Odeon Marble Arch

The Regal Cinema opened on 29th November 1928 with Al Jolson starring in “The Singing Fool”. The architect was Clifford Aish who designed an imposing structure located on the corner of Edgware Road and Oxford Street that had three entrances. Construction took seventeen months.

The interior decorative scheme was the work of Charles Muggeridge who created what is known as an Atmospheric style, which in this case had the setting of a Roman temple that had glades of trees and garlands of creepers that were visible behind the colonnade on the side walls. The ceiling had a massive pergola which was covered in golden creeper, through which could be seen an imitation sky with twinkling stars and cloud patterns.

The Regal Cinema was equipped with a Hill, Norman & Beard designed Christie 4Manual/36Rank theatre pipe organ, the largest in Europe which was opened by Quentin Maclean. There was a fully equipped stage and another facility was the provision of a restaurant.

Within six months of opening, the Regal Cinema had been taken over by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) who operated it until early-January 1945. Odeon Theatres then took control and refurbished it, but before they could re-open, the Regal Cinema suffered damage from one of the last flying bombs to hit London and it remained closed until September 1945 when it re-opened as the Odeon Marble Arch.

The Odeon closed on 22nd March 1964 with “The Long Ships”. It was demolished, to be replaced by an office block and a new modern Odeon Marble Arch, which still operates today, although now as a five screen cinema.

Recent comments (view all 8 comments)

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater