Prince Charles Cinema
Coordinates: 51°30′41″N 0°7′49″W / 51.51139°N 0.13028°W
The Prince Charles Cinema (PCC) is a repertory cinema located in Leicester Place, 40 metres north of Leicester Square in the West End of London. It shows a rotating programme of cult, arthouse, and classic films alongside recent Hollywood releases – typically more than ten different films a week on two screens (285 seats downstairs and 104 seats upstairs). It also hosts the sing-a-long version of The Sound of Music, which has been shown on a regular basis for over five years, as well as The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Joseph. The cinema has achieved a cult status amongst fans, sticking out as the only independent cinema in the West End.
Constructed between 1961 and 1962, the building was built by Richard Costain Limited for Alfred Esdaile and designed by Carl Fisher and Associates. The building originally functioned as a theatre with a distinctive 'satellite dish' curve to the floor of the stalls. The venue later operated as a porn cinema whose screenings included the UK's longest run of Emmanuelle, as well as Caligula.
The cinema was used as the setting for a number of stunts in the British sketch show, Trigger Happy TV. Filming was facilitated by the cinema having a balcony from which aerial shots could be taken, and the apparent willingness of the management to subject their patrons to some hilarious (and ultimately harmless) pranks. Various sketches involved the show's presenter, Dom Joly, along with extras from the show, annoying cinema-goers by dressing up as severely obese people trying to squeeze past whilst spilling popcorn from massively oversized buckets, sitting in front of them with enormous fake wigs, and dressing up as Beefeaters taking up whole rows of seats. Other more bizarre incidents involved the use of animal costumes. In one scene two rabbits were seen simulating sexual intercourse, and in another Joly dressed up as a snake and slithered around on the floor, as a supposed addition to a screening advising people to be vigilant about pick-pockets.
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