Odeon Luxe London Leicester Square

CF100 on January 12, 2018 at 4:34 pm

FanaticalAboutOdeon: Thank you very much for your detailed descriptions of the OLS foyer pre-1998. My reply is still pending!

CF100 on January 11, 2018 at 1:33 pm

Ian: I, too, was in Leicester Square last night and “noticed” the premiere—(poor quality) photo uploaded.

According to Odeon’s site, it is now closed.

This means that there is NO cinema with a Leicester Square address operating at present—I assume for the first time since WWII?!

Zappomatic on January 9, 2018 at 5:30 am

Today is Odeon Leicester Square’s last day before closing for refurbishment. Kind of surprised they’re not keeping the Studios open as they’re pretty much self contained and were refurbished fairly recently. With Cineworld also closed, Vue must be rubbing their hands with glee at a whole month without any competition on the square (nearby Odeon Luxe Haymarket and Empire Haymarket notwithstanding)!

FanaticalAboutOdeon on December 10, 2017 at 5:35 am

CF100 Odeon Leicester Square foyer and circle lounge pre. 1998’s refurbishment and rebranding.

The 1987 refurbishment retained much of 1967’s modernisation scheme but softened the overall treatment of public areas and lent a 1930s flavour to what had been a typical ‘60s blandness.

In 1967, the foyer ceiling gave the impression of broken glass – actually many aluminium “shards” of varying shapes and sizes and set at different angles. These were cleverly lit by a row of Strand Electric pattern 23 profile spotlights housed above the entrance doors in what was a miniature version of the spotlight housing on the front of the circle in the auditorium. The spots were angled slightly upwards and focussed on the reflective ceiling treatment. The result was to throw numerous reflected “pieces” of light around the walls and across the carpet. The spotlights were wired in several circuits (each a different colour) which would continually fade up and down automatically giving a constantly changing effect. The carpeting throughout public areas at this time had an overall pattern of red, blue and yellow angular shapes and foyer walls were covered in a plain, dark wood/wood effect (later covered in a red fabric which resembled suede). In 1987’s revamp, the ‘60s ceiling survived but the spotlights were realigned to illuminate a metallic coat of arms which was mounted above the central sales kiosk between the two sets of doors leading to the stalls. At about this time, the automatic fading of the spotlights was discontinued.

Below the 1967 sales kiosk counter was a floor to counter section of white tiling which was lit pale blue by lights concealed inside the counter fascia. This feature was retained in 1987 but the lighting became pink. 1967’s large island pay box was removed prior to 1987, all tickets now being sold from box office windows to either side of the vestibule between the two sets of entrance doors and at right angles to them.

One of the most striking of 1987’s changes was the new carpeting of both foyer and circle lounge. The new carpet bore a huge art deco design almost the size of the entire foyer floor, featuring sweeping shapes in pink, pastel blue and fawn edged in thin black lines. Both upstairs and down, the beautiful designs were surrounded by a dark blue border with a subtle recurring motif of small strands of pink, pastel blue and fawn and this design was used for all other carpeting of public areas including the auditorium. The custom carpet must have cost a fortune yet was removed just eleven years later in 1998.

1967 gave us a plain, light grey circle lounge ceiling with three large, square areas containing suspended silver coloured metallic strips light from above in a slowly changing sequence of pink, pale blue and yellow. Two of the three lighting features were above the lounge itself while the third was above the central staircase from the foyer and, in this one, the metallic strips gradually became longer towards the centre. These lights were retained in 1987 but the colours were no longer changed and were a steady pale blue.

1987 saw the exterior lightbox lifted to a much higher position enabling daylight to enter the circle lounge through large, plain windows from roughly waist height. The windows spanned the width of the lounge and were fitted with Italian blinds in pale pink which were almost always left in the raised/open position. The windows enabled the lounge lighting to be seen from outside and panoramic views of the square to be enjoyed from within. Perhaps these windows, themselves a throwback to the theatre’s 1937 windows, inspired the bolder all-over glazing we have at present. Two modern licenced bar serving apertures had been created opposite the tops of the staircases in the lounge in 1967 and twenty years later these were replaced by a larger counter and a ‘30s style uplighter at the inner end. The 1967 cloakroom counter between the two sets of doors to the circle became a sales counter/coffee bar in 1987 or thereabouts.

Numerous white downlighters were also set into the ceilings of both these large public areas.

I would have liked the 1987 scheme – including the auditorium, perhaps minus the splay walls' neon – to have lasted longer as, overall, I think it suited the Odeon well whereas 1998’s changes owe much to the multiplex era and this theatre is no multiplex! We must await the results of what is going to be the most radical refurbishment yet, in 2018.

CF100 on November 24, 2017 at 6:06 pm

FanaticalAboutOdeon: I assume you have seen the planning permission documents? If not, I put up links to them in September.

As I noted then, auditorium plans are not included; however, the last few rows of the circle can be seen in the “Plans as Proposed” document, and they do not appear to be re-stepped but the seats are wider and the central aisle removed.

I imagine, then, that the reclining seats to which you refer will be in the “Royal Circle” area?

Now if only details of the auditorium were available…

On the reclining seats:

AMC Theatres Begins Implementing Its Recliner-Renovation Rollout Strategy in the United Kingdom

To quote:

“‘One of the key benefits of adding ODEON theatres to the AMC portfolio in the fourth quarter of 2016 stems from our ability to deliver AMC’s amazing and innovative guest experience to moviegoers in Europe. Theatre renovations in Europe will introduce proven guest amenities like plush power recliners, enhanced food and beverages and premium sight and sound experiences,’ said Adam Aron, CEO and President of AMC.”

AMC’s “amazing” and “innovative” guest experiences? Excuse me while I wash my mouth out!

vindanpar on November 23, 2017 at 7:21 pm

I don’t see what’s so great about this theater except that it’s still around.

It’s no Rivoli or Criterion.

Bruce Campbell on November 20, 2017 at 11:14 am

a staff member at the OLS advised the cinema will bet closing after the run of The Last Jedi. So assume the renovation will commence thereafter

FanaticalAboutOdeon on November 16, 2017 at 8:27 am

CF100 The coloured reflector lamps were tungsten and widely available in a number of colours and wattages. They were mostly Edison Screw and “widened out” to a flatter crown. The glass from base to the lamp’s widest point was internally silvered to provide the reflection while the crown appeared to have been dipped in a clear, coloured paint. Branches of Ryness and many electrical shops used to sell them. The lamps were far less expensive than the simplest stage lantern so were ideal for installations where a large number of lighting units were required. Many cinemas, built or modernised in the ‘sixties, used them where, like Marble Arch, curtain fabric was used for the upper parts of side walls as well as for screen curtains. Odeon Haymarket lit their two festoon curtains well, emphasising the 3D element of the cable-operated, rising curtains. Conventional footlights shone upwards while reflector lamps shone down the curtains providing some very eye-catching effects as the top and bottom of every fold in the festoon reflected contrasting colours. Think of a mackerel sky where a sunset’s afterglow lights the clouds orange or pink with the sky a deep blue beyond. There was no room above the screen between the two festoons to use batten lighting (effectively inverted footlights).

The drawbacks of using reflector lamps were that they were available in a limited range of colours – typically red, green, blue and amber whereas stage lighting units can be filtered almost any colour/tint imaginable. With prolonged use, the colour coating reflector lamps could crack and leak white light which would impair the flood of colour.

OLS foyer and circle lounge pre. 1998 to follow.

CF100 on November 11, 2017 at 3:05 pm

Lionel:

love the OLS but when it comes to 70mm, I miss Marble Arch. I was lucky enough to see the Lawrence of Arabia ‘89 edition there, among others. Look at this great picture from Thomas Hauerslev here: http://www.in70mm.com/news/2015/london/gallery/pages/06_000002000017.htm#

Thanks for the link to the photo. Wow, I don’t remember that coloured lighting, maybe it was dropped by the mid-90s?

Lawrence in 70mm at Marble Arch has been one of my most thrilling cinematographic experiences ever. The goose bump megadose. The only thing that makes me sad is that we shall never have films like that, and theatres like that, anymore

You might appreciate this passage from Mark Kermode’s book “The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex” (2011):

“You’re sitting in the Empire, Leicester Square, arguably the best cinema auditorium in the country, watching a reissue of David Lean’s masterpiece Lawrence of Arabia…”

Direct link to page.

“Goose bump megadose?” I like that term, that’s exactly it!

But it hasn’t gone away… I had it watching “Blade Runner 2049,” at a certain IMAX with Laser projection. (Unfortunately, it seems that the box office wasn’t sufficient to cover the cost of making and marketing the film.) Definitely a film with artistic merit, layers of depth and meaning, scale, and stunning visuals/sound…

It wasn’t long ago when shooting the majority of a feature film in 15/70 was inconceivable, yet it was done for “Dunkirk.” Also, the latest high-end professional digital cameras are incredible…

Operators are investing a lot these days to create luxury auditoria… Besides, the OLS is about to receive a very expensive overhaul!

The last film I saw at Marble Arch was Branagh’s Peter’s Friends in February 1993.

The last I saw was “Independence Day,” a brainless summer blockbuster but good fun! Alas, it wasn’t long after that it closed for the terrible subdivision… I remember calling the programme information phone line only to be hear an announcement that it was going to be converted into “5 new luxury auditoria.” :–(

Lionel on November 10, 2017 at 11:46 am

There was a second complete restoration made in the late eighties, intended to be shown in 35mm only. I remember reading an article in the American Cinematographer magazine back then. That’s the one shown at Marble Arch in ‘89.

Because they couldn’t get the source material perfectly aligned (the three layers of Technicolor), they couldn’t guarantee a perfectly stable 1.37 frame, so they even slightly panned some shots vertically to optimize it for 1.66 cropping (which was the minimum aperture one could expect in most theatres today anyway). The original mono sound was also re-recorded in Dolby A-type, which didn’t bring much in my opinion (after all, you can’t magically turn an Academy mono recording from 1939 into high fidelity).

Lionel on November 10, 2017 at 11:11 am

@FanaticalAboutOdeon

I was aware of the screen history at Marble Arch, but didn’t know about the added spotlights. Thanks a lot for the info. The curtains were beautifully glowing but I always thought it was done with concealed lighting all around the screen and never had noticed that the spotlights on the balcony front had something to do with the curtains illumination.

However, I don’t remember the screen at Marble Arch was much more curved before Lawrence. Before that, I had only seen Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom in 70mm there, in 1985, and the screen stronger curvature didn’t strike me particularly.

In the summer of 89, the restored version of Gone with the Wind indeed played at Marble Arch right after Lawrence. I saw it as well but it was only 35mm in 1.66 aspect ratio with Dolby-encoded optical mono sound (sound format #02 if I’m not mistaken). The restoration made in the seventies however, was in 70mm. Well, despite the exceptional conditions, I wasn’t able to watch it until the end and left during the interval. GWTW always was one of the most irritatingly boring films for me…

FanaticalAboutOdeon on November 10, 2017 at 10:53 am

FanaticalAboutFilm.