Odeon Birmingham
139 New Street,
Birmingham,
B2 4NU
139 New Street,
Birmingham,
B2 4NU
2 people
favorited this theater
A once beautiful cinema, now divided into eight screens. The Paramount Theatre opened on 4th September 1937 with Errol Flynn in “Charge of the Light Brigade”. The original seating capacity was for 2,439 with 1,517 in the stalls and 922 in the circle. It was equipped with a Compton 4Manual/10Rank theatre organ which was opened by Al Bollington. The Paramount had a large stage, dressing rooms and a cafe/restaurant.
In August 1942, it was sold to Oscar Deutsch’s Odeon Theatres Ltd. and it was re-named Odeon. In 1965 it was closed for a period while major modernisation was carried out. The Odeon was used for many live shows during this period of time, including appearances by The Beatles.
In May 1988 the Odeon was closed for conversion into a six screen cinema, which re-opened in August 1988. Unfortunately, the Compton organ, which had still been used for concerts, was dismantled and sold. In 1991 two additional screens were opened in the former restaurant area and a former bar in the basement.
The cinema used to have a very ornate auditorium until it was altered. Now it is all very plain, including the foyer entrance. The last refurbishment was carried out in 1998.
Contributed by
DEREK L.HUNT, Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 35 comments)
‘Once upon a Time in the Midlands’ is being shown on TV this coming weekend,Sunday 9th March. Film4 at 9.00 pm to be exact. But I suppose all you posh lot out there have got the film on DVD by now anyway…….
lol yes, well it was only £2.99
various ads for derby cinemas and at the bottom an ad for Odeon Birmingham live show with Elkie Brooks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2313607874/
Wow! i used to love all those old film ad layouts.
Ian-i’ve got ‘em all on paper. Past 45 (yes,45!) years even. Every movie since Elizabeth Taylor got bitten by her ass (or was it asp?) in Cleopatra. Soundtracks, posters, brochures too. Come over to Wolverhampton and taste the beer while yer at it!
‘Once Upon A Time In The Midlands’ is showing on Film 4 at 9pm on Sunday 9 March.
I joined Cinerama when it was in Sheffield, in the early ‘60s, I think I was 18. The name WAS Cinerama not Itinerama and the venue was a 'Big Top’(the centre lock hub weighed 5 tons)and the film that was shown was South Seas Adventure – but NOT as described on the web sites I have visited?? The ‘Windjammer’ plot, plus film of Australia’s outback was what I watched 13 times per week(and loved it, and my favourite music was all ready Grieg’s Piano Concerto)so somewhere the info lines have got crossed.
The screen was I believe 108 feet wide but I forget the height -huge covers it! The tent we were told,cost 1 $million due to the cost of
the fireproof? material. Seating number was enormous and at (laugh)12/6d per seat with 2 shows per day the take was at least 1000 quid I believe.
We wore black guards type daks with double stitched seams, maroon cummerbund and dickiebow, white shirt and white waistcoat with gold or silver? navy type buttons.
I went with the company to Southsea but parted company after a time as I had a bad relationship with a particular manager, went on to
Paignton, Devon, and worked in a large hotel(Markham Court) for two
seasons, then migrated to Oz.
The Southsea site was on Southsea Common but I cannot remember the
Sheffield site’s location. Anyone help??
One manager was ‘Johnny’ Heinz, another was David Monk?? I have
attempted to locate and contact a good Swiss friend from that time but although I located his name and a contact number – the person I
contacted apparently spoke no English- had to get his daughter to speak to me- and had never been anywhere near Cinerama!!
A mystery, as there is only one person listed in Switzerland with his name!!
Oh, the music played outside of film time was a Glen Miller selection.
Hope this stuff is of interest.
2007 photo of the Odeon.
View link
Scanned images of the Odeon in 1988 here:–
Foyer:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4941088936/
Auditorium (with Organ):
http://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/4941089140/
Ah, the memories. I saw MOONRAKER (1979), ROCKY III (1982), BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986) and THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS (1987) here when it was a single screen. THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS was also the film that reopened the cinema as a cinema only after the last gig in the summer of 1987. I also saw Huey Lewis and The News at their sell-out gig in 1986. Always bizarre that the Widescreen movies played on a bigger screen than the Scope Films. Disney films and CARRIE were also two other movie regulars here.