Odeon Luxe Darlington
220 Northgate,
Darlington,
DL1 1RB
220 Northgate,
Darlington,
DL1 1RB
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 38 of 38 comments
If ever a cinema had nine lives it is that one……….
Well the new VUE has opened in the town and I am surprised to say that unusually the ODEON is still open and it seems they maybe making a fight of it. They have dropped the ticket price to £3 all shows all days. lets hope this town is big enough for both of them.
A well meaning contributor has uploaded 2 photos of the Odeon (Gaumont) Doncaster. The cladding at the front is similar to that on the Fronts of House of the original Odeon Darlington and the replacement Odeon Stockton.
1937 shot of Theatre Royal (prior to reconstruction as ABC Regal) uploaded
A very well meaning contributor to the site queried one of the photos in the relevant section and I have given a definitive, but respectful, reply.
This theatre was never equipped to show Cinerama (or Todd AO/70mm) and the nearest venue to present films in 70mm format was the ABC (former Elite) Middlesbough; this was the case from its modernisation in 1964 until tripling in 1974 when the large screen and the 70mm equipment were removed. The new Odeon Stockton was also thus equipped from its opening in 1968 until closure in 1981.
The nearest Cinerama was the Queens Newcastle although the ‘3 strip’ format lasted only very briefly before 70mm was adopted and blown up onto the Cinerama screen. Other 70mm venues were the Essoldo Newcastle (later ABC) and the Pavilion Newcastle which generally played the product deemed either not good enough for the Queens or which the latter was unable to play owing to long term commitments as was the case with ‘The Sound Of Music’ which played there for nearly three years.
Re this venue an opening photo of the (now disused) Front Stalls has been uploaded.
Does anyone know whether the Odeon in Darlington showed cinerama films?
The Odeon, Bondgate, Darlington,was going to become a drop wall triple cinema – IE the original circle looking onto the original proscenium as screen 1 and two mini cinemas in the underhang of the circle (IE in the rear stalls).
A problem arose whereby there would be insufficient clearance (owing to the positioning of the main supporting girder)for the projection from port to screen in the two ‘minis’. The conversion was therefore cancelled.
The ABC(Regal)Northgate had been conspicuous by its absence from a list of proposed conversions of ABC Theatres published in 1976 from which one could deduce that the writing was on the wall for that venue. However, as soon as it became known about the problem with the Odeon (Majestic), the ABC was not only added to that list but was rushed ahead in the queue and was converted in very much the same manner which had been intended for the Odeon (Majestic).
So, had the best laid plans of mice and men gone ahead the Odeon (Majestic) would have seen the ABC off instead of vice versa and, I dare say, would eventually have been further sub divided like most surviving Odeons.
Anyway, it seems very likely that the Vue Complex is finally going to go ahead in Darlington and that surely will spell the end for the Regal/ABC/Cannon/ABC/Odeon, Northgate.
Union Cinemas, who briefly operated the Majestic prior to its purchase by Oscar Deutsch, were taken over by Odeon’s rival company, ABC. Union had plans to open a brand new Ritz Cinema in Darlington but this failed to materialise. A possible reason for this could have been that ABC (who already had the Regal Northgate) were able to cancel the project upon their acquisition of Union. Had it come to fruition and had, in turn, the Majestic been a Union Cinemas outlet upon takeover by ABC then that company would have had the three largest and most modern cinemas in Darlington and it is therefore debatable as to which of those three would have been retained.
In November 2011 the Odeon is receiving a major refurbishment, inside and out. The two mini’s have already been finished, the exterior has been repaired and repainted and is still under scaffolding, and the the main screen refurb is due to start shortly.
EXTERIOR
SCREEN
BALCONY
Not all the side walls of the Theatre Royal were retained, as in order to widen the building, it was necessary to demolish the south elevation.
The circle originally seated 628 and was reduced to 590 in 1977 when the built out section from the circle (to accommodate the screen areas of the 2 minis below) encroached upon the sightlines; so the front row of the circle was removed.The 590 seats were reduced to 578 when I was manager there and some larger seats from my former theatre (Newcastle) were installed in the front circle.
The Odeon continues in April 2008. Despite being done by ABC the tripling preserved much of the art deco detailing of this cinema as can be seen in these April 2008 shots:–
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Here is a 1997 photograph when it had been re-named ABC (for the 2nd time):
http://flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/406838877/