Drake Odeon
15 Derry's Cross,
Plymouth,
PL1 2SW
15 Derry's Cross,
Plymouth,
PL1 2SW
2 people
favorited this theater
The cinema was named the Drake, a name made famous by a former mayor and citizen of Plymouth, Sir Francis Drake. The large model of a sailing galleon in front of the building is a replica of the Spanish Armada from 1588. As a multi-screen cinema it had a capacity of 1,100, while in it’s original form as a one screen cinema, it held 1,639.
That would be 800 in the front and back stalls with the same in front and back circle.
The Drake Cinema was owned and operated by 20th Century Fox from its opening in 1958, until March 1961, when it was taken over by the Rank Organisation and became one of their “Odeons”.
Closed in October 1999, it was demolished in 2002 and a Grosvenor Casino was built on the site, opening in 2003.
Contributed by
Aaron Wood
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
Another exterio picture from 1991 here :
View link
What a beautiful theater and memorable Compton organ… all gone!
As a boy living in Southampton, I fondly remember listening to the BBC radio morning broadcasts of “As Prescribed” featuring none other than the memorable Dudley Savage.
How he managed to create all of the console’s different sound settings, play the tunes, announce listeners requests and keep a cool head was truly remarkable AND fit everything into a professionally timed and presented programme!
And now the cinema is all but a memory. I recall seeing “Network” there in the mid 70’s. Excellent film but the volume?…I think the audience at the ABC Cinema could have heard it too.
For Pete’s sake, why didn’t they save the structure and build over it, there by saving a piece of Plymouth’s history which survived WW2? Every hotel needs a ballroom and the Drake’s auditorium was perfect for needs such as this. D.U.M.B.!!!
A comment says the model ship in front was retrieved for use in the replacement building. Was it reused? on the exterior? photo anybody?
Was the main original screen still used after the theater was divided up?
The original proscenium was used with a smaller screen installed in it. Not very satisfactory!
This is a new link to the photo posted on Sep 14, 2006 at 2:03am.
I wonder if the DP70’s were still there when it closed?
Exterior photo taken in 1991 here:–
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4462156090/
June 1958. I was there, as a lowly rewind boy on holiday from the Olympia Cardiff, I was able to get a ticket for the Birth of Todd AO at this theatre. I was allowed to vist the “Box” prior to the show and fell in love with those wonderful DP70s I went into the auditorium with the intro to “South Pacific” treating my ears to a sound system never heard before, and then——-those wide curtains swept open treating me to a new genre of film projection. On my return to Cardiff I raved about Todd AO and Foxes wonderful new cinema, then it was suddenly announced that my home cinema (Olympia Cardiff)m was to be fitted with DP70s. Thus started rhe most memorable period of my life. Even now over fifty years later I still get a thrill out of the original Todd Films
The Galleon on the original Drake Cinema was retained, and returned to the facade of the Casino. I managed to go to this cinema, and the ABC several times when I was able to… if you looked up the exit stairs to where the projection room was, you could still see the original Fox Theatres carpet on the treads.
I don’t remember Rank ever owning the building outright. They leased it off of The Prudential, who had bought the freehold off of Fox. They (Fox) had stipulated that the ‘Drake’ name should not be removed, hence it was known as the ‘Drake Odeon’.
When I lived in Plymouth, in the mid 1970’s, the former Gaumont Cinema (across the road) was operating as a night club. Is that structure still there?