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Odeon Haymarket

London, England
Haymarket (corner with St. James's Market)
, London, England, United Kingdom SW1Y 4SD
(map)
Status: Closed
Screens: Single Screen
Style: Unknown
Function: Unknown
Seats: 600
Chain: Unknown
Architect: Leslie C. Norton
Firm: Unknown
Odeon Haymarket
Exterior view of the Odeon Haymarket
Photo courtesy of Ian Grundy
The former Gaumont Haymarket was completely gutted and most of the space turned into offices, but a basement cinema was included in the rebuild, which opened on June 4, 1962 as the Odeon Haymarket. The opening film was an exclusive run of of Anthony Quinn in "Barabbas", which was presented in 70mm and ran for over six months.

Seating 600 on a stadium plan, the cinema was designed by Leslie C. Norton. It suffered from having a fairly obscure corner entrance (facing away from Coventry Street), but was very comfortable and distributors would often hold a film over to open it here on an exclusive run.

The side walls sloped in at an angle of about 10 degrees, hung with panels of Thai silk, and the ceiling had a honeycomb pattern of holes.

The Odeon closed on 14th January 1999 for 'renovation'. A new style 'Odeon' sign (one of the first) was placed on the front of the building, but that was all that happened. The sign was later removed, and after laying empty for several years, work began on stripping out the building. Work was halted for a long period of time when a huge amount of asbestos materals were found. Apparently it was gutted back to the bare brick walls and there were plans put forward in 2007 to open it as a lap-dancing club.
Contributed by Ian Grundy


YOUR COMMENTS

 
I worked here too! The walls were not silk but cheap nylon. It was a very nice theater under the Chief: Bill Gibb (long may he rayne). However the asbestos in the roof drove everybody mad. Bill left and the cinema employed idiots I.E Fred & Sandy
posted by Edd on Nov 6, 2002 at 4:03am
I was also employed here - probably the last Chief, still with the wonderful Malcolm (manager) and undertook replacing the screen, refurbishing the Vic 10 projectors, and getting the good reputation back. We also got the (wierd but wonderful) heating system working properly again. I left after it was twinned with the Odeon West End Management, and to my knowledge it then ran with 2 Senior projectionists and occasional reliefs, with management pulled daily from the OWE. The twin festoon curtains and coloured lighting presentations were rarely used after that. Phil Wharfe
posted by OldLotus on Feb 23, 2004 at 9:34am
It's being advertised as a rare opportunity for a bar/restaurant at the moment. Did the cinema once occupy the whole building then?
posted by cjc on Jul 24, 2005 at 12:15pm
The entrance is shown in the photo above as being on the corner of the building, and the cinema was two levels down in the basement. The remainder of the building is offices.
posted by KenRoe on Jul 24, 2005 at 1:51pm
A close up photograph of the entrance in 1962 here:
http://www.mawgrim.sathosting.net/cavalcade/haymarket.jpg
posted by KenRoe on Sep 15, 2005 at 4:50am
A b&w photograph of the auditorium taken on opening week in June 1962:
http://photobucket.com/albums/y191/KenR-UK/?action=view¤t=OdeonHaymarketaud1962.jpg
posted by KenRoe on Jan 29, 2006 at 2:52am
A colour view of the auditorium. Image by Bridget Smith - 1995:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/149904482/
posted by KenRoe on May 20, 2006 at 8:28am
Hi Edd,

This is Fred here. Re: The (first) user comment from yourself (above). Rayne is actually spelt reign?

Cheers Fred
posted by fp30e on Jul 23, 2006 at 3:57am
Another photo of the exterior whilst still open :-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/213335302/
posted by Ian on Aug 12, 2006 at 10:38pm
A view of the marquee and new 'Odeon' sign, photographed just after closing:
http://www.moviebunker.com/odeon_haymarket.htm
The new style Odeon sign went up on the building just weeks before closure! This is a good example of bad sign design as it can only be read correctly from one direction. Here we see it viewed from Piccadilly Circus with the letter 'D' reading correctly. Imagine aproaching from the other direction! A similar situation occurs at the Odeon Camden Town when viewed from the main Camden High Street the letter 'D' reads backwards....Ridiculous!!!
posted by KenRoe on Sep 3, 2006 at 10:38am
Can anyone tell me when it actually closed. Sad to see it go. Saw lots of films here in 70s Last saw here Regeneration in 1998, ironically what I would wish for here.
posted by ranwell on Dec 23, 2007 at 11:09am
Two further exterior views from 1989 here:-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/2154139453/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12494104@N00/2154932532/
posted by Ian on Jan 1, 2008 at 9:06am
Hi Fred,
The use of the word rayne was a play on words

As many people know, Henry Rayne was a notable cinema engineer of the 1920’s and 30’s

He was most noted for his standardisation of procedures and equipment in British cinema projection rooms

Bill Gibb maintained many of these high standards at the Odeon Haymarket.

After Bill left the Odeon, to continue his work with Dickie Attenborough, we ran the projection department without a chief for approximately 6 months.

It was hard; however we persevered, and if anything, were able to maintain a high level of showmanship.

By early 1988 a new generation of management had taken over.
They were more interested in their ego than quality and presentation.

Less skilled projection staff were employed due to ignorant management (Apparently the new chief had only recently started work for Rank Cinemas, after loosing his job as a bus driver in Liverpool) Am I correct Fred?

Quality showmanship vanished as the standards were dropped to the level of the new chief and his staff.

This in turn led to a loss of patronage, followed by product and budget, resulting in the building becoming run down.

The rest is history!!!


Edd

posted by Edd on May 11, 2008 at 6:08am
I worked at this place in the late eighties in the box office, which was pretty shabby. Rank had a policy of putting certain films on exclusive presentation there, on my first day When Harry met Sally sold out 5 presentations on a single saturday. Rank underestimated the power of Meg Ryan faking and orgasm, and it's effect on the zeitgeist....The box office was dead shabby, and while the auditorium looked pretty, I remember the seats were made of really itchy material. They also had a problem with fruit flies, due to crates of empty tomato juice bottles from the bar. That summer the air conditioning broke down, but still they squeezed 500 people underground on a sweltering August evening. Loads of people complained and got refunds. I am not suprised it closed down. But it did have a lot of character, and you will be hard pressed to find a cinema like it these days.
posted by scott99 on Oct 15, 2008 at 6:24pm
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