# Phoenix Picturehouse

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{{Short description|Cinema in Oxford, England}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
{{Infobox venue
|name = Phoenix Picturehouse
|nickname = 
|former_names = North Oxford Cinema (1913–20)<br>The Scala (1920–25, 1925–70)<br>New Scala (1925)<br>Studios One and Two (1970–76)<br>Studio One and Studio X (1976–77)
|logo_image = 
|logo_caption = 
|image = Phoenix Picturehouse.jpg
|image_alt = Plain façade, painted pale blue, with an awning
|caption = Façade of the Phoenix Picturehouse
|pushpin_map = 
|pushpin_map_caption = 
|pushpin_label_position = 
|address = 57 [Walton Street, Oxford](/source/Walton_Street%2C_Oxford)<br>OX2 6AE
|location = [Jericho, Oxford](/source/Jericho%2C_Oxford)
|coordinates = {{coord|51.760322|-1.266636|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}
|type = cinema
|event = mainstream films,<br>[independent film](/source/independent_film)s
|broke_ground = 
|built = 1913
|opened = {{start date and age|1913|03|15|df=y}}
|renovated = 2017
|owner = [Cineworld](/source/Cineworld)
|operator = [Picturehouse Cinemas](/source/Picturehouse_Cinemas)
|cost = 
|architect = Gilbert T Gardner,<br>new façade 1939 by Frederick Chancellor
|builder =
|project_manager = 
|structural_engineer = 
|services_engineer = 
|general_contractor = 
|main_contractors = 
|seating_type = 
|capacity = 
|record_attendance = 
|dimensions = 
|volume = 
|tenants = 
|embedded = 
|website = {{URL|http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Phoenix_Picturehouse/}}
|public_transit = No buses serve Walton Street. [Oxford Bus](/source/Oxford_Bus_Company) 6 and [Stagecoach](/source/Stagecoach_in_Oxfordshire) buses S2, S3 serve [Woodstock Road](/source/Woodstock_Road%2C_Oxford), {{convert|1/3|mi|m}} away
}}

The '''Phoenix Picturehouse''' is a cinema in [Oxford](/source/Oxford), England.<ref>{{cite news |title=Cine-files: The Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford |url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/oct/23/cine-files-phoenix-oxford |newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) |date=23 October 2012}}</ref> It is at 57 [Walton Street](/source/Walton_Street%2C_Oxford) in the [Jericho](/source/Jericho%2C_Oxford) district of Oxford.

The Phoenix used to be an [independent](/source/Independent_cinema_in_the_United_Kingdom) cinema,<ref name=Waite>{{cite web |last=Waite |first=Debbie |title=Phoenix to Celebrate its Centenary in Reel Style |url= http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/10169433.print/ |newspaper=[Oxford Mail](/source/Oxford_Mail) |publisher=[Newsquest](/source/Newsquest) |date=18 January 2013 |access-date=13 February 2015}}</ref> and from 1989 the [Picturehouse Cinemas](/source/Picturehouse_Cinemas) chain developed from it. Since 2012 the multi-national [Cineworld](/source/Cineworld) group has owned Picturehouse Cinemas.

==History==
The building was designed by local architect Gilbert T Gardner for proprietors Richard Henry John Bartlett, W Beeson and Charles Green. It opened on 15 March 1913 as the North Oxford Kinema.<ref name=History>{{cite web |url= https://phoenixcentenary.wordpress.com/cinema-history/ |work=Phoenix Centenary Blog |title=History |date=11 March 2013 |access-date=13 February 2015}}</ref> By then Oxford had several cinemas, including the Electric Theatre in [Castle Street](/source/Castle_Street%2C_Oxford) and the [Oxford Picture Palace](/source/Ultimate_Picture_Palace) in Jeune Street.

The cinema changed hands several times in its early years. Proprietors included Hubert Thomas Lambert (1917–20), CW Poole's Entertainments (1920–23), Walshaw Enterprises (1923–25), Ben Jay (1925–27), J Bailiff (1927–28), and Edward Alfred Roberts (1928–30).<ref name=History/>

In 1920 Poole's, a company most famous for [Poole's Myriorama](/source/Poole's_Myriorama), refurbished the cinema and renamed it The Scala. In 1925 Ben Jay briefly renamed it the New Scala.<ref name=Waite/>

In 1930 the lease was acquired by John Edward Poyntz (Born in Ammanford, Carmarthenshire, Wales in Oct 1886), who had [sound equipment](/source/Sound_film) installed. In 1939 the original façade was replaced with one designed by Frederick GM Chancellor of [Frank Matcham](/source/Frank_Matcham) & Co.{{sfn|Allison|Chan|Gennari|2013|p=63}}

Poyntz regularly{{clarify|reason=Is this intended to mean "regular" or "frequent"?|date=November 2017}} showed subtitled films, which were especially popular with foreign-language students. The Poytz family owned the cinema for 40 years, and made it one of the UK's most important [art film](/source/art_film) cinemas outside London.<ref name=Waite/>

In 1970 Star Associated Holdings Ltd bought the cinema, divided its single auditorium into two, and renamed it Studios One and Two.{{sfn|Allison|Chan|Gennari|2013|pp=81–85}} The film selection became much more mainstream, and [adult film](/source/adult_film)s became a regular part of the programme.{{sfn|Chan|2015|p=260}} In 1976 Studio Two was renamed Studio X and briefly became a private club for more explicit adult films.{{sfn|Allison|Chan|Gennari|2013|pp=91–93}}

In 1977 the cinema was renamed The Phoenix by new owners Charles and Kitty Cooper of [Contemporary Films](/source/Contemporary_Films), who returned the repertoire to art house and foreign language films. Contemporary Films introduced late-night screenings every day of the week, which were very popular with local students.<ref name=History/> Custom declined in the 1980s, as it did throughout the UK at this time. The Coopers reluctantly sold the cinema.{{sfn|Allison|Chan|Gennari|2013|pp=119–120}}

In 1987 the cinema was used as a filming location in ''The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn'', an episode of ITV's ''[Inspector Morse](/source/Inspector_Morse_(TV_series))''.<ref>IMDB The Silent World of Nicholas Quinn (1987) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0611659/locations?ref_=tt_dt_dt</ref>

In 1989 Lyn Goleby and Tony Jones bought the cinema and made it the first venue in the [Picturehouse Cinemas](/source/Picturehouse_Cinemas) group,<ref name=History/> which as of 2018 had 24 cinemas. On 6 December 2012 [Cineworld](/source/Cineworld) bought Picturehouse Cinemas.{{sfn|Allison|Chan|Gennari|2013|p=153}} Although no longer independent, the Phoenix Picturehouse still maintains the appearance of an independent cinema. In March 2013 the cinema celebrated its centenary. Later that year Picturehouses published a book of its history.{{sfn|Allison|Chan|Gennari|2013|p=}}

In August 2017 the cinema closed for a major two-month refurbishment of both of its cinema screens, reopening in October 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/15403679.Historic_city_cinema_to_shut_its_doors_for_refurbishment/|title=Historic city cinema to shut its doors for refurbishment}}</ref>

==See also==
* The [Ultimate Picture Palace](/source/Ultimate_Picture_Palace), Jeune Street

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==Bibliography==
*{{cite book |last1=Allison |first1=Deborah |last2=Chan |first2=Hiu M |last3=Gennari |first3=Daniela Treveri |year=2013 |title=The Phoenix Picturehouse: 100 Years of Oxford Cinema Memories |publisher=Picturehouse Publications |isbn=978-0992646103 }}
* {{cite book |last=Chan |first=Hiu M |title=100 Years at The Phoenix: Archive of an Oxford Cinema 1913–2013 |date=October 2015 |publisher=Oxford Folio |isbn=978-0956740557 |url= https://phoenixcentenary.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/142237_oxford-phoenix-a5.pdf }}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Phoenix Picturehouse, Oxford}}
*{{official website |http://www.picturehouses.co.uk/cinema/Phoenix_Picturehouse/}}
*{{cite journal |url =https://www.academia.edu/4778800 |title=The Phoenix Picturehouse: 100 Years of Oxford Cinema Memories |publisher=Academia |format=pdf|last1=Chan |first1=Hiu Man |last2=Allison |first2=Deborah |journal=Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television |year=2015 |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=212–214 |doi=10.1080/01439685.2014.997554 |s2cid=216592629 }} – book synopsis

Category:1913 establishments in England
Category:Buildings and structures in Oxford
Category:Culture in Oxford
Category:Cinemas in Oxfordshire
Category:History of Oxford
Category:Theatres completed in 1913

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Phoenix Picturehouse](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Picturehouse) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_Picturehouse?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.