In Cinemas that week...

A supplement to my previous post which mentioned Cork’s beloved Pavilion Cinema which closed in 1989. I found this page torn from the July 8th 1982 issue of the Evening Echo, Cork’s local newspaper, and the cinema listings make for fascinating reading. Chariots of Fire was the major new release of this particular week, playing at the Palace and the Oakwood, one of the smaller regional theaters, while North Sea Hijack, a rather formulaic Roger Moore action adventure film was the Cameo’s newest attraction. The Capitol was showing Cannonball Run, which I suspect was in its final week, the listing relegates it to the Mini - the Capitol’s second, smaller screen, while across the street, the Classic was still packing them in with Stripes. The Lee cinema, known as a second run house was showing the recently released Escape From New York, with support from Escape from Alcatraz, and it’s interesting to note the amount of second run features in theatres that week - The Man With The Golden Gun (1974), Mandingo (1975), The Amityville Horror (1979), Dressed To Kill (1980), the Kathleen Quinlan-romance, The Promise (1980, and still unreleased on DVD), and the Alan Ormsby-penned high school comedy drama, My Bodyguard (1980). What’s most fascinating though is the Capitol’s Italian Exploitation double-bill The Last Hunter and Eaten Alive, which probably came as a package from the UK distributor Eagle Films. And while one might expect Antonio Margheriti’s (or rather Anthony M. Dawson’s) The Last Hunter to pass for an American-made Vietnam War film, I was genuinely surprised to discover that Umberto Lenzi’s rather tawdry cannibal film made it to these shores. Worth noting that Margheriti’s film was actually released on VHS in the UK the previous year; as were Escape From Alcatraz and Dressed To Kill, although I think it unlikely that any of those films were widely available on VHS in Cork at this early stage of home video.

Incidentally, the front of the Capitol cinema was well known for its prominent display of the posters of the current roster and coming attractions, and I wonder were the memorable British quads for The Last Hunter and Eaten Alive both on display that week ? Both were illustrated by the great British artist Tom Chantrell, and it’s worth noting that his poster for the Lenzi film differs subtly from the more sadistic image that was used for the Vampix VHS release released in 1983.

 image courtesy of Chantrell Posters

image courtesy of Film On Paper

Post-Script: Whilst researching this post, I stumbled across this wonderful photograph of the Capitol Cinema taken in and around 1979 with Phantasm featured on the marquee, with The Deer Hunter playing at the second, smaller theatre. You can also see the front-of-house posters sitting underneath the Capitol sign. The crowds lining the street are catching a motor rally.