Cine-files: Hollywood Cinema, Norwich
This month Alan Partridge makes his long-awaited move to the
big screen with the world premiere taking place in Partridge's home city of
Norwich, following an internet campaign.The movie joins the long list of films which have been partially filmed in Norfolk, including Die Another Day, World War Z, Jack the Giant Slayer and Full Metal Jacket. Following the campaign there will be a lunchtime premiere in Norwich before Alan jumps on a chopper for an evening premiere in London to keep the studio bosses happy. Here, I review its venue, the Hollywood Cinema.
Hollywood Cinema is located in Anglia Square, [note: NOTLeicester Square] within convenient walking distance of charity shops, 99p Stores and second hand
electronics dealers. On the outskirts of the city centre, Anglia Square is made
mostly of the solid, grey architecture typical of the 1960s. The area was
originally home to a Saxon settlement and a series of defensive ditches, now
Anglia Square car park.
The cinema is located in one of the many large, nondescript
buildings in the area although it is notable for its positioning, looming over
the square. It dates back to the 1970s and is neutrally painted and partially
glass fronted. The interior could do with a facelift, and the four screens are
a fraction of the size of Norwich's two giant multiplexes, but this cinema has
an archaic charm that is hard to find in 20 screened behemoths.
The clientele of the cinema are primarily Nor-folk from ages
eight to ninety. Norwich's “value”
cinema, it undercuts its bigger, more modern local rivals at the box office
which accounts for its continued survival.
Step aside Delia, the Alan Partridge movie premier has been
described by Trevor Wicks, the owner of Hollywood Cinemas, as “the biggest
event at the Hollywood and probably the biggest event there's ever been in the
city for many years.” Rather than humourlessly shunning Partridge, the people of Norwich have
embraced him (take note, Kazakhstan). Is Hollywood Cinema the best cinema in
Norwich? No, but it is a local landmark, and one worthy of Partridge and
Norwich's self-deprecating humour.
