50-496: ABC Film Review was a magazine which began regular releases in 1951 after a 1950 trial. The name was kept until April 1972, by May 1972 it was shortened to simply Film Review . The final issue (#701) came out December 2008. In the 1990s, it advertised itself as "Britain's longest-running film magazine" on the cover. It was originally tied in with ABC Cinemas . It was published by Associated British in association with Pathé and produced by Axtell Publications Ltd. of London, and at
100-482: A Maple Leaf Award, Gold record award and was nominated into the Hall of Fame with a lifetime achievement in 2022. In 1979 Wetherspoons opened their first pub, on Colney Hatch Lane. In November 2016, the shop 'Really British' opened on Muswell Hill broadway. The shop owner was accused of racism, with local residents threatening to stage a protest, with more practising a boycott. In March 2013 and June 2020 Muswell Hill
150-581: A collection of country houses to the London village that it is today. The development was spurred by the opening in 1873 of Alexandra Palace , a massive pleasure pavilion built on the most easterly of north London's gravel hills and intended as the counterpart to the Crystal Palace on Sydenham Hill in south London. Alexandra Palace was served by a branchline railway from Highgate, with an intermediary station at Muswell Hill (see below). The foot of Alexandra Palace
200-457: A lake. Opposite The Limes was Muswell Hill pond and beyond that the Green Man inn, built of stone. Further down the hill past the Green Man was The Elms , a squat three-storeyed house later improved by Thomas Cubitt standing in 4.5 ha (11 acres), part of the grounds of which were laid out by Joseph Paxton . A short distance down the north side of Muswell Hill was The Grove , which
250-590: A national printers' strike in the UK that summer (a fate that befell many magazines and newspapers at the time). Price from September 1968 was 9d until September 1970, when decimalisation was approaching, and the price changed to one shilling (5 new pence) in October 1970. The price changed again in May 1972, when it increased to 10p. At this time, the name changed to just Film Review ; the ABC
300-522: A new "national" release but this was unattractive to distributors and in 1961 Paramount switched to ABC after refusing a "national" release for the Dean Martin comedy All in a Night's Work . The "national" release soon ended entirely and there were in future just ABC and Odeon release patterns. In 1967, Seven Arts , the new owners of Warner, decided to dispose of its holdings in ABPC and subsequently EMI launched
350-408: A small cinema and vice versa). In the 1940s, ABC set up the first major Saturday cinema club for children, "The ABC Minors". At the beginning of each Saturday morning session, the "ABC Minors Song" would be played to the tune of 'Blaze Away' by Abe Holzmann (1874–1939), whilst the lyrics were presented on the screen with a bouncing red ball above the words to help the audience keep the place. In
400-615: A successful take-over bid for the company. Associated British Picture Corporation was later to be renamed Thorn-EMI Screen Entertainment Ltd, although the cinema chain retained its name. In 1986, this was later divested by EMI to the Australian businessman Alan Bond who sold the EMI film/cinema assets a few days later to the Cannon Group for a reported £50 million profit in seven days. EMI retained ABPC's lucrative television interests. Eventually,
450-487: A synagogue and six churches, one of which has been converted into a steak house. Muswell Hill is not directly served by a tube or National Rail station. Nearby tube stations include Bounds Green ( [REDACTED] ), East Finchley ( [REDACTED] ), Finsbury Park ( [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] ), Highgate ( [REDACTED] ), Turnpike Lane ( [REDACTED] ) and Wood Green ( [REDACTED] ). National Rail ( [REDACTED] ) services pass to
500-551: A town showed their own releases and barred each other from showing the same film. Television led to a sharp decline in cinema audiences after 1952 though with the coming of commercial television from 1955 ABPC had expanded into the new medium with the creation of ABC Television Limited , which gained the Independent Television contracts for the North of England and Midlands at the weekend. ABC-TV lost its franchises in 1968 and
550-544: Is a church: United Reformed, Church of England, Methodist, and Roman Catholic. One of the nodes, opposite St James's CoE, was also the site of the Athenaeum music hall (later demolished with the site redeveloped as a supermarket), opposite which a surviving art deco Odeon cinema was built in the 1930s. The site of the Ritz, a cinema formerly at the top of Muswell Hill on the next node to the east, has been redeveloped as offices. Until
SECTION 10
#1732876720306600-605: Is a local cycling lobby group. The 2011 census showed that the N10 postal area (including parts of Friern Barnet } had a population of 27,992 in the 2011 census. The same census showed that in the much smaller Muswell Hill electoral ward of the London Borough of Haringey, 84% of the population was white (65% British, 16% Other, 3% Irish). 40% were irreligious and Christian each, while the Jewish population stood at 5.3%. John Logie Baird
650-484: Is a suburban district of the London Borough of Haringey , north London . The hill, which reaches over 100 m (330 ft) above sea level, is situated 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (9 kilometres) north of Charing Cross. Neighbouring areas include Highgate , Hampstead Garden Suburb , East Finchley and Crouch End . It has many streets with Edwardian architecture . The earliest records of Muswell Hill date from
700-423: Is limited. The now-defunct London Cycle Network developed two signposted routes through Muswell Hill: The Muswell Hill Metro Group campaigns to reinstate a historic railway line which ran between Alexandra Palace and Finsbury Park, via Muswell Hill. The group says that the line would relieve congestion on local roads and that an electric railway would improve local air quality. The Haringey Cycling Campaign
750-709: Is to the south of the district and can be reached via Muswell Hill Road. To the north, Colney Hatch , Friern Barnet and Whetstone can be reached via Colney Hatch Lane. Both routes are numbered B550 . The A1 passes to the south of Muswell Hill, carrying traffic southbound towards Archway , Islington and the City of London . To the north, the route crosses the North Circular Road (A406), and traffic can reach destinations such as Mill Hill , Watford , Stevenage and Peterborough . Cycling infrastructure in Muswell Hill
800-449: The London Borough of Barnet . The area is in the Hornsey and Friern Barnet parliamentary constituency . Close to Alexandra Park and Highgate Woods, Muswell Hill is a mainly Edwardian north London suburb. Muswell Hill Broadway and Fortis Green Road, the main shopping streets, still maintain their historic character with most of the original facades preserved above street level. The area has
850-639: The "Muswell Hill Murderer". A resident for a short time in Muswell Hill was the Russian-born England Rugby union star Prince Alexander Obolensky , who died in Suffolk in an aircraft accident in 1940 while training as an RAF pilot. Philip Martell, musical director for Hammer House of Horrors lived in Woodland Gardens Musician, author, poet, wit and great English eccentric Vivian Stanshall lived his final years in Muswell Hill, dying in
900-561: The 12th century. The Bishop of London , who was the Lord of the Manor of Haringey, owned the area and granted 26 ha (64 acres), located to the east of Colney Hatch Lane, to a newly formed order of nuns. The nuns built a chapel on the site and called it Our Lady of Muswell. The name Muswell is believed to come from a natural spring or well (the "Mossy Well"), said to have miraculous properties. A traditional story tells that Scottish king Malcolm IV
950-569: The 60 remaining ABC Cinemas, which were mostly older, town centre cinemas, were rebranded as Odeon or were closed as the chain was now being run by the former Rank/Odeon executives. An exception was the venue at Westover Road, Bournemouth venue which retained the ABC brand until its closure in early 2017. The Odeon on the same road closed later that year. In 2004, the Odeon chain was sold to Terra Firma Capital Partners who had recently purchased UCI cinemas and over
1000-610: The Cannon cinemas "due to the competition from the new multiplex" – examples of this happened in Northampton and Swindon. MGM Cinemas subsequently changed hands many times, first becoming Virgin Cinemas . Virgin Cinemas was founded in 1995 when Richard Branson 's Virgin Group acquired MGM Cinemas, Virgin Group bought the cinemas (numbering 116 at the time) for £195m, and subsequently sold 90 of
1050-498: The UK albums chart in 2016. Former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko lived in Muswell Hill from his exile in 2000 until his assassination in 2006. The group Fairport Convention started in the Muswell Hill family home of Simon Nicol . The house, Fairport, is on the south side of Fortis Green near the junction with Tetherdown and Fortis Green Road. The serial killer and necrophile Dennis Nilsen committed his later murders in his Cranley Gardens flat in Muswell Hill and became known as
SECTION 20
#17328767203061100-518: The United States. Existing cinemas which could not be re-modelled were usually operated as separate circuits. In 1937, the parent company, BIP was renamed Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC). ABC also ran cinemas under the Ritz brand such as the Ritz Cinema, Muswell Hill . After he died in 1940, his widow Catherine sold a large number of shares to Warner Brothers , who eventually became
1150-414: The advent of largely American-owned multiplexes led to the end of barring and the old distributor alignments, which had in any case been rendered largely irrelevant by cinema closures often leaving only one cinema in a town, which had access to all films but usually had to give precedence to its traditional alignment (so an Odeon might have a poor "Rank" release in its biggest screen and a big "ABC" release in
1200-587: The album title Muswell Hillbillies being an obvious reference to their youth. They allegedly played their first ever gig in the Clissold Arms in Fortis Green. Musician Michael Kiwanuka was born and raised in Muswell Hill; he was the winner of the Mercury Prize 2020 for his album Kiwanuka and a nominee for the 2021 63rd Grammy Award for Best Rock Album . His album Love & Hate went to Number 1 on
1250-519: The area of the civil parish of Hornsey became the Municipal Borough of Hornsey , within the administrative county of Middlesex . Then in 1965 Hornsey merged with Tottenham and Wood Green to form the modern London Borough of Haringey . Northern parts of the N10 postal area, sometimes also regarded as part of Muswell Hill, were part of the parish of Friern Barnet , which subsequently became Friern Barnet Urban District before becoming part of
1300-600: The area with a direct connection to the City of London and the West End . Buses also serve nearby stations. The A504 passes east–west through Muswell Hill. Eastbound traffic is carried towards Hornsey , Wood Green and the A10 . Westbound destinations include East Finchley , Hendon and the M1 . The A1201 terminates at Muswell Hill. Southbound destinations along this route include Crouch Hill , Finsbury Park and Highbury . Highgate
1350-475: The chain's remaining non-multiplex cinemas to Cinven for £70m to concentrate on multiplexes. Virgin then divested itself of the cinema business to French-owned UGC . Subsequently, UGC divested its UK operations to a rival operator, Cineworld . While this was happening, the divested smaller ABC cinemas gained a stablemate under Cinven; in 2000 Cinven bought over the one-time rival chain of Odeon Cinemas for £280 million from Rank Group plc and most of
1400-466: The east of Muswell Hill, calling at Alexandra Palace , Hornsey and Finsbury Park . Trains are operated by Great Northern and Thameslink to destinations such as Moorgate , Enfield and Welwyn Garden City . To the south of Muswell Hill, London Overground ( [REDACTED] ) trains serve Crouch Hill station between Gospel Oak and Barking , via South Tottenham . Muswell Hill Broadway and Muswell Hill West are both served by London Buses, providing
1450-528: The era. The Davies parents’ home at 6 Denmark Terrace, Fortis Green, remains a magnet for rock music tourists. In 1950, Paul Andrew Smith, was born in Muswell Hill at 12 Crown Road, and later became a founding member of the band Wednesday, formed in 1967. Their record success included the chart topping hit, Last Kiss followed by a series of top ten records in Canada, Australia and the USA. They earned several Juno nominations,
1500-787: The largest shareholders and able to exercise control, though ABPC was separately quoted on the London Stock Exchange. By 1945 it operated over 400 cinemas (usually called the Savoy or Regal) and was second only to Rank's Odeon and Gaumont chains. By the close of the 1950s, ABC had started rebranding most cinemas as ABC and dropped names like Regal. UK exhibition was characterised by alignments between distributors and exhibitors. ABC had access to Warner Brothers, MGM and its own ABPC productions, whereas rival Rank had 20th Century Fox, Paramount, Walt Disney, Columbia, Universal, United Artists and its own productions. Rival ABC, Odeon and Gaumont cinemas in
1550-490: The late 1980s, on the verge of bankruptcy, Cannon was taken over by Italian fraudster Giancarlo Parretti , who then changed the company's name to Pathé Communications , which subsequently bought MGM . These Cannon cinemas, along with a group of theaters Cannon owned in Holland , were used as part of a phony transaction by Parretti to a holding company purportedly owned by Italian media mogul Silvio Berlusconi , Cinema V ; Cinema V
Film Review (magazine) - Misplaced Pages Continue
1600-598: The mid-20th century there was a rail branch line, the Muswell Hill Railway , from Highgate which passed through Muswell Hill, terminating at a station at Alexandra Palace . It was intended under the Northern Heights plan to integrate this into the London Underground Northern line ; some contemporary tube maps (e.g. the 1948 map ) showed the line as being under construction. However, this plan
1650-554: The next six years all the Rank people were replaced with UCI management, replicating what Odeon did to ABC in 2001/2002. On Glasgow 's Sauchiehall Street the O2 ABC Glasgow became a music venue until its permanent closure after it was severely damaged by a fire in 2018. Furthermore, Minehead and Skegness Butlins holiday camps had an on-site ABC cinema until the camp decided to close them in 2021. Muswell Hill Muswell Hill
1700-493: The outset the only credited contributor was James McCrossan. The 3-issue trial in 1950 was just 20 pages and cost three old pence . After the trial's success, it became a full monthly magazine from January 1951 costing 4d until December 1951. The price was increased in January 1952 to 6d and stayed at 6d until August 1968, which was a complete run except for the issues for August and September, 1959, which were not published owing to
1750-490: Was a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. Originally a wholly owned subsidiary of Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC), it operated between the 1920s and the 1980s. The brand name was reused in the 1990s until 2000. ABC Cinemas was established in 1927 by solicitor John Maxwell by merging three smaller Scottish cinema circuits. It became a wholly owned cinema subsidiary of British International Pictures when it
1800-508: Was a readers' Q&A page with questions answered originally by Peter Noble and later on David McGillivray . James Cameron-Wilson, a commissioning editor of the magazine, also eventually took over this section. Film Review ceased printed publication by Visual Imagination in 2009. It has no connection with the Film Review annual which was launched in 1944 and was last published by Signum Books . Originally edited by F. Maurice Speed , it
1850-520: Was a shell company owned by Parretti's business partner Florio Fiorini, to make it appear that Pathe was paying off their debts to their bank, Credit Lyonnais Bank Nederland , when in reality the bank's loans to Pathe had expanded tremendously (including the $ 184 billion supposedly paid by Cinema V); this was done to prevent the Dutch central bank from finding out about the deepening connection between CLBN, Parretti and Fiorini. In any case, even after Parretti
1900-433: Was a track known as St James's Lane which ran across a triangle of wasteland. By the middle of the 19th century houses were already dispersed along the lane at the foot of which was Lalla Rookh , a two-storeyed villa with a wide verandah. Other buildings there were apparently cottages or huts, both single and in terraces. It was not until the end of the 19th century that Muswell Hill began to be developed more densely from
1950-518: Was arrested and Credit Lyonnais seized control of MGM in 1992, the new company began opening its own multiplexes as MGM Cinemas . The existing few Cannon multiplexes were also renamed as MGM Cinemas. MGM continued to operate multiplex and non-multiplex cinemas, but under its two different brand identities, with the multiplexes being known as MGM Cinemas and the smaller non-multiplexes remaining as Cannon. MGM opened new multiplexes in towns and markets already served by their Cannon cinemas, and then closed
2000-570: Was cancelled after the Second World War, and the railway line was abandoned in 1954. The line was later converted to become the Parkland Walk . In 1964, three young Muswell Hill residents, the brothers Ray and Dave Davies and Pete Quaife, formed The Kinks . Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, the Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock groups of
2050-605: Was cured of disease after drinking the water. The area became a place of pilgrimage for healing during medieval times. The River Moselle , which has its source in Muswell Hill and Highgate, derives its name from this district; it was originally known as the Mosa or Mosella . Until the 1950s, the town's name was often pronounced "Muzzle Hill". In the 18th century Muswell Hill was a scattered village consisting mainly of detached villas with large gardens. In 1787 one commentator wrote that nowhere within 100 miles (160 km) of London
Film Review (magazine) - Misplaced Pages Continue
2100-583: Was dropped from then on. It continued to appear as a monthly magazine until 2008. The next-to-last edition, a double-issue, number 699/700, for August/September 2008, edited by Nikki Baughan, had 220 pages and was priced at £4.99. Contributors included Peter S. Haigh, Vincent Firth, Norman Taylor, David Richardson , Tony Crawley, Marianne Gray, Judy Sloane, Alan Jones , Tom Hutchinson, Nigel Robinson , Jason Caro, Roald Rynning, Howard Maxford, Cleaver Patterson, James Cameron-Wilson, Michael Darvell, Stephen Applebaum, Anwar Brett, Lorien Haynes and James Mottram. There
2150-401: Was merged with Rediffusion to become Thames Television . As a result of the decline many suburban ABC theatres closed. Most of those remaining began, from the late 1950s to lose their individual names and were simply branded "ABC". In 1959 Rank abandoned the separate Odeon and Gaumont release and put the best cinemas from each circuit onto a new Rank release. The remaining cinemas were given
2200-440: Was merged with the production arm of British National Pictures Studios , which had been formed by Maxwell in 1926. During the 1930s, it grew rapidly by acquisitions and an ambitious building programme under the direction of chief architect W. R. Glen, who had been appointed in about 1929 and maintained a distinct house style. It acquired First National Pathé Limited which gave it trading connections to First National Pictures in
2250-549: Was named one of the five most desirable places to live in London in the Sunday Times "Best Places To Live" guide. The hill was part of the Bishop of London's Manor of Hornsey, an area served from the medieval period by the ancient parish of Hornsey . Parishes were originally ecclesiastic in purpose, but from the Tudor era onwards had a civic as well as ecclesiastical purpose. In 1903,
2300-502: Was served by another rail network with connecting services to Finsbury Park and Kings Cross stations. Most development was initiated in the early 20th century when the current street pattern was set out and elegant Edwardian retail parades were constructed. The shopping centre is based on roads that form three sides of a square: Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill Broadway and the extension of the Broadway into Colney Hatch Lane. At each node point
2350-482: Was taken over by James Cameron-Wilson and was then jointly edited by Michael Darvell and Mansel Stimpson with Cameron-Wilson serving as executive editor. Its 70th edition appeared on 2 November 2015. In December 2015, the annual was launched as a website, Film Review Daily , edited by Cameron-Wilson and with regular contributors including Cameron-Wilson, Stimpson, Darvell, George Savvides and Chad Kennerk. ABC Cinemas ABC Cinemas ( Associated British Cinemas )
2400-539: Was the first person to transmit moving pictures, now called television. The first public broadcasts were from nearby Alexandra Palace before WW2. His scanning, rotating disc system was later replaced by a more modern electronic system. The former John Baird pub, now the Village Green, in Fortis Green Road was named after him. Musicians Ray and Dave Davies , founding members of The Kinks , grew up in Muswell Hill,
2450-435: Was there a village so pleasant or with such varied views. Little had changed by the middle of the 19th century. One of the houses of the time was The Limes . This house occupied the angle of Muswell Hill Road with Colney Hatch Lane and was a three-storeyed house with portico and two-storeyed wing approached by a double carriage drive through impressive gateways. The large grounds of the house extended to Tetherdown and included
2500-433: Was three storeys high and had nine bays with pedimented projections at each end. It stood in 3.2 ha (7.9 acres) of grounds which contained a 184 m (201 yd) avenue of oaks. In 1774 the house was occupied by Topham Beauclerk . A little farther down the hill stood Grove Lodge , also in wooded grounds. Altogether there were eight properties in Muswell Hill worthy of note in 1817. Parallel with Muswell Hill
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