Let us be clear about the assertion that “ABC” took over Odeon. Odeon was taken over by a venture capitalist company, Cinven, which already owned the final iteration of the ABC circuit. Now owning two cinema circuits, it was inevitable that the much larger and better known Odeon would prevail.
Rank continued to operate the Plaza under that name until renaming it Odeon from Friday April 17th 1987. This was part of Managing Director Jim Whittell’s determination to focus on the Odeon brand which led to the renaming of the last Gaumonts and the change in the company’s name from Rank Theatres Ltd. to Odeon Cinemas Ltd. It was, thus, an Odeon for just its last few years.
According to the listings in the Rugby Advertiser, The Regent did not close for the CinemaScope installation. The name presumably changed for the Monday July 25th opening of Lucky Me (supporting film Red Desert). This programme played Monday to Wednesday, followed on Thursday July 28th by Green Fire (supporting film Secret Venture) which ran until Saturday. The Regent/Century seems to have been an established split week house with a separate programme of old revivals on Sundays.
Advertising in the Reading Evening Post from July 25th 1971 refers to ABC Friar Street, with ABC’s other Reading cinema becoming ABC London Road on the same date.
Perusal of the Reading Evening Post on Newspapers.com shows that the naming situation for ABC’s Reading cinemas is more complicated than stated. From the end of October 1965 the Granby is advertised as “ABC Reading”, with the Central retaining it’s name. This presumably confused people and from November 12 1967 the Granby gets it’s name back and advertising refers to ABC Central and ABC Granby. This continues until July 25th 1971 when the Central is advertised as ABC Friar Street and the Granby becomes ABC London Road.
If Studio Two stayed open during the tripling of Studio One, it did so without any advertising of programmes in the London evening papers. More likely is that it was closed for the duration of the conversion work.
According to listings in the Evening Standard archive, Studio Two closed after business on May 31st 1971 for refurbishment and re-opened as a feature film venue on June 24th 1971 with a revival of The Aristocats (Which had had an 18 week premiere run in Studio One ending on April 21st).
Recent perusal of the Evening Standard archive shows that the name change to ABC Edgware Road took place from Sunday March 21st 1965. Until this point the listing was “ABC (Regal) Harrow Road”. The Use of this theatre and the ABC Fulham Road as pre-release theatres dates from Sunday December 30th 1962.
The Healey International Car Centre was opened on July 3rd 1963 according to a report in Autocar magazine of July 12th. The opening ceremony was carried out by Alec Issigonis, designer of the Mini.
To clear up any misunderstandings, there were no pop concerts at the ABC in the 1960’s, or any other stage presentations. When the cinema was converted for Todd-AO in February 1959 the new 70mm screen was erected in front of the original proscenium and as it was not moveable the stage was rendered unusable from this time on.
Aerial photographs on the Historic England website show views of the Super in 1946 with the bulk of the auditorium roof intact (with some damage on the Ley Street side). A June 1947 view shows the auditorium roof having been removed. This is the state I remember from visits to my grandma who lived in the first surviving house at the top end of Ley Street (number 13, numbers 7, 9 and 11 having been destroyed in the V2 blast).
I see that the overview has been amended, but with the wrong closure date. The Royal closed in 1966, not 1956. From mid 1954 to 1958 the Royal was the Halifax home of 20th Century Fox CinemaScope films and the only cinema in town with 4 track mag. stereo sound. The last film advertised in stereo was a revival of Mary Poppins from Dec 26th 1965, but the early February 1966 revival of The King and I was probably the last film in stereo.
The Royal (as it was advertised in its last decade or so) closed on Saturday February 26th 1966 after a seven day run of the revival double bill Ivanhoe and Tarzan and the Mermaids. The cafe appears to been open to the end.
The Alexandra was the first cinema in Coventry with CinemaScope. It closed from Saturday September 25th 1954 to Saturday October 2nd 1954 for installation of CinemaScope and 4 track mag. stereo sound. On Sunday October 3rd The Robe began a three week run.
Silk Stockings played the Regal from Sunday August 18th to Saturday August 24th 1957. The supporting film was Anglo-Amalgamated’s The Key Man, made at Merton Park Studios.
When Rank changed its distribution arrangements in 1959 the Gaumont became the National release outlet with the Rank release going to the Odeon. Strangely, Psycho, which was a Rank release, was given to the Gaumont as its final offering, rather than going to the Odeon. During its final summer the Gaumont had a four week roadshow run of South Pacific, advertised as being “in 35mm on the wide screen”, which was a way of saying that it was not in Todd-AO with stereophonic sound (the only cinema in Halifax with stereo was the Theatre Royal, which had been the home of Fox CinemaScope films).
A report in The Guardian on Sept. 28th 2023 states that Birmingham Council have voted to demolish the whole Smallbrook Queensway development and replace it with housing.
The Cannon (ex Futurist) closed on Thursday September 5th 1991. The final films were Soapdish in Screen 1 and Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves in Screen 2.
Rather surprisingly, until 1963 the telephone number of the ABC/Ritz was Barrow 999. During 1963 it was altered to Barrow 880.
Let us be clear about the assertion that “ABC” took over Odeon. Odeon was taken over by a venture capitalist company, Cinven, which already owned the final iteration of the ABC circuit. Now owning two cinema circuits, it was inevitable that the much larger and better known Odeon would prevail.
On the 1949 Ordnance Survey 6 inch map the Dominion is marked as a “ruin”. Wartime damage?
The reopening film after the 1962 refurbishment was HMS Defiant, not Sink the Bismarck which was two years old by then. Still a nautical theme though!
Rank continued to operate the Plaza under that name until renaming it Odeon from Friday April 17th 1987. This was part of Managing Director Jim Whittell’s determination to focus on the Odeon brand which led to the renaming of the last Gaumonts and the change in the company’s name from Rank Theatres Ltd. to Odeon Cinemas Ltd. It was, thus, an Odeon for just its last few years.
According to the listings in the Rugby Advertiser, The Regent did not close for the CinemaScope installation. The name presumably changed for the Monday July 25th opening of Lucky Me (supporting film Red Desert). This programme played Monday to Wednesday, followed on Thursday July 28th by Green Fire (supporting film Secret Venture) which ran until Saturday. The Regent/Century seems to have been an established split week house with a separate programme of old revivals on Sundays.
Advertising in the Reading Evening Post from July 25th 1971 refers to ABC Friar Street, with ABC’s other Reading cinema becoming ABC London Road on the same date.
Perusal of the Reading Evening Post on Newspapers.com shows that the naming situation for ABC’s Reading cinemas is more complicated than stated. From the end of October 1965 the Granby is advertised as “ABC Reading”, with the Central retaining it’s name. This presumably confused people and from November 12 1967 the Granby gets it’s name back and advertising refers to ABC Central and ABC Granby. This continues until July 25th 1971 when the Central is advertised as ABC Friar Street and the Granby becomes ABC London Road.
If Studio Two stayed open during the tripling of Studio One, it did so without any advertising of programmes in the London evening papers. More likely is that it was closed for the duration of the conversion work.
According to listings in the Evening Standard archive, Studio Two closed after business on May 31st 1971 for refurbishment and re-opened as a feature film venue on June 24th 1971 with a revival of The Aristocats (Which had had an 18 week premiere run in Studio One ending on April 21st).
Recent perusal of the Evening Standard archive shows that the name change to ABC Edgware Road took place from Sunday March 21st 1965. Until this point the listing was “ABC (Regal) Harrow Road”. The Use of this theatre and the ABC Fulham Road as pre-release theatres dates from Sunday December 30th 1962.
Recent perusal of the Evening Standard archive indicates that the name change to ABC Barkingside took place on Sunday October 11th 1964.
The Healey International Car Centre was opened on July 3rd 1963 according to a report in Autocar magazine of July 12th. The opening ceremony was carried out by Alec Issigonis, designer of the Mini.
According to the Evening Telegraph newspaper the change of name to Odeon appears to have happened on Sunday March 16th 1959 rather than May.
To clear up any misunderstandings, there were no pop concerts at the ABC in the 1960’s, or any other stage presentations. When the cinema was converted for Todd-AO in February 1959 the new 70mm screen was erected in front of the original proscenium and as it was not moveable the stage was rendered unusable from this time on.
Aerial photographs on the Historic England website show views of the Super in 1946 with the bulk of the auditorium roof intact (with some damage on the Ley Street side). A June 1947 view shows the auditorium roof having been removed. This is the state I remember from visits to my grandma who lived in the first surviving house at the top end of Ley Street (number 13, numbers 7, 9 and 11 having been destroyed in the V2 blast).
I see that the overview has been amended, but with the wrong closure date. The Royal closed in 1966, not 1956. From mid 1954 to 1958 the Royal was the Halifax home of 20th Century Fox CinemaScope films and the only cinema in town with 4 track mag. stereo sound. The last film advertised in stereo was a revival of Mary Poppins from Dec 26th 1965, but the early February 1966 revival of The King and I was probably the last film in stereo.
The Royal (as it was advertised in its last decade or so) closed on Saturday February 26th 1966 after a seven day run of the revival double bill Ivanhoe and Tarzan and the Mermaids. The cafe appears to been open to the end.
Tuesday January 21st makes it 1964.
The Alexandra was the first cinema in Coventry with CinemaScope. It closed from Saturday September 25th 1954 to Saturday October 2nd 1954 for installation of CinemaScope and 4 track mag. stereo sound. On Sunday October 3rd The Robe began a three week run.
Thursday November 11th makes it 1965. Presumably Syd and Eddie are Little and Large.
Silk Stockings played the Regal from Sunday August 18th to Saturday August 24th 1957. The supporting film was Anglo-Amalgamated’s The Key Man, made at Merton Park Studios.
When Rank changed its distribution arrangements in 1959 the Gaumont became the National release outlet with the Rank release going to the Odeon. Strangely, Psycho, which was a Rank release, was given to the Gaumont as its final offering, rather than going to the Odeon. During its final summer the Gaumont had a four week roadshow run of South Pacific, advertised as being “in 35mm on the wide screen”, which was a way of saying that it was not in Todd-AO with stereophonic sound (the only cinema in Halifax with stereo was the Theatre Royal, which had been the home of Fox CinemaScope films).
A report in The Guardian on Sept. 28th 2023 states that Birmingham Council have voted to demolish the whole Smallbrook Queensway development and replace it with housing.
The Cannon (ex Futurist) closed on Thursday September 5th 1991. The final films were Soapdish in Screen 1 and Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves in Screen 2.