Scala Cinema 1978-1993

Bought this as a birthday pressie for my husband to remind him of our Saturday night trips to the Scala when we began dating in the 80s. Great memories

A massive book that takes the reader through the amazing and colourful History of London's most famous or infamous film club - depending on your perspective. Thereafter every one of their amazing monthly programmes is reproduced with a narrative accompanying each. As the book is almost A3 size the full page programmes are a good size and are as legible as their designs allowed. I particularly liked when the author made comments about what was happening in London or the wider world at the time to contextualise the programming . As an infrequent visitor to the Scala I was unaware that it was used as a live venue. However it is very clear just how popular its more salacious programming was and I have to confess to having seen many of those films there. I never quite recovered from seeing the double bill of 'Pink Flamingos' and 'Thundercrack!'. It also brought back memories of watching a triple Warhol programme and noticing people jumping out of their seats. Suddenly I felt something smothering my face and I jumped out of my seat. This was my introduction to the Scala cat - Warren - that was walking along the backs of seats deliberately wrapping it's tail around people's faces - little bugger!

Beautiful book full of great pictures and incredible month by month, year by year detail. All the monthly programmes are reproduced here as well! If you were a regular at the Scala in its heyday you will love this book as it will bring back so many memories.

Bought as a gift, much larger than expected so a heavy book, but much appreciated by recipient. Quality is outstanding.

Excellent, thanks

I went to the Scala obsessively for a year from mid 87 to mid 88. I'd come to prepare and write an exam. Wrote the exam once, didn't pass it, and was supposed to knuckle down and try again but never did, and instead spent all my free time either at the Scala or the Everyman at Hampstead. Little did we know that this world- were for the price of 1 ticket- you could see double and triple bills- would very soon disappear. I mostly went in the afternoon, and sat upstair with the seats mostly empty. Among the few attendees for the early shows were three of us young men who sat separate and never spoke. I finally got the nerve to speak to one of them- his name was Alastair- and we briefly became movie going buddies. I left London after a year, and when I returned 12 years later, the first place I looked up was the Scala. It was still standing but not a movie theatre anymore. The Everyman was still there as a movie theatre but a boutique one showing only new releases where they would bring the food people had ordered to their seats while a movie was playing. Trays and plates and glasses and cutlery etc. One experience of that travesty was enough for me.Many of the double bills at the Scala at my naive young age went over my head. I remember I duly made the pilgrimage to see a Tarkovsky double bill- Solaris & Stalker- and remember feeling so bored I wanted to scream. I gripped the seats to make myself not leave. Later of course I saw these films for the masterpieces they were. And yes when the Scala cat first brushed my leg I jumped thinking it was a giant rat!Jane Giles book is a wonderful tribute of those times because it reproduces all the monthly programmes. Sadly I chucked most of mine away, and now only have one left . But while FAB (the publishers) have to be commended for taking this on with Jane (and I bought the Special Edition directly from their website with its fantastic illustrated slipcase) I do have a similar gripe to one of the other reviewers. Often the best part of the monthly programmes was to flip the poster and read about all the movie entires for that month. Sadly in the book, while the front programmes are reproduced in all their garish colours, the flip side in on the facing page in a boxed miniature at the bottom right corner. Even with a magnifying glass I would not be able to read it. What a shame! Wish they had printed all the posters front and back to equal size, and found a way to link each page to Jane's commentary elsewhere. Or to have printed it as a fold sheet, as in some Japanese books, where you unfold the folded page with Jane's essays and ephemera on the inside. It would have driven up the costs considerably I suppose.But I'm so pleased to own this anyway. We won't get out youth back, but this book vividly brings the time back, when going through a repertory cinema's doors was like entering paradise. You didn't have to be young to feel that. Just the possibility of something vivid and wonderful happening to us is what we all yearn for.The book (including the special edition with slipcase ) is still on sale at the FAB website. Support them.

...of The Scala is if it came with a free cat. Many happy days and nights spent watching glorious trash in this Kings Cross landmark. The Scala lives on in our memories and in this amazing book (get the special large-format edition).

This is a magnificient book full if fascinating stories. I frequented Scala as much as possible in my stays in London and was in love with the place in the age before internet. Jane Giles did a wonderful job of gathering all the monthly lists and writing the stories. Thank you so much.

Scala Cinema 1978-1993 is a treasure trove of Scala Cinema history and ephemera that will have hardcore cinephiles pouring over it for countless hours.Only one problem, albeit a very frustrating one as far as I'm concerned: One of the main reasons I bought the book was to read the 178 monthly programs. Unfortunately, only one side of each double-sided program is legibly reproduced. As you can see from the attached photo, the front of each program takes up the entire page on the right side of the open book. On the left side of the open book, in the lower right corner, there’s a reproduction of the program’s backside, which contains a description of each film. But the reproduction is so small, except for a few random words that appear with the help of a magnifying glass, it can't be read. That's really a drag because reading the synopses of favorite films and new discoveries can be a lot of fun. I'll never know how well or cleverly written they were, and more annoyingly, if I want to know about a hitherto unheard of movie, I need to search for it on my phone or computer. The book would have been perfect if publishers organized the page layout better. A simple fix would have been to change Jane Giles’ prose to a smaller font with tighter line spacing so that a slightly larger image of the program's reverse side could be inserted, gifting us with all of each program’s info, not just one side. It dampens my enjoyment of browsing through the programs only to have to constantly turn to the Internet to find out what a film is about.

Better than expected! Totally over the moon

un livre immense (taille et poids...) sur un cinéma qui avant les plate formes, avant le DVD, presque avant la VHS montrait les films qu'on ne pouvait voir mais qu'on rêvait de voir (de Bergman à Russ Meyer, de Cavani à John Waters)...livre superbe avec tous les programmes hebdo de ce cinéma. un regret tout de même très peu de photos du cinéma, du public et personnalités et pas d'entretiens hommage de cinéastes ou autres ayant été là bas...

During my London visits and my long stay in London, i spent a lot of time in Scala and probably saw 200 films in a year. Thanks to Scala i built up my film culture. This book is perfect to remember those times. It provides valuable and entertaining info over the history of the cinema. And those monthly programs to die for. I still have one on my wall carefully framed in glass with my selections on the back of it(May 1989). Even if you never went to Scala, it is a very entertaining book in my opinion. Thank you Jane Giles.