Newbury Trent did these frothy little bas reliefs for the main entrance. They show an audience watching a romance (on the left) and a drama (on the right).
They watch the romance impassively but the scene of a lady being knifed in the back elicits violent reactions - women faint, shriek or hide their eyes in their hands. One man even rises to his feet and puts up his fists, threatening to fight the assailant.
But the couple to the left of centre are oblivious to the screen, locked in their embrace in both pictures.
Incidentally, the knifing is very reminiscent of Hitchcock's Psycho. I bet Hitch knew the Apollo in its cinematic heyday.
1 comment:
Ooh, I love the style of this one. No film ratings back then—look at the poor child hiding behind (her?) mother on the far right. I must confess that I am not sure what the smoking gentleman is doing in the second relief; he seems to be... stretching. The man with the top hat (below the screen on the right) is also interesting. He appears to be discussing the plot with the two viewers next to him.
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