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It's been criticised
as elitist, unwelcoming and too expensive to maintain.
But London's National
Film Theatre is 50 years old in October, not quite as pristine
as before perhaps, but surviving and still going strong.
What it has done,
to unparalleled effect, is present the best of film and television
on the big screen - from silent classics to the latest international
festival hits - giving thousands of film-goers the chance to
savour a slice of movie history from the confines of one building
next to Waterloo Bridge.
Distinguished
history
Administered by
the British Film Institute, the NFT opened its doors on 23 October
1952 in the former Telekinema built for the Festival of Britain.
The location proved
an asset - although rumours persist that an unexploded bomb lies
nearby, planted in 1930 in case of invasion, and never found.
But as historian
John Huntley, who helped run the building, recalls: "The
film trade said, 'If you go into the West End, you'll never get
a foot of film.' It was (our) salvation that we were down on the
South Bank and didn't have five cinemas on our doorstep."
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| Left to right:
Akira Kurosawa, Gina Lollobrigida and Vittoria De Sica at the
NFT's opening |
Among the luminaries
who attended the NFT's opening were directors John Ford,
Vittorio De Sica and Akira Kurosawa, accompanied by
star guests Sir Laurence Olivier and actress Gina Lollobrigida.
Nearly every film-maker
of note has visited since, from Vincente Minnelli, George
Cukor and Jean-Luc Godard to Woody Allen, Federico
Fellini and Quentin Tarantino.
The roll-call continues
to the present. October sees a range of celebratory 50th anniversary
interviews with composer Elmer Bernstein and directors
Lynne Ramsay and, notably, Mike Leigh.
Splendid moments
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| Movie history
from the confines of one building next to Waterloo Bridge |
How could 50 years
not have thrown up near-catastrophes as well as the splendid and
the comic?
Such as when, in
1968, a nitrate fire occurred during a screening of The Four
Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The NFT had to be evacuated and
the performance abandoned. Despite extensive damage to the projection
box, the show went on the next night.
And in 1971, Austrian
actor/director Otto Muehl attempted to kill a chicken on
stage and pour its blood over two naked women. The bird was confiscated
and registered as lost property - and the women survived intact.
There was the occasion
when director Francois Truffaut was refused entry to his
own film, The 400 Blows, because he had no ticket and was
unable to explain himself in English.
And also the time
when director Jacques Tati couldn't find the loo and was
photographed relieving himself on a wall outside.
Centrepiece
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| A full house
in the main auditorium |
Today the centrepiece
of any normal year at the NFT is the London Film Festival,
which from modest beginnings has outgrown the building and now takes
place in greater comfort in Leicester Square and other venues.
It too has its
share of ups and downs, but seems to break new attendance records
with each succeeding year.
Taken together,
the LFF and the NFT are like beacons in an era when Hollywood-obsessed
distributors prove less and less keen to gamble with world and independent
cinema.
Londoners should
continue to support and praise this unflagging passion. After 50
wonderful years of cinema - here's to the next 50!
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Are you a film fan? What memories do you have of going to
the NFT? Can you recall what you saw? Drop us a line at: 
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