I recently wrote, produced and directed a one hour documentary entitled The Ultimate Survivor.

2011 marks the 100th anniversary of one of Oxford’s more unusual landmarks.  The little cinema on Jeune Street opened on 24th February 1911,  a period when commercial and regulatory pressure was forcing film out of the fairgrounds and into the new and ever grander purpose-built theatres.  But while the early years of the 20th century saw film become the predominant entertainment for the masses and cinema a lucrative business, the Oxford Picture Palace suffered because it was small and tucked away in a side street. It closed in 1917 when its owner was called up for war service.   

After 59 years of neglect, the near derelict building was unexpectedly saved and reopened in 1976 as an off-beat arts cinema.  In this guise the Penultimate Picture Palace gained a reputation for challenging censorship and showing controversial and unusual films, a stance that led to much legal wrangling and which, in 1988, brought the cinema to the brink of disaster when it's managers clashed with mercurial director Stanley Kubrick over a planned screening of A Clockwork Orange.

With an unusual name came an unusual appearance: a pair of outstretched white hands – reminiscent of Al Jolson’s minstrel character in The Jazz Singer – hung invitingly over the facade.   The interior was lit with moorish lanterns while male and female sculptures cheekily named Pearl and Dean (a reference to the proprietors’ refusal to show on-screen advertising) stood sentry over the toilets.  

Having a keen interest in documentary film making and having been a regular at the PPP when I came to Oxford in 1992, I felt the centenary provided the ideal opportunity to tell the story of this special place.

Production took place over nine months during which time we interviewed local characters such as two people who squatted in the cinema in protest at the Criminal Justice Bill in 1994; the niece of a first world war usherette as well as such luminaries as Ian Hislop, radio presenter Bill Heine, the science fiction writer Brian Aldiss and Mark Thompson, the Director General of the BBC, all of whom were happy to share their memories of the PPP.

Visit The Ultimate Survivor listing on IMDB

Visit the official website.