Odeon Beckenham

Built and operated by the independent Beckenham Pictures Houses company. The 1,980-seats Regal Cinema opened on 22nd September 1930 with Lawrence Tibbett in “The Rogue Song” and supporting acts on the stage. It is located in Beckenham, Kent, which today is a district on the extreme south-east of Greater London. Among the facilities on offer were a fully equipped stage, a ballroom, a restaurant located on the ground floor and a car park for 50 cars. The projection box was located at the rear of the stalls seating area. A year after opening in 1931 it was equipped with a Wurlitzer Model F 2Manual/8Rank theatre organ which was opened by Reginald Foort.

It had a brief spell operated by the County Cinemas chain. In 1936 it was taken over by the Union Cinemas chain. They had the organ rebuilt at the Wurlitzer London factory to become a 3Manual/8Rank unit with grand piano attachment and an illuminated ‘Rainbow’ console. The re-built organ was opened by Harold Ramsey on 25th January 1937.

The Union Cinemas chain were taken over by Associated British Cinemas (ABC) in October 1937 and they operated the cinema for many years.

It was re-named ABC from 22nd January 1962 and the Wurlitzer organ was removed from the theatre to be installed in 1968 in St. Dominic’s Hall, Cowley, Oxfordshire. In the 1990’s it was moved to a private house in Sutton-In-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire followed by another move to Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.

The ABC closed in November 1978 for conversion into a triple screen cinema. The balcony remained intact as Screen 1 with a seating capacity of 587 which re-opened on 21st December 1978. Two mini-screens were converted in the former rear stalls area under the balcony, which seated 295 and 124 and these opened on 11th February 1979. The remainder of the auditorium (front stalls) and the stage became un-used. The restaurant remained open for many years as did the ballroom.

ABC were later taken over by Cannon Cinemas, who in turn were taken over by MGM, before reverting back to ABC in the late-1990’s. It was at this time that the cinema was designated a Grade II Listed building by English Heritage.

Odeon Cinemas Group took control in 2001 and proposed plans to convert the building into six screens. The conversion went ahead and the six screen Odeon re-opened on 19th September 2001. The former ballroom is now Screen 2 with 207 seats, although a lot of the original decorative details have been retained, they are covered over. Screen 5 is located in the former front stalls area, using the original proscenium opening, retaining all of the original decorative features., and seats 207. Screen 6, also seating 207 is located on the former stage. The former restaurant is now an extension of the foyer and is used as a coffee bar.

In July 2026 the building was sold to a church and plans are to close the Odeon on November 29, 2026. The church plan to return the auditorium into a a single space by removing the dividing walls which separated the various screens.

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