Clive Owen Electric Palace Appeal Launch Harwich 10.11.06
Hollywood star and Tendring resident Clive Owen
last night launched an £85,000 appeal for repairs to
the Electric Palace cinema in Harwich with a
passionate speech.
“I’m really proud to be asked to be Patron of this very
special cinema,” he said. “This building is not only a
beautiful and historic one, it is also a very important
one. I got my film education going to all the old rep
cinemas like this one.”
Many of those cinemas had since disappeared, he
said, adding that the multiplexes were unable to
match the variety of programming found in small
independent venues like The Electric Palace.
“It is vital that we use and support The Electric
Palace,” he said. “We just have to raise the amount
needed.”
Earlier in the evening, which marked Mr. Owen’s first
appearance as Patron of the cinema, chairman of The
Electric Palace Chris Strachan had highlighted the
problems in maintaining one of the oldest cinemas in
the country.
The Electric Palace is currently on English Heritage’s
register of historic buildings at risk of deterioration,
but raising £85,000 will guarantee an independent
future for the 1911-built cinema as it approaches its
100th birthday.
A showing of Mr. Owen’s latest film, Children of Men,
was followed by an extended question and answer
session in which the actor revealed just how important
watching a film in the cinema – rather than on TV or
DVD – is not only to himself but also to other
Hollywood figures such as director Spike Lee.