Although I'd heard of the Scala years ago (I'm 69) I'd never been there. Went to the BFI last week to attend the illustrated talk (although the youngest member of the panel - in het very estly 20s- was awful and added nothing. The other three were great and the clips shown (not in the documentary) were eye-opening and amusing bin equal measure. The documentary was well made and the clips, anecdotes and stills were also eye opening. The downside: it seems that towards the end the Scala degenerated to somewhere where the films shown were taking second place to opportunities for "hooking up" in any available area.
Towards thecend of the film the directors blamed the fact that they screened the "banned" A Clockwork Orange for the uktimate closure of the Scala. This is not so. The truth is that the film was NEVER banned. Stanley Kubrick requested that the film be "withdrawn from circulation" in the UK after the furore whipped up by various media outlets and individuals. (It WAS banned in some countries, apparently, but NEVER here by the BBFC, but possibly by local authorities). The Scala was taken to court for Copyright Infringement and, sadly, lost, so there was a lot of money they had to pay out which they obviously couldn't afford. Great doco and I am just putting the record straight. Go see it.
Towards thecend of the film the directors blamed the fact that they screened the "banned" A Clockwork Orange for the uktimate closure of the Scala. This is not so. The truth is that the film was NEVER banned. Stanley Kubrick requested that the film be "withdrawn from circulation" in the UK after the furore whipped up by various media outlets and individuals. (It WAS banned in some countries, apparently, but NEVER here by the BBFC, but possibly by local authorities). The Scala was taken to court for Copyright Infringement and, sadly, lost, so there was a lot of money they had to pay out which they obviously couldn't afford. Great doco and I am just putting the record straight. Go see it.