Odeon Camden Town

In the early 60’s the Odeon Camden Town also housed the Rank Organisation projectionist training school. If I remember rightly the course lasted 3 weeks before an examination and programme run (no public) before being returned to your own cinema. The students were housed in a B&B in Chalk Farm and travelled daily.

Cinefan, Yes, the rebranding first appeared when the Odeon, Camden Town reopened on 11th July 1997. The new signage, blue and silver livery, reappearance of neon outlining and mission statement: “FANATICAL ABOUT FILM”, created by design consultancy Wolff Olins, were all applied here and it gave the then owners, the Rank Group, the chance to inspect the treatment away from the glare of the West End. There were niggles about the vertical name sign where the two dimensional characters only read correctly when approached from one direction (later solved by being replaced with double-sided letter-bearing signs internally lit) but, on the whole, the designs were considered successful and, over the next few years, were applied – with variations – to every Odeon cinema except York. Ignorance and intransigence on the part of the City of York Council’s Planning Committee meant that, despite two modified submissions to “meet the Council half way”, the Company were not allowed to re-brand that cinema in anything like the new circuit scheme with the result that York Odeon was neither re-branded nor refurbished and closed in 2006. Three years later it reopened as a Reel cinema with standards of comfort and presentation inferior to that of the Odeon chain. The Planning Committee were adamant that the 1937 name sign was part of the building and therefore had to remain. The neon had ceased to work safely many years ago so the ODEON sign remains, rusting and broken – not to mention somewhat potentially confusing.

But isn’t one screen in a former projectionist’s training auditorium? Perhaps the circle was split into 3, plus the 2 others? I ask only because the few times I’ve been in there, the auditorium I was in looked – at least from side to side – like an original full circle, rather than a split.

Anybody know how the building is split into different auditoria here? Specifically, if the circle is still one whole auditorium or if it has been split?

Just need a bit of clarification.

Was this the first cinema, when owned by ODEON, to get the new Fanatical About Film brand, or is that another cinema?

newly refurbished frontage sept 2008
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2853854690/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2853850326/

photos taken nov 2007

grotty exterior with only part of the signage working
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2087447744/
front doors
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2086657247/
lobby – note fab deco ceiling
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2086660487/
stairs to upper lobby
http://www.flickr.com/photos/woody1969/2087443948/

A closer view of the Odeon Camden Town:
http://www.moviebunker.com/odeon_camden_town.htm

Two mid-1960’s era photographs of the former stalls area of the Gaumont, Camden Town in use as a Bingo Hall.

Entrance to Top Rank Bingo Club which originally was a side emergency exit from the stalls foyer. This is still in use today as the Mecca Bingo Club entrance
View link

An interior view of the former stalls area. Note the original decorative treatment of the Gaumont Cinema has been removed and columns support the extended circle area above, which is still in use today as the Odeon Cinema. The orginal rear stalls cinema seating is still in place.
View link

the lobby still retains much of its streamlined art deco plasterwork but the screens are all nice but dull multiplex style auditoriums with fabric wall covering
at the rear of the building up on the back wall there is an advertising panel that still has the old (and peeling) Gaumont name on view