Odeon Marble Arch

The closing of this theatre was a because of Rank employing X pizza Hut staff as managing directors!!!!

One of the finest cinemas built after the war in London. There was no reason to quin the main auditorium at all. It was Odeon's unimaginative, and at times derisory booking policy that forced the conversion. In the last 6 months as a single screen cinema the auditorium sold out on a nightly basis for the final 2 performances (actual capacity was 1362). I will say no more for fear of leaving a pair of smoking Timberland boots if I become more irate.

Steff (projectionist, Odeon Marble Arch (that is only for a few months after they trashed it!))

AFTER VISITING THE REBRANDED ODEON I AGREE THIS ONCE POPULAR WEST END CINEMA HAS BEEN EFFECTIVELY RUINED.

DEREK ATKINS(PUBLIC RELATIONS OFFICER MERCIA CINEMA SOCIETY).

My reaction to the horrible redevelopment of this once wonderful theatre was thought to be over-the-top by my friends. I was decimated that such a wonderful cinema auditorium could have been greedily and unimaginatively sub-divided. I still miss it badly - whatever was shown there looked and sounded magnificent - and the projection always displayed a sense of showmanship (appropriate intermission and overture music etc.). Even the cinemas recorded telephone message of programme info etc. (the manger's voice?) generated a sense of expectation.

with a bizzare booking policy (attack of the 50ft woman was one of the final nails in the coffin) its no wonder it did such poor business, sadly as a five plex it does a roaring trade...ho hum

It's very sad. I saw wonderful movies there, A BRIDGE TOO FAR, BUGSY MALONE, RETURN OF THE JEDI. I went to catch THE HULK there this summer and was shocked and saddened that they had stripped this beautiful massive theatre into shoeboxes. It's horrible, I really ache for my childhood when I see theatres like this.

This cinema was built to accommodate the Dimension-150, (D150), process, hence the huge screen. It opened with the first of only two true D150 films, 'The Bible-In The Beginning'. 'Patton - Lust for Glory' was the second film.

The architect of the Odeon was T. P. Bennett & Son. It opened on 2nd February 1967.

This cinema was built with a beautiful curved screen in I think 1968 to show the big Cinemascope productions. In the few years before the disastrous conversion I got to see the restored digital print of "Spartacus" (complete with Anthony Hopkins dubbing Olivier's lines for the previously censored bath scene in which he discusses "oysters" with Tony Curtis). I still remember that excitement when the curtains opened wider and wider at the start to the extremes of that fabulous curved screen. My dad took me to see my first James Bond film here (The Spy Who Loved Me). They also ran a fabulous 70 mm season in the summer of 93, which included "The Right Stuff". Can you imagine? On the biggest Screen in Europe! The foyer were full of weird 60s stained glass, like something out of old Star Trek episodes. There was lots of wood panelling. Very 60s and charming. I miss it. Sniff.

A photograph of the main entrance in 1967 here:
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/cavalcade/marblearch.jpg

A view of the original single screen auditorium, taken from the rear stalls here:
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/cavalcade/marblearchaud.jpg

I spent many happy hours in the box, having become good friends with the staff. The chief at the time told me that the screen actually opened out to 90 feet wide for D150 presentations. They screened the original 'Star Wars' in this format - despite slight cropping top and bottom - and it looked and sounded stunning. They had to close the front few rows of the stalls because people were being physically sick during the death-star destruction sequence!

Here is another photo of the Odeon Marble Arch.

Further interior photos before the cinema was ruined here:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/137527238/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/137527239/

Went to see V for Vendetta here recently, the new screens themselves already look dated, not nice. Very small as well only 250 seats for the largest one, and usual Odeon hallmarks of small screen size and small seats. Self-serve popcorn and drinks as well, can't describe how much I hate that, it's just dirty.

Have they kept any of the original interior, cjc? I haven't dared go in since the desecration.

Hi I recently had a very detailed tour of many of the 'nooks and crannies' the only remaining decorI saw of the original is in the #biggest# screen, which is in the front stalls area, featuring that groovy 60's panelling : screen still pretty humoungous at a very short throw, but not a touch on the previous sense of occasion one became accustomed to....

best

kev p

I think I'll stay away. Thanks for the update. The Curzon Mayfair is one of the few remaining gems of that era.

Apart from the fact that this was probably one of the best cinemas built in the UK to see a film it was a projectionists dream cinema to work in. Originally equipped with 3 Vic 8 projectors after the Christie Xenon’s where installed two Cinemecannica towers where modified to take a spool holding up to 3 reels of 70mm which enabled 70mm films to be run with reduced number of change overs.
The cinema had a great house lighting system with the auditorium split into 3 sections Circle, Front Stalls and Stage the colours could be programmed different for each section or cycle through the 3 colours of Red, Green and Yellow this was particularly effective on play ins to big movies like Hello Dolly one of the Arch’s better runs.
D150 was never run at this cinema because of the delay in opening if I remember correctly it opened at the Coliseum in St Martins Lane.
Due to the curve in the screen the centre of the screen was approx 14ft deeper than the sides. One downside to this was that from the rear circle a bus travelling along the road appeared to be going over a hill or in the case of Lawrence Of Arabia a curved horizon. The curved screen was replaced with a much shallower curved screen for the opening of the restored Lawrence in 1989 on David Leans request. I was at the first D150 (not advertised) screening of Star Wars and it was amazing to see, when the old awful yellow cert hit the tabs there was a stunned silence apart from one member of the audience exclaiming look at the size of that f****r! However due to the rights to D150 Fox requested the film to run in standard 70mm after a couple of days. I think probably on of the best pieces of Showmanship I ever saw was the opening to A Bridge Too Far when after the prelude in Academy the masking opened outwards just clearing each credit as it hit that section of the screen.
A great shame a better conversion could not have been achieved especially as I understand some screens get the flick through a mirror or two. RIP the Showmanship at the Arch.

Apart from the fact that this was probably one of the best cinemas built in the UK to see a film it was a projectionists dream cinema to work in. Originally equipped with 3 Vic 8 projectors after the Christie Xenon’s where installed two Cinemecannica towers where modified to take a spool holding up to 3 reels of 70mm which enabled 70mm films to be run with reduced number of change overs.
The cinema had a great house lighting system with the auditorium split into 3 sections Circle, Front Stalls and Stage the colours could be programmed different for each section or cycle through the 3 colours of Red, Green and Yellow this was particularly effective on play ins to big movies like Hello Dolly one of the Arch’s better runs.
D150 was never run at this cinema because of the delay in opening if I remember correctly it opened at the Coliseum in St Martins Lane.
Due to the curve in the screen the centre of the screen was approx 14ft deeper than the sides. One downside to this was that from the rear circle a bus travelling along the road appeared to be going over a hill or in the case of Lawrence Of Arabia a curved horizon. The curved screen was replaced with a much shallower curved screen for the opening of the restored Lawrence in 1989 on David Leans request. I was at the first D150 (not advertised) screening of Star Wars and it was amazing to see, when the old awful yellow cert hit the tabs there was a stunned silence apart from one member of the audience exclaiming look at the size of that f****r! However due to the rights to D150 Fox requested the film to run in standard 70mm after a couple of days. I think probably on of the best pieces of Showmanship I ever saw was the opening to A Bridge Too Far when after the prelude in Academy the masking opened outwards just clearing each credit as it hit that section of the screen.
A great shame a better conversion could not have been achieved especially as I understand some screens get the flick through a mirror or two. RIP the Showmanship at the Arch. (No reflection on the current team)

BTW no reflection on the current team.

The Bible in the Beginning opened Oct 7th 1967 Coliseum Cinerama
Patton Lust For Glory opened May 8th 1970 Casino Cinerama

For 70mm at Marble Arch and London check John Sharps list:

http://www.in70mm.com/library/70mm_in/london.htm

Not mirror projection! Odeon Wardour Street had that and it was awful. Any idea which screens so they can be avoided?

I remember going to a programme on a Sunday morning called *This is Todd-AO* where lots of clips were shown in 70mm and the difference was stunning. They did the opening from *Oklahoma!* and the *Jenny* sequence from *Star* as well as a cinerama-type ride in an aeroplane. It is such a pity the the grandeur of such films can now only be seen on very few screens today.

Saw “Lawrence of Arabia” there back in 1988 WOW stunning performance on that huge screen! The interior decoration was very nice, I like deep curved screen and the lighting above it, also the sides of the walls was also very appalling to me.

The mighty sound system when it first started up was top even for a sub standard approach without “THX” it was great sounding with six-track Dolby Stereo SR type.

Bass thundered around me with a deep rumbling, “No Prisoners, No Prisoners.”

I would be gutted to see it as it is now, a shoebox you say I don’t believe that, thou I have seen Odeon do this to one of its largest screens at the Odeon Westover Road. Someone should kick them in the a££ for doing that. Clearly the word multiplex has gone to there heads!

Its wonderful to see that many others have appreciation for this once extraordinary cinema. Anyone know what happened to the Manager previous to the time of its redevelopment? I'd love to thank him for the many special times I spent there!

A brilliant cinema even if the decor was a little souless. The screen was just amazingly huge. I worked at the Dominion on Tottenham Court Rd and got to see many movies at the West End Odeons for free so it was a great opportunity to see the many different auditoriums in the 80s. I worked at the Dominion at the time of the premier for Return Of The Jedi. To see the way the cinema was converted to screen that movie was very interesting. They built a projection box under the circle and closed off thed stalls or most of it if i remember. The first time it was screened was 9am with the last one at 12.30am the following day. It sold out solidly for 6weeks......but thats the Dominion- maybe i should put my other stories on the Dominion page. I saw Mary Poppins, Stargate and many others on that huge hugely missed Marble Arch screen. Makes me laugh when i see an Odeon with Odeon's logo across the doorway- 'Fanatical About Film" shame they dont feel the same about the buildings theyre shown in!!!!

exterior shot taken Aug 2007
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/1226259113/in/photostream/

Article spotted on "Cinerama.topcities". Go to "Cinerama want to be" on Home Page, then Click on "Dimension 150" then Odeon, Marble Arch.

Number of my own pressbook cuttings are on this site, mainly on the "In Cinerama?" page.

I saw "Jurassic park II" there with my wife (then girlfriend) in 1997, she was taking a "study abroad" course in London that summer and I went to visit her. The cinema-box we sat in wasn't very large, I'm sorry I didn't get to see the nice 60s mod original auditorium.
We roomed at the university of London dorms on Brown road nearby.

I only visited that cinema once, but it was a very memorable visit. It was in 1989, and I went to London from Brighton (where I lived at the time) just to see the restored 70mm print of "Lawrence Of Arabia". Lines were around the building for an early noon screening but I went in very quickly. I sat in the rear stalls, just under the balcony, and I fell in love with the theater right away: It had a feeling of a real cinema. And then the film began. WOW! Until today I regard that screening as one of the best I have ever attended. It was high Definition at it's best, much better then any HD Digital screenings we might have today. And the movie itself was perfect, still is one of my favorite films ever. It was a stunning expirience and I am very sorry I would be able to visit that cinema again or see another 70mm screening over there. The Odeon Marble Arch before the division was one of the best cinemas I have ever been in. And I have been in a lot before that 1989 visit and after.

D150 only ran at the Odeon Marble Arch, and the Coliseum had only Cinerama

Lavish 'for the time'? In terms of technical content it was far superior to the mouldy old Regal it replaced. Just because it's old doesn't mean it's better! On the contrary, the new Odeon Marble Arch was brute force sixties modernism at its best. Quite aside from the huge screen and other presentation facilities (which were impressive), you wouldn't believe how much effort was put into acoustically isolating the whole place. In fact the purpose of that fibreglass rockface effect in the auditorium was acoustical as well as aesthetic. Yes, the Odeon Marble Arch really was a kind of high water mark in terms of big screen entertainment (to use a Rank Organisation slogan of the time). It even cropped up in contemporary architects journals as an object lesson to others and elements of the design were to copied in Rank's other big projects at the time. Shame it's glittering, utopian, deep-curve D-150 moment was so short lived!

I agree with you both, I made many, many visits to the Odeon Marble arch in the 80s and early 90s, while it still had that huge screen and feeling of being in a true cinema, for such 'Special Engagements' as 'Mary Poppins' etc- THE place to see a movie. I always used to enjoy movies there more so than at the Odeon Leicester Sq or Empire.

Are there any photos of the original auditorium before it was demolished?

Pre-refurbishment and plexing, this was a great single screen experience. A great shame that London could not support it as a single screen once the 90s kicked in. Had a great time here for Terminator 2 and The Doors...both pictures which had the right scale for the place. It is now a plex with very tight stepped seating suffered thru Speed 2 and enjoyed Full Monty and Tailor of Panama in spite of the discomfort

herewith some pictures from 1967 featuring D150 : somewhat conflicting screen size : 62 feet ...to er 79 ft later being nicer and er more accurate !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevp/2930889819/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevp/2930889821/in/photostream/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kevp/2931759016/in/photostream/

I worked here for a few months when they were showing, Terminator 2 and The Silence of the Lambs. The place used to take your breath away from the top of the rear stalls, where I would frequently nip into the fire escape and have a cheeky fag. It was impressive. When the lights went up however, the seats were all shabby and looked a bit moth eaten. The manager was a bit of a tyrant.

I was wondering about pics from the 50s.

This is a recent exterior view.

I saw the restored Lawrence Of Arabia here in the mid-1980s on that marvelous curved screen. What a shame they ruined the theatre.

Contrary to an earlier posting, I believe the entire second run of Star wars was presented in D150 - it was Close Encounters that had to be shown in 'standard' 70mm, though there was NOTHING very standard about the sight of the mother ship when it came over the top of the mountain for the first time..... the whole audience gasped!

Hi just to clarify.
Star Wars ran for 2 days in D150 then reverted to STD 70mm I was there 2 days later. http://www.in70mm.com/library/70mm_in/england/london/index.htm

If you follow the link above you will also see that no films had there D150 openings at Marble Arch but both The Bible and Patton opened at Casino Cinerama. While I worked at the Arch I was told that there were never any D150 films screened there due to delays in building.
The deep curve screen was replaced by a much more shallower screen for the run of Lawrence in 1989 at the request of David Lean.

Hi,

I just wondered if any of you could tell me when this cinema opened?

2 Feb 1967

Many thanks Kirk

Slim, I have amended the introduction to give the opening details. Thanks for your interest.