Odeon Luxe Putney

Located in the southwest London district of Putney. Opened by Associated British Cinemas(ABC) chain as the ABC, this three screen cinema was a replacement for the Odeon (former Palace/Gaumont) and the adjacent ABC (former Regal Cinema) which were both closed in 1971 and demolished in 1972. (Both have their own pages on Cinema Treasures).

The ABC opened on 14th September 1975 with 943 seats. The opening films were: Paul Newman in “The Drowning Pool” in the 484 seat capacity screen 1, Charlton Heston in “Earthquake” in the 312 seat capacity screen 2 and Sylvia Kristel in “Emmanuelle” in the 147 seat capacity screen 3.

It was re-named Cannon from 1986, MGM from 1990, By 1993 back to Cannon, then ABC (again) and most recently Odeon. It was closed for refurbishment in October 2017 for refurbishment and re-opened as the Odeon Luxe Putney on 14th December 2017. The total seating capacity has been reduced to 333.

Recent comments (view all 10 comments)

Ken Roe on September 3, 2006 at 12:02 pm

A 2005 photograph of the Odeon Putney:
http://www.moviebunker.com/odeon_putney.htm

Ian on July 22, 2008 at 3:22 am

An auditorium shot here, dating from late 1980’s:–

View link

jazzlers on September 5, 2013 at 4:51 am

TRIVIA: DR hurst (john woodvine) buys a newspaper in AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON outside this fleapit.

Matt48 on August 16, 2014 at 12:16 am

I remember queuing up on Putney Bridge to see Jaws.

gobeyallen on January 15, 2015 at 11:15 am

Glad to see she’s still going strong, and business is good.
From former manager John Allen.

BobbyB on March 23, 2015 at 3:43 am

I started my career in the film industry at the original Odeon Putney in 1967 as a trainee projectionist. It had a wonderful atmosphere, and all the staff were more like friends than work colleagues. It was heartbreaking when it closed and we had to strip out all the fittings ready for demolition.

PhilipWW on November 17, 2017 at 6:11 am

Odeon web-site confirms that it will be re-opened as an Odeon Luxe in Decemeber 2017.

John Griffiths on May 10, 2018 at 11:00 am

A little known fact is that this new ABC built in 1975, designed by architect Alan Morgan, was originally to be a twin. However, last minute changes to the plans, splitting one of the auditoria, meant that it opened as a triple. This is why Screen 1 was a shoe box shape and the small Screen 3 was an awkward shape with a lot of void wasted space in front of the projection box and behind the screen.

rivest266 on August 3, 2021 at 11:01 am

September 12th, 1975, grand opening ad posted.

50sSNIPES on September 15, 2022 at 6:24 am

I believe that this theater went back to Cannon in 1992-ish. Advertisements from 1993 says that the Putney was operated by Cannon.