The Odeon Leicester Square has been charging premium prices for many years now. I believe I paid £12.00 on my last visit, at current exchange rates that’s $23. Movies these days tend to open en-mass in both the West End (ie Leicester Square area) and in the suburbs where the top price is around £7.00 ($13).
It would be great to have the Compton organ at the Odeon Leicester Square playing each performance. Now that would warrant a premium price!
The Loew’s Valencia Theatre was the first of the five ‘Wonder Theatres’ to open;12th January 1929
Joint 2nd and 3rd to open were;
Loew’s Kings Theatre, Brooklyn and Loew’s Paradise, Bronx, both opened;7th September 1929
4th to open was Loew’s Jersey Theatre, Jersey City, NJ, opened;28th September 1929
5th to open was Loew’s 175th Street Theatre, Manhattan, opened;12th February 1930.
Listed in Film Daily Yearbook’s that I have between 1941 and 1950 as the Armour Theatre with a seating capacity of 700 or 650 depending which edition is looked at.
This was a replacement cinema building to the previous Ufa Palast am Zoo on the site, which was destroyed by bombs on 24th November 1943.
Built in 1957 as a purpose built twin cinema, the architects were Paul Schwebes, Hans Schoszberger and Gerhard Fritsche. The main auditorium Zoo Palast seated 1,204 and is located above the smaller Atelier am Zoo which seated 550.
Over the years between 1970 and 1980 an additional seven screens were added to the building around the sides and to the rear, retaining the original two auditoriums in their original sizes.
The architects of the original Ufa Gloria Palast were Ernst Lessing and Max Bremer who designed a magnificent Gothic styled cinema that seated 1,200. As stated above, this was sadly destroyed by bombs in 1943
The new Gloria Palast was an entirely different building on the same site, contained within an apartment building that was constructed in 1953. The cinema was upstairs on the first floor and was designed by Siegfred Fehr and Gerhard Jackel. It was a single floor cinema (with no balcony) and seated 954. There was also a small 190 seat cinema in the basement which was called the Gloriette.
Both screens closed on 6th August 1998 and were immediately stripped out. It was converted into a Benetton clothing store, but being a Listed building, many of the original decorative features have been retained.
Listed in various editions of Film Daily Yearbooks;1941-1950 as the Nassau Theatre (the only theatre listed in the town of Roosevelt). Seating capacities vary from 590 to 404.
The original architects of the Union Palast were Nentwich & Simon and it opened with 850 seats. The building went through many alterations over the years, most drastic was in 1979-81 when the cinema was sub-divided into 5 screens and since 1983 further alteration made it into an 8 screen cinema with a seating capacity of 1,204. There was still some original decorative detail remaining in the foyer area prior to closure and demolition.
Opened on 28th January 1928 to the designs of architects Ernst Schoffler, Carlo Schloenbach and Carl Jacobi, it had a seating capacity of 1,920 in orchestra and balcony levels. It had an organ, full stage facilities and a cafe. The sweeping curves of the proscenium arch were said to be the inspiration of the Gaumont Palace Theatre, at Wood Green in north London, UK which was built in 1934.
The Titania Palast was one of the great Berlin cinemas and the stage was put to good use, particulary after the war when it was the only large theatre in the city to remain un-damaged. Artists such as Yehudi Menuhin, Maria Callas, Josephine Baker, Zarah Leander, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Armstrong and Marlene Dietrich gave concerts. Weeks of variety, opera and ballet were also popular.
With the introduction of Cinemascope in 1953, the ceiling was lowered and the proscenium arch disappeared behind boarding and curtains. The last film was shown on 13th December 1965, then until the 9th January 1966 the opera “Die Fledermaus” was staged and the curtain fell for the last time.
A year later the building was up fo sale and BEWAG supermarkets moved in. The interior was ripped out and a floor built across from the front of the balcony. The ground floor was converted into shops, whilst from 1972 to 1994 the former balcony was used as a small theatre.
On 24th May 1995 the Titania Palast began screening films again. Five new screens had been formed in the upper parts of the auditorium and on the stage area. The entrance is now in the former stage house at the rear of the building (the original entrance is still in retail use, as is the former orchestra level). Current seating in the 5 screens is;1-396, 2-109, 3-210, 4-85, 5-103, making a total capacity of 903.
The Kosmos opened as the Kosmos 1,000, as it had at the time 1,000 seats;very precise, very communist, very German! The architects were Josef Kaiser and Herbert Aust who also designed the Kino International located further along Karl-Marx Allee. Seating is located in orchestra and balcony levels. The main original cinema is basically untouched since opening and was given Listed building status in 1978. It now seats 984 and is equipped with Dolby Digital, SDDS, DTS and is THX certified.
The 9 other screens are built around it at the sides and to the rear.
It opened in 1948 as the KiKi;an abbreviation of Kino im Kindl. This name comes from the orginal use of the building the Kindl Brau-Gaststatte(Kindle Beer Restaurant). The original architect was E.J. Kuhnert who created a cinema that had 315 seats on one floor.
The small entrance on the street facade has a narrow passageway containing a pay-box;this leads to the main cinema entrance set behind the buildings on the main K'damm street. In 1951 the foyer was given a new look with a glass ceiling illuminated from above, and the architect Gerhard Fritsche gave the cinema auditorium his own artistic style with sweeping lines and stepped coves in the ceiling which contain concealed lighting. The seating capacity was increased to 650.
In 1956 the cinema was taken over by Ufa and re-named first Pavillion and later Film-Palast. It is a Listed building and has facilities to screen 16mm, 35mm and 70mm film with a sound system that boasts Dolby SR, DTS and is THX certified.
The original architects of the Delphi-Palais dance hall were Ernst Lessing and Max Breme. There were plans put forward in 1925 to convert it into cinema, but these were never carried out and it continued as a dance hall until it was bombed in the war.
Rebuilt, keeping the facade, it opened as the Delphi-Filmpalast am Zoo in 1949 with a seating capacity of 1,169 in orchestra and balcony levels. It has under-gone a couple of more re-modellings in 1956 (architect;Hornung) and in 1981 by architect Wolfgang G. Hummel. It is equipped to screen movies in 16mm, 35mm and 70mm and has a Dolby SRD sound system installed.
Originally a former restaurant, it first opened as a small arts theatre known as the Kleinkunst-Theater. Cinema use as the Astor Filmtheater was from 1934 when it had a seating capacity of 494, located on orchestra and balcony (which had side slips). The reduced seating capacity came in 1993 with the installation of new seats.
A conversion from a shop, it seated 300 in 1916 and the auditorium ran parallel to Seestrasse.
Rebuilt in 1921 to the designs of Max Bischoff and built by the great cinema builders Czutzka & Co. the auditorium was turned around to run parallel to Mullerstasse (the entrance was on Seestrasse but the address given was Mullerstrasse 156). The cinema was described as having a facade that stood out from the main block of the building, being framed with an expressionistic ornamental design. There were long windows on either side of the main entrance steps that originally had Moorish styled candelabra light fittings at their base. Seating in the auditorium was in orchestra and balcony levels and there were sea-shell type ornaments along the walls to the stage and decorative backlit windows ran along the upper walls. The ceiling had a painted frieze around the edge with a large candelabra hanging in the centre. An orchestra pit was provided, as were full stage facilities. Seating was for 950. This building was almost entirely destroyed by bombing during the war and the wrecked shell of the building was used to hang advertising space until 1953.
In 1953, architect’s Hans Bielenberg and Helmut Ollk were commissioned to re-build the Alhambra as a modern cinema, using what remained of the original outer walls. The new frontage was faced in light yellow tiles and was outlined in neon. Inside the auditorium was given a sleek Art Moderne treatment with plain surfaces and concealed lighting. In 1981 seating was reduced to 500 in order to avoid paying high taxes (access to the balcony was closed off). This Alhambra was closed in 2000 and demolished in 2001.
A new 7 screen multiplex Alhambra was built on the site. The seating capacity is 1,424 and auditoriums have Dolby-Digital SDDS Digital, DTS Digital Dolby.
Ian;
Thanks for that latest news and the link to the photographs. Good to hear that at least the exterior of the building remains intact and it remains in entertainment use.
Listed in the Film Daily Yearbook,1943 as being operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary Julius Gordon. Seating is listed as 926 in the F.D.Y. edition for 1950.
The Paramount Theatre opened on 4th August 1917 screening Mary Pickford in “Less than the Dust”. The architect was James Bennie and there were 885 seats in the orchestra stalls and 626 in the circle.
In 1926 the theatre closed for a complete alteration to the interior by the original architect James Bennie and C.A. Martin. The alterations reduced the seating capaity to 1,394 and it re-opened on 20th May 1927 with Cecil B. De Mille’s “The Volga Boatman starring William Boyd. In 1934 a Wurlitzer organ was installed. It had originally been shipped from the USA in 1927 and installed in the Paramount Theatre, Nelson. NZ in 1928 but was removed from that theatre in July 1928 when it was taken over by another company and re-named the Regent.
The interior was re-designed yet again by architect James Bennie in 1943, but due to war-time restrictions, not all the plans were carried out and this may give the rather plain look that the theatre has today.
Even more drastic alterations were carried out in 1961 when the circle was floored forward to the proscenium to create a 710 cinema, whilst the orchestra level was converted into offices. The facade remains virtually unaltered since its 1927 make-over.
Listed as the Venus Theater in Film Daily Yearbook’s that I have;1930-1950. Seating capacities vary from 500, 564 down to 400. It is not listed in the 1957 edition of F.D.Y.
The Odeon Leicester Square has been charging premium prices for many years now. I believe I paid £12.00 on my last visit, at current exchange rates that’s $23. Movies these days tend to open en-mass in both the West End (ie Leicester Square area) and in the suburbs where the top price is around £7.00 ($13).
It would be great to have the Compton organ at the Odeon Leicester Square playing each performance. Now that would warrant a premium price!
The Loew’s Valencia Theatre was the first of the five ‘Wonder Theatres’ to open;12th January 1929
Joint 2nd and 3rd to open were;
Loew’s Kings Theatre, Brooklyn and Loew’s Paradise, Bronx, both opened;7th September 1929
4th to open was Loew’s Jersey Theatre, Jersey City, NJ, opened;28th September 1929
5th to open was Loew’s 175th Street Theatre, Manhattan, opened;12th February 1930.
Listed in Film Daily Yearbook’s that I have between 1941 and 1950 as the Armour Theatre with a seating capacity of 700 or 650 depending which edition is looked at.
A lovely auditorium photo on the official website of the Film Palast. http://www.filmpalast-berlin.de/
Exterior photo by night (December 2003) View link
An exterior photo, December 2003 View link
This was a replacement cinema building to the previous Ufa Palast am Zoo on the site, which was destroyed by bombs on 24th November 1943.
Built in 1957 as a purpose built twin cinema, the architects were Paul Schwebes, Hans Schoszberger and Gerhard Fritsche. The main auditorium Zoo Palast seated 1,204 and is located above the smaller Atelier am Zoo which seated 550.
Over the years between 1970 and 1980 an additional seven screens were added to the building around the sides and to the rear, retaining the original two auditoriums in their original sizes.
The architects of the original Ufa Gloria Palast were Ernst Lessing and Max Bremer who designed a magnificent Gothic styled cinema that seated 1,200. As stated above, this was sadly destroyed by bombs in 1943
The new Gloria Palast was an entirely different building on the same site, contained within an apartment building that was constructed in 1953. The cinema was upstairs on the first floor and was designed by Siegfred Fehr and Gerhard Jackel. It was a single floor cinema (with no balcony) and seated 954. There was also a small 190 seat cinema in the basement which was called the Gloriette.
Both screens closed on 6th August 1998 and were immediately stripped out. It was converted into a Benetton clothing store, but being a Listed building, many of the original decorative features have been retained.
Listed in various editions of Film Daily Yearbooks;1941-1950 as the Nassau Theatre (the only theatre listed in the town of Roosevelt). Seating capacities vary from 590 to 404.
The original architects of the Union Palast were Nentwich & Simon and it opened with 850 seats. The building went through many alterations over the years, most drastic was in 1979-81 when the cinema was sub-divided into 5 screens and since 1983 further alteration made it into an 8 screen cinema with a seating capacity of 1,204. There was still some original decorative detail remaining in the foyer area prior to closure and demolition.
Opened on 28th January 1928 to the designs of architects Ernst Schoffler, Carlo Schloenbach and Carl Jacobi, it had a seating capacity of 1,920 in orchestra and balcony levels. It had an organ, full stage facilities and a cafe. The sweeping curves of the proscenium arch were said to be the inspiration of the Gaumont Palace Theatre, at Wood Green in north London, UK which was built in 1934.
The Titania Palast was one of the great Berlin cinemas and the stage was put to good use, particulary after the war when it was the only large theatre in the city to remain un-damaged. Artists such as Yehudi Menuhin, Maria Callas, Josephine Baker, Zarah Leander, Maurice Chevalier, Louis Armstrong and Marlene Dietrich gave concerts. Weeks of variety, opera and ballet were also popular.
With the introduction of Cinemascope in 1953, the ceiling was lowered and the proscenium arch disappeared behind boarding and curtains. The last film was shown on 13th December 1965, then until the 9th January 1966 the opera “Die Fledermaus” was staged and the curtain fell for the last time.
A year later the building was up fo sale and BEWAG supermarkets moved in. The interior was ripped out and a floor built across from the front of the balcony. The ground floor was converted into shops, whilst from 1972 to 1994 the former balcony was used as a small theatre.
On 24th May 1995 the Titania Palast began screening films again. Five new screens had been formed in the upper parts of the auditorium and on the stage area. The entrance is now in the former stage house at the rear of the building (the original entrance is still in retail use, as is the former orchestra level). Current seating in the 5 screens is;1-396, 2-109, 3-210, 4-85, 5-103, making a total capacity of 903.
An early postcard photograph here. View link
Recent photographs here View link
The architect of the Royal and City Cinemas was Klause Heese. The architect responsible for converting the foyer into 3 cinemas was Wolf Bertelsman.
Another cinema was added in 1988; the Europa Studio which had 263 seats. The architect of this was Stefan Schroth.
The original 1911 seating capacity was for 210.
The Kosmos opened as the Kosmos 1,000, as it had at the time 1,000 seats;very precise, very communist, very German! The architects were Josef Kaiser and Herbert Aust who also designed the Kino International located further along Karl-Marx Allee. Seating is located in orchestra and balcony levels. The main original cinema is basically untouched since opening and was given Listed building status in 1978. It now seats 984 and is equipped with Dolby Digital, SDDS, DTS and is THX certified.
The 9 other screens are built around it at the sides and to the rear.
It opened in 1948 as the KiKi;an abbreviation of Kino im Kindl. This name comes from the orginal use of the building the Kindl Brau-Gaststatte(Kindle Beer Restaurant). The original architect was E.J. Kuhnert who created a cinema that had 315 seats on one floor.
The small entrance on the street facade has a narrow passageway containing a pay-box;this leads to the main cinema entrance set behind the buildings on the main K'damm street. In 1951 the foyer was given a new look with a glass ceiling illuminated from above, and the architect Gerhard Fritsche gave the cinema auditorium his own artistic style with sweeping lines and stepped coves in the ceiling which contain concealed lighting. The seating capacity was increased to 650.
In 1956 the cinema was taken over by Ufa and re-named first Pavillion and later Film-Palast. It is a Listed building and has facilities to screen 16mm, 35mm and 70mm film with a sound system that boasts Dolby SR, DTS and is THX certified.
The original architects of the Delphi-Palais dance hall were Ernst Lessing and Max Breme. There were plans put forward in 1925 to convert it into cinema, but these were never carried out and it continued as a dance hall until it was bombed in the war.
Rebuilt, keeping the facade, it opened as the Delphi-Filmpalast am Zoo in 1949 with a seating capacity of 1,169 in orchestra and balcony levels. It has under-gone a couple of more re-modellings in 1956 (architect;Hornung) and in 1981 by architect Wolfgang G. Hummel. It is equipped to screen movies in 16mm, 35mm and 70mm and has a Dolby SRD sound system installed.
Originally a former restaurant, it first opened as a small arts theatre known as the Kleinkunst-Theater. Cinema use as the Astor Filmtheater was from 1934 when it had a seating capacity of 494, located on orchestra and balcony (which had side slips). The reduced seating capacity came in 1993 with the installation of new seats.
The 4 Alhambra Cinemas at this location were:–
A conversion from a shop, it seated 300 in 1916 and the auditorium ran parallel to Seestrasse.
Rebuilt in 1921 to the designs of Max Bischoff and built by the great cinema builders Czutzka & Co. the auditorium was turned around to run parallel to Mullerstasse (the entrance was on Seestrasse but the address given was Mullerstrasse 156). The cinema was described as having a facade that stood out from the main block of the building, being framed with an expressionistic ornamental design. There were long windows on either side of the main entrance steps that originally had Moorish styled candelabra light fittings at their base. Seating in the auditorium was in orchestra and balcony levels and there were sea-shell type ornaments along the walls to the stage and decorative backlit windows ran along the upper walls. The ceiling had a painted frieze around the edge with a large candelabra hanging in the centre. An orchestra pit was provided, as were full stage facilities. Seating was for 950. This building was almost entirely destroyed by bombing during the war and the wrecked shell of the building was used to hang advertising space until 1953.
In 1953, architect’s Hans Bielenberg and Helmut Ollk were commissioned to re-build the Alhambra as a modern cinema, using what remained of the original outer walls. The new frontage was faced in light yellow tiles and was outlined in neon. Inside the auditorium was given a sleek Art Moderne treatment with plain surfaces and concealed lighting. In 1981 seating was reduced to 500 in order to avoid paying high taxes (access to the balcony was closed off). This Alhambra was closed in 2000 and demolished in 2001.
A new 7 screen multiplex Alhambra was built on the site. The seating capacity is 1,424 and auditoriums have Dolby-Digital SDDS Digital, DTS Digital Dolby.
Ian;
Thanks for that latest news and the link to the photographs. Good to hear that at least the exterior of the building remains intact and it remains in entertainment use.
Listed in the Film Daily Yearbook,1943 as being operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary Julius Gordon. Seating is listed as 926 in the F.D.Y. edition for 1950.
The Paramount Theatre opened on 4th August 1917 screening Mary Pickford in “Less than the Dust”. The architect was James Bennie and there were 885 seats in the orchestra stalls and 626 in the circle.
In 1926 the theatre closed for a complete alteration to the interior by the original architect James Bennie and C.A. Martin. The alterations reduced the seating capaity to 1,394 and it re-opened on 20th May 1927 with Cecil B. De Mille’s “The Volga Boatman starring William Boyd. In 1934 a Wurlitzer organ was installed. It had originally been shipped from the USA in 1927 and installed in the Paramount Theatre, Nelson. NZ in 1928 but was removed from that theatre in July 1928 when it was taken over by another company and re-named the Regent.
The interior was re-designed yet again by architect James Bennie in 1943, but due to war-time restrictions, not all the plans were carried out and this may give the rather plain look that the theatre has today.
Even more drastic alterations were carried out in 1961 when the circle was floored forward to the proscenium to create a 710 cinema, whilst the orchestra level was converted into offices. The facade remains virtually unaltered since its 1927 make-over.
Listed in the Film Daily Yearbook,1943 as being operated by Fox Midwest Amusement Corp.
Listed as the Venus Theater in Film Daily Yearbook’s that I have;1930-1950. Seating capacities vary from 500, 564 down to 400. It is not listed in the 1957 edition of F.D.Y.