Odeon Barnet
Western Parade, Great North Road,
Barnet,
EN5 1AB
Western Parade, Great North Road,
Barnet,
EN5 1AB
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The Odeon Theatre, Barnet opened on 15th May 1935 with Gene Raymond in “Transatlantic Merry-Go-Round”. It was designed by architect Edgar Simmons, who was not a usual designer of Odeon Theatres, as this was originally intended to be a building for County Cinemas circuit and was taken over by Odeon durring construction.
Seating was provided for 1,553; 1,010 in the stalls and 543 in the circle.
It was converted into a triple screen cinema from 10th March 1974 with screen 1 in the former circle and screens 2 and 3 in the rear stalls.
From 18th December 1992 a fourth screen was added in the former front stalls area and ten days later a fifth screen was opened on what had been the former stage area. Current (2008) seating capacities in the screens are; 530, 184, 188, 195 and 155.
It continues to serve this local outer North London suburb of Barnet as a first run cinema.
On 18th December 1989, the Odeon was given a Grade II Listed building status by English Heritage
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
An exterior photograph taken in the early 1970’s of the Odeon, Barnet:
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An exterior view in the early 1980's
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Another view mid-1980's
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New signage in 2002
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OOOppps, sorry, here is that early 1970’s view:
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The year given for this photo is 2006.
This link might be an updated link for the photo posted on Oct 13, 2005 at 5:00am.
Here is a 2001 photo.
On 17th May 2010, 75 years & 2 days since Barnet Odeon first opened, it celebrated it’s birthday with 2 screenings of Hitchcock’s 1935 ‘The 39 Step’s at the opening night admission price of 2p. Staff were dressed in 1930’s uniforms including tunics, peaked caps and white gloves. The cinema’s manager announced to a packed house in screen 1 that the theatre was Odeon’s oldest cinema. I think they own older buildings, but it could well be the chain’s longest operating cinema.
Moorish styling, art deco features, and loads of octagonal shapes abound in this cinema – Edgar Simmon’s finest. Well worth a visit.
Here’s to another 75 years of movie magic at Barnet Odeon!
Long live Barnet Odeon!
Enhanced photo of the Odeon here from 1987:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4953788062/
A couple more photos here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/375598575/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/375598573/
I was at the Odeon Barnet yesterday morning.I was on my own in Screen 1.Before the lights went out i was able to see much of the original art deco plasterwork and lights.Well worth a look at if you are in the cinema.