Romaine Jennifer Hart
Born
Romaine Bloom

14 June 1933
Streatham
Died28 December 2021 (2021-12-29) (aged 88)
NationalityBritish
Occupation(s)Film distributor and cinema owner

Romaine Jennifer Hart (14 June 1933 – 28 December 2021) was a British film executive. She opened a stylish cinema named The Screen on the Green in Islington. She ran a small film distribution company that ran a number of cinemas.

Life

Hart was born in Streatham in 1933, the only child of Goldie and Alex Bloom. Her father's family had been involved in the cinema business since the silent era. She left school in Brighton at sixteen and went to secretarial college, but was allowed to help organise the Royal Cinema in Deal. She inherited a financial interest in Bloom Theatres in 1968, after the death of her father.[1]

Hart re-opened The Screen on the Green cinema on 13 September 1970, in the "fleapit" Rex Cinema in Islington, which she had inherited.[2] The Screen on the Green was comprehensively modernised in February 1981 by architects Fletcher Priest,[3] who used chrome and glass to restyle the building. They created a foyer space, which reduced the cinema's capacity to 300 seats. The 1969 film, Downhill Racer, starring Robert Redford, was an inspired choice[2] for the first film at the re-opened cinema, which Quentin Tarantino would call the "coolest cinema in London". The first-night audience included Richard Attenborough, Laurence Olivier and Brian Forbes.[1] Her programmer was Roger Austin.[4]

The cinema screened important films including Picnic at Hanging Rock, Monty Python's Life of Brian, Nashville, Taxi Driver and Pink Flamingoes.[2] Her cinemas ran all-night shows and costs were kept low. Stephen Woolley was one of her staff and remembered how staff would sell ice cream between double bills at one o'clock in the morning.[4]

The Screen on the Green was joined by six other cinemas, mostly in London, including Screen on the Hill in Belsize Park,[5][6] The Screen on Baker Street and The Screen Cinema in Winchester.[7][8] The cinemas had different characters, the Screen on the Green was punk whereas the Screen on the Hill was known for its club for children that attracted celebrities including leading literati; Roald Dahl, Michael Palin and local executive Tom Maschler.[1]

Hart solved her problem of getting films by starting her own film distribution company. She owned the rights in the UK to films including Maîtresse, The Fourth Man, This Is Spinal Tap, My Beautiful Laundrette, Pee-wee's Big Adventure and The Loveless.[1]

She sat on the board of the National Film and Television School and the National Film Finance Corporation led by David Puttnam.[1]

She was awarded the OBE in 1993.[1]

In 2008, her cinema circuit was sold to the Everyman Media Group[3] for £7m.[1]

Romaine Hart died on 28 December 2021 at the age of 88.[4][9]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Romaine Hart obituary". the Guardian. 2022-01-03. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  2. 1 2 3 Kaplan, Guy Lodge,Mike; Lodge, Guy; Kaplan, Mike (2022-05-26). "British Cinema Owner, Distributor Romaine Hart Remembered for Pioneering Efforts". Variety. Retrieved 2022-11-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  3. 1 2 "Screen on the Green in London, GB - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2022-11-29.
  4. 1 2 3 Woolley, Stephen (3 January 2022). "Romaine Hart: An inspiring figure who reinvigorated cinema in the UK". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ Davies, Katie (20 March 2008). "Screen on the Hill taken over by Everyman". Ham & High.
  6. ↑ Macnab, Geoffrey (4 January 2022). "Industry pays tribute to Romaine Hart, doyenne of UK independent exhibition and distribution". Screen Daily.
  7. ↑ "Businesswoman sells cinema for £7m". Daily Echo. 20 March 2008.
  8. ↑ "Romaine Hart".
  9. ↑ "Jamal Edwards MBE, P.J. O'Rourke (Pictured), Romaine Hart OBE, Ronnie Campbell". Last Word. BBC Radio 4. 27 Feb 2022.
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