Recently renovated, the complex can seat up to 1,710 in its eleven auditoriums. Theater 1 has 418 seats on two levels and a beautiful 12-meter wide screen. Its is equipped with DTS sound, to which SRD was added recently.
The seven new auditoriums were added in 1984, in the volume formerly used by the restaurant "La Pergola", when the theater was part of Jean-Pierre Lemoine's circuit. It was a rather ambitious plan. The new complex is luxurious, with marble, big chandeliers, blue and gold auditoriums. A newspaper wrote about its "extremely large screens"; there was some exageration there. A new entrance and a new lobby will lead to the auditoriums.
The largest auditorium of the Pergola, and the second largest of the complex, is theater 2; it has 400 seats; like theater 1, it is equipped with DTS and SRD sound; the screen is curved and 35ft wide. It was the first large auditorium opened on the Champs-Elysées for decades. The other auditoriums are smaller and have mono sound; the screens are not big, but none is really tiny.
La grande salle côté Portiques ayant reçu le THX, la grande salle côté Pergola sera équipée du STS, système français censé améliorer grandement la qualité du son (le Kinopanorama recevra également cet équipement). Puis un certain laisser-aller se fait sentir, et les conditions de projection ont tendance à se dégrader, quand Jean-Pierre Lemoine quitte Paris et laisse les onze salles à UGC qui renommera le complexe UGC George V. Dans la grande salle, la climatisation joue des tours, et on voit régulièrement le public des premiers rangs de la grande salle se réfugier vers le milieu à cause du froid. Theater 1 got the THX, and theater 2 got the STS (a French sound system which was supposed to greatly improve the sound quality; the famous Kinoparama also got this equipment). Later, some lack of maintenance appeared, and viewing conditions degraded, until UGC took over the complex. At this time, the air-conditioning system was a big problem; at some shows, the front of theater 1 was very cold; several times, I saw the front rows audience get up and move to the back (I was one of them).
At long last UGC remodelled the theater. Theater 1 lost THX, but got DTS (like theater 2, 3 and 4), and the DTS trailer. Recently, theaters 1 and 2 also got SRD. All others are equipped with Dolby Stereo. Theater 2 still has STS. The screens couldn't be enlarged, and the emphasis was put on luxury and viewing conditions. The auditoriums are dark blue and black. DTS is very impressive in small auditoriums.
Theaters 3 to 11 are smaller (75 to 168 seats), but they all have Dolby sound, and they can play movies for months. Theaters 3 and 4 also have DTS sound. First shows start around 11am, at a reduced price of 29 Francs. In 1998, the UGC George V almost sold one million tickets, ranking number one on the Champs-Elysées.
The Visit
If you have a slow Internet connection (28,800 bps), use this link to watch the clip. One thousand thanks to the manager, Mr Yves Portenguen, for his support, help and friendliness.
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