Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Royal Cinema


Located in the heart of Little Italy on College St, the Royal Cinema is located in a wonderful Art Moderne building which was constructed in 1939 and opened then as the Pylon Cinema. Threatened with closure in 2007 new operators took it over and it now shows 2nd run and indie/art films in the evening and during the day functions as a post-production studio for film and TV. I love that the original signs and building details have been maintained and restored during its upgrade! And that a middle eastern restaurant flourishes in Little Italy.
Taking part in Signs, Signs. For more signs click here.

22 comments:

  1. It's nice the city continues to evolve. Thanks for pointing out the Ali Baba's is in the middle of Little Italy. I probably would have missed that other evidence of evolution.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy they kept the sign too -- and really that's lovely that restaurant -- shows you have a real cosmopolitan City!

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a timeless Cinema!
    I love places like this! ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wonderful when old buildings can be lovingly conserved and even better if they can still be used for what their original purpose was...
    Lovely shot.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Theaters of that era can be wonderful. but the economics of movie-going make all of them endangered. Glad that this one has found a solution.

    ReplyDelete
  6. nice to have choice other than italian food in that neighborhood.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I was so pleased that this one had been restored. I have many fond memories of going to these Festival theatres back in the 1970s and 80s

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wonderful photo with the cyclist!

    ReplyDelete
  9. What a cool-looking place. And I'm glad to hear that it still serves as a cinema - at least part-time. We've got an old theater still going in downtown Ocala but it's been difficult and the place is again in trouble - just not enough business.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good one!
    And the Ali Baba's in Little Italy is a bit of a surprise!

    ReplyDelete
  11. great find! i miss seeing the old theater signs around here.

    ReplyDelete
  12. It is a nice style - and I always appreciate the background notes.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think it's great that they've kept the original signs too Red, love these old theatres, we have four here still in Perth and they seem to be hanging in there, thank goodness.

    ReplyDelete
  14. So good that this building is still in use. There is an Art Deco-style cinema in Edinburgh which has sadly fallen into disrepair.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Very difficult for movie theatres everywhere. I love the art house movies so hope this one survivies.

    ReplyDelete
  16. There are so few of these grand movie theatre marquees left. It's wonderful when they are preserved.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Fantastic Deco design! Glad it's preserved.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Gorgeous deco sign. Fun shot, love the bicyclist,

    ReplyDelete
  19. Glad it was saved- a fine old building!
    Chrissy at Manchester ~ a photo a day, Mancunian Wave photo blog

    ReplyDelete
  20. Being the age I am, I adore the old vintage theaters and their old signs. This is a fine one. So glad you shared it. genie

    ReplyDelete