Cinema opens in a Royal style (From Witney Gazette)

Cinema opens in a Royal style

8:16am Friday 23rd March 2007 in Witney By Helen Peacocke

It's a Royal opening for cinema proprietor John Richards, who has booked The Queen to launch his new venture - Screen at the Lane, the cinema at Eynsham village hall.

By bringing back regular cinema shows to Eynsham, John Richards, who has lived in the village all his life, will be reviving a tradition that dates back to his childhood.

Everyone has heard of Screen at the Square - now there is Screen at the Lane - the cinema at the Eynsham village hall. The difference between the two at the moment is that the Eynsham cinema will only be opening once a month. However, if the idea proves popular, he will naturally turn it into a weekly event.

John admits that his weekly visits to the Eynsham Institute as a lad in the late 1950s have influenced his decision to bring a cinema back to the village.

"Going to the cinema on Thursday nights was one of the highlights of my youth.

"It cost a shilling then, and we all had to stand in a queue outside the door until it was time to go in. That queue used to get quite rowdy at times, particularly if the doors opened a few minutes late," said John, who also remembers how everyone used to rush for the exit before the film credits began, to avoid the crush as those queuing for the second house tried to get in before they had left.

"I guess the thing we will all remember about those shows was the serial. They always had a serial, which ended with a real heart-stopping cliffhanger, which would keep us guessing all week. There was always a groan of dismay when, on seeing the sequel the next week, we discovered the hero wasn't really being consumed with flames, or squashed by a truck after all.

"But with main films, like Rock around the Clock, coming to our village, it was all good fun. None of us would have seen these films if it hadn't been for our weekly cinema, for we seldom made an excursion into Oxford in those days," he said.

John has chosen the Academy Award-winning film The Queen to open Screen at the Lane, because of the positive response he got to this film when he screened it at Witney.

"Helen Mirren, who plays the lead role, is quite amazing. She really did deserve the Oscar. It's certainly a film that should not be missed," he said, adding that some people came to see it more than once when he ran it at Screen at the Square, Witney.

John realises he won't be able to add those heart-stopping serials he enjoyed in his youth to his programme, but he will show a short newsreel, which he has made himself, featuring Eynsham people and local events. The newsreels he makes for the Witney cinema have certainly proved very popular.

"People love to see themselves and their friends on the big screen.

"It's what local cinema is all about," he says.

The Queen will be shown at Eynsham village hall, Back Lane, on Friday, March 30, at 7.30pm.

Tickets, at £3 each, can be purchased in advance from Evenlode DIY, High Street, Eynsham.

John says that if this show proves a success, he will certainly consider making it a regular event. And if it proves a real sell-out on the night, he will just have to put on a second house.