Odeon South Norwood
18-22 Station Road,
London,
SE25 5AJ
18-22 Station Road,
London,
SE25 5AJ
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Odeon Theatres Ltd., Rank Organisation
Architects: Andrew Mather
Styles: Art Deco
Nearby Theaters
Located in the southeast London district of South Norwood. Built for the Oscar Deutsch chain of Odeon Theatres Ltd. The Odeon South Norwood opened on 26th July 1937 with Hazel Ascot in "Talking Feet", with Hazel Ascot appearing ‘in person’.
The exterior had a cream tile cladding, with several horizontal bands of jade green Vitrolite tiles. There was a central window above the entrance, which had decorative grillework. Inside the auditorium, seating was provided for 1,020 in the stalls and 552 in the circle. Lighting was provided by means of concealed lighting troughs.
The Odeon was closed by the Rank Organisation on 20th February 1971 with Sydney Poitier in "They Call Me Mister Tibbs" and Rock Hudson in "Hornet’s Nest". It was purchased by a redevelopment company and was demolished. A Safeway supermarket was built on the site, by 2006 operating as a Somerfield Supermarket and by 2017 it was an Aldi supermarket.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 3 comments)
The Odeon photographed in October 1949, playing the Odeon release:
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The auditorium of the Odeon, South Norwood, photographed in the late-1960’s:
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Sth Norwood Odeon was situated in a dead end road, the bottom being occupied by Sth Norwood Station so at rush hour could be very busy with pedestrians coming and going. I managed the Odeon in 1989 when on a very windy day a very large corner piece of the Vitra Glass external fascia panel cladding fell at about 5.00pm, it was both a very solid and large approx 2ft x 18ins, very lucky not to land on passing pedestrians. It didn’t break so I think must have slide down the wall before bouncing off the canopy before landing on the pavement. It had been stuck to the wall with 2 large dollops of some sort of putty like glue on the back. Having rested in my office for a couple of months it was eventually re-fixed after the whole frontage had been checked for further loose panels. An interesting side activity being at the Odeon was periodically invited by the Police Station opposite to take part in identity parades (naturally when they needed good looking young men!)
I moved on from Sth Norwood Odeon in 1970 joining Rank Leisure Services Training Dept then based in the offices over the Croydon Top Rank Suite. The chap who took over from me, was son of someone at Head Office and had an Aston Martin!