Film Forever

The first film I ever saw in a cinema was The Sound of Music at The Odeon Astoria, Finsbury Park. I clearly remember waiting for the bus with my Mum and my Aunt. It was a chilly grey day and the wind almost blew me over. We seemed to wait an eternity for that bus and I had only a very sketchy understanding of where we were going.

We were cold and glad to arrive, stepping through the door I immediately knew this was something special, a hushed world of wonder, a star shaped fountain in the middle of the foyer trickled. I was so entranced by the foyer that I had to be persuaded into the auditorium with the promise that I would see it again on the way out. Once inside however another world was revealed to me, the vast high ceiling was studded with tiny lights like stars. I thought I had entered a fairyland in which day had suddenly turned to night. The enormous arch which framed the screen looked like a castle and all around seemed to be little houses. I wanted to live there, I never wanted to leave this magical place.

The Sound of Music I think confused me terribly, but I liked all the singing and the children. I thought Julie Andrews was very beautiful. I thought that she and all the children lived in the castle above the screen.

The Astoria is still the most fabulous cinema I have ever been in and I wish you could see it, but it is a cinema no longer. It became The Rainbow, a music venue in the 70's and then closed in 1981. Over a period of years it became derelict, however, due to its status as a listed building it was eventually rescued and restored by The Universal Church Of The Kingdom of God. 

So thats it, my first trip to a cinema has never left me. The thing is, according to my Mum, I was a year old. 


© Theresa Collins