ABC Hounslow

The Regal Cinema was another splendid building built by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) and designed by their ‘in-house’ architect William R. Glen.

It was located on Staines Road at the junction of Bath Road and the exterior had a large fin tower feature over the entrance with the main facade faced in cream terra-cotta tiles. Inside the auditorium there was seating provided for 1,260 in the stalls and 600 in the balcony. Decorative details on the side splay-walls of the auditorium had panels depicting deer and antelope. Provision was made to acommodate organ chambers, but an organ was never fitted into the cinema.

The Regal Cinema opened on 27th November 1937 with Otto Kruger in "Glamorous Nights" and Warner Orland in "Charlie Chan at the Olympics".

The cinema led an uneventful life, becoming the ABC in 1964. The ABC closed on 21st May 1977 when an audience of 150 watched the final films roll; Marjoe Gortner in "Food of the Gods" and Dale Robertson in "The Legend of Machine Gun Kelly"(a TV movie-Melvin Purvis G-Man).

The ABC was demolished and the site re-developed, with a Safeway supermarket and car parking. By the summer of 2008, this too had closed.

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