Odeon Twickenham
3 Cross Deep,
Twickenham,
TW1 4QJ
3 Cross Deep,
Twickenham,
TW1 4QJ
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Joseph Mears Theatres Ltd., Odeon Theatres Ltd., Rank Organisation
Architects: John Stanley Beard, Alfred Douglas Clare
Firms: J. Stanley Beard & Clare
Styles: Egyptian
Previous Names: Luxor Picture Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Located in the south-west Greater London district of Twickenham, at the corner of Cross Deep and Heath Road.
The Luxor Picture Theatre opened on 18th November 1929 with Victor McLaglen in “King of the Kyber Rifles”. Built for Walter Bentley, it was the first collaboration of architects John Stanley Beard & Alfred Douglas Clare of the newly formed architectural firm Beard & Clare. It was designed as a cine-variety theatre with a proscenium 35 feet wide, there was a 17 feet deep stage and four dressing rooms. The theatre contained a mixture of styles, with the exterior being a combination of Egyptian and modern. The Egyptian theme was continued in the auditorium and the foyer was modern.
The Luxor Picture Theatre had a Compton 2Manual/8Rank theatre organ, opened by organist John Armitage, and there was the Luxor Orchestra. In 1932, the Luxor Picture Theatre was sold to the Joseph Mears Theatres Ltd. chain.
In January 1944, it was sold to the Odeon Theatres chain and was re-named Odeon in January 1946. The Odeon was closed by the Rank Organisation on 10th October 1981 with Franco Nero in “Enter the Ninja” and David Warner in “Nightwing”. A spectacular organ concert on the Compton organ was held in the theatre, just prior to closing. The theatre was demolished in 1986, and a sports club and bar were built on the site.
Contributed by
Graeme McBain, Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
I was interested to see the photographs at the geocities site, particularly the pictures of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth singing in the theatre in 1979.
I am writing a personal memoir about Anne and Webster and would be most interested if anyone can tell me more about the concert.
My blog on Anne and Webster can be found at http://duettists.blogspot.com
Further to my last posting I have written a book about Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth, entitled “Sweethearts of Song: A Personal Memoir of Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth” by Jean Collen. Information about the book is available at http://www.lulu.com
Four vintage photographs of the Odeon Twickenham:
Still named the Luxor Cinema, but now proclaiming itself as being part of the Odeon Theatre’s Chain in this September 1949 view:
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It had been re-named Odeon by October 1949 when photographed playing the Odeon Circuit release here:
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Playing the Odeon Circuit release in April 1956:
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Close-up of the entrance while playing the Odeon Circuit release in November 1964:
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The Compton organ was a 2/6 later expanded to a 2/7.
herewith another set of pictures
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I believe that, for a short while at least, the cinema was considered as a possible new home for the Musical Museum collection from Brentford. The Museum has now moved to a purpose built location a few hundred yards from its former home.
The link I posted above in 2005 at geocities is now defunct.
Here is the new link to the same site containing pictures of Twickenham Odeon.
http://www.john.byethost6.com/odeont.htm
John
Hi my name is peter,I am new to this group,Living in Australia,but when i was 10yo in 1965 I would get the 267 bus from Isleworth to Twickenham on a Saturday morning to the Odeon Theater and love watching the kids black & white movies,Would love to know if the names of these movies are recorded anywhere and if they exist somewhere on you tube?
A few more notes. In reply to Keiths comment the Odeon was considered as a new home of the Musical Museum with the museum using the stalls area and the circle kept for theatre and cinema use. In the latter years the Odeon had live wrestling and showers were installed in the dressing rooms.The wrestling was popular with the punters but.not the local residents who pressed for the council to get it stopped. Wombat55 The 267 bus relaced the 667 trolley bus and the film’s shown on Saturday morning were often made by the Children’s Film Foundation CFI so try searching for that company. I wonder if Ena Bags or Don Knights were at the organ when you attended the Saturday shows. Ena was there for many years including the morning the stage curtains caught fire
You can see the Luxor (Odeon) in 1931 at the start of this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iySshjjujog