Odeon Kingstanding
Kettlehouse Road,
Kingstanding,
B44 9JD
Kettlehouse Road,
Kingstanding,
B44 9JD
1 person
favorited this theater
Located in Kingstanding, a district near Sutton Coldfield to the north of Birmingham, the Odeon stands on a prominent site at the intersection of several roads. Originally this was planned to be an independent cinema, to be known as the Beacon Cinema. Oscar Deutsch got involved during its construction and it opened as one of his original Odeon Theatres Ltd. chain.
The Odeon opened on 22nd July 1935 with Gary Cooper in "Lives of a Bengal Lancer". The exterior of the building is considered to be a quintessential Art Deco ‘Odeon’ style. There are rounded corners a central bay which is covered with cream faiance tiles and a slender vertical fin-tower, which originally had letters on top, horizontally spelling out ‘CINEMA’.
After viewing the magnificent exterior, the inside of the building is little bit of a let down. Seating was provided in a semi-stadium plan, with the circle having virtually no overhang to the stalls. There were 968 seats in the stalls and 324 in the circle. The ceiling had square Art Deco style light fittings, but was otherwise plain, as were the side-walls apart from a few decorative grilles.
The Odeon closed on 1st December 1962 with the 1955 film; Audie Murphy in "To Hell and Back". It was converted into a Top Rank Bingo Club, which today is a Mecca Bingo Club.
The Odeon is a Grade II Listed building.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
A long view of the former Odeon in January 2008:
View link
A close-up view of the entrance in December 2007:
http://flickr.com/photos/leyhillimages/2092758517/
This website has a photo of the Odeon Kingstanding.
A December 2006 view:
http://flickr.com/photos/leejordan/346705884/
Here are two photos:
Odeon Cinema
Mecca Bingo
Interior and exterior photos after the 2009 refurbishment of the Mecca Bingo Hall:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4004323886/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4003562297/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4003562041/
Correction of Myth.. The Theatre Opened under Clifton Control “The Beacon Cinema (Kingstanding) Ltd., The Sidney Clift Faction controlled the Majority of Shares. Oscar Deutsch only had £100 in Shares, so had no say.. The same with "The Warley” From my memory as my family and I had interests in a number of Theatres and Cinemas.. It did not become a full Odeon untill around 1941 when J. Arthur Rank took over Oscar Deutsch’s interests although they where badged as Odeons before this date. Hope this makes it clear..
Correction Myth 2. The Architects was Satchwell and Roberts with John Cecil Clavering.. Harry Weeden was just shown the plans by Deutsch and was basically told he wanted all his projects done like this… If You look at the work Satchwell and Roberts it proves my point. and Satchwell and Roberts where far bigger then Harry Weeden at the time..