556, -0.179, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Buildings and structures in Hampstead Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Camden Cinemas in London Former theatres in London Theatres completed in 1920 Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Camden

History

Cultural references

References

Further reading

External links