Embassy Cinema

142 High Street,
Ruislip, HA4 8LJ

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Shipman & King Cinemas Ltd.

Architects: John Stanley Beard, Alfred Douglas Clare

Firms: J. Stanley Beard & Clare

Styles: Art Deco

Previous Names: Astoria Cinema

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Embassy Cinema

The Astoria Cinema was the second cinema to be opened in Ruislip, an area in the north-west of todays' Greater London. It opened on 24th September 1934 with Elisabeth Bergner and Douglas Fairbanks Jr. in “Catherine the Great”(The Rise of Catherine the Great). It was operated by the Charles F. Cheshire group. It was designed by architects John Stanley Beard and Alfred Douglas Clare (it was the last work to be carried out by Clare due to illness. Six months after opening, the Astoria Cinema was taken over by the Shipman & King circuit in March 1935. They commissioned interior designers Mollo & Egan to design new organ grilles which had been part of Clare’s original design. The Astoria Cinema had a 38 feet wide proscenium which now had attractive organ grilles depicting fishes swimming, on each side on the splay walls.

The Astoria Cinema was ‘modernised’ in 1967 and had a metal cladding mounted on its facade. It was re-named Embassy Cinema from 30th April 1967.

Shipman & King were taken over by the Grade Brothers EMI Group in 1967. The Embassy Cinema was closed on 28th November 1981 with Dudley Moore in "10" and Goldie Hawn "Private Benjamin". It was demolished in October 1986. Today, the new building on the site contains a MacDonalds Restaurant and an Iceland supermarket.

Contributed by Ken Roe
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