Odeon Luxe London Leicester Square

FanaticalAboutOdeon on October 28, 2018 at 5:51 am

“Lawrence of Arabia” was the first public run of a 70mm. film at the Odeon. “West Side Story” was the first film shown here in the format at the 1962 Royal Film Performance before immediately transferring to the Astoria, Charing Cross Road for its run, thus making way for “Lawrence” at OLS.

70mm. came late to OLS (“South Pacific” in 70mm. Todd-AO was already into its fourth year at the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road) as the cinema was better known for showcasing films due to go out on Rank’s regular weekly release pattern.

Rank had no shortage of West End “Roadshow” venues to accommodate the longer runs of selected “special” films, in both 35mm. and 70mm., the Dominion, Astoria, Metropole and the then new Odeon Haymarket were all geared for such seasons. Within a few years, the new Odeons at Marble Arch and St. Martin’s Lane would be added to the list enabling Rank to fully exploit what was then the West End’s exclusivity in the exhibition of potentially extremely successful films. More important London suburban cinemas and a handful of provincial city centre roadshow cinemas would usually be next in the pecking order before, eventually, “local” cinemas would finally show such films – months and sometimes years after their West End opening.

The centrepiece of this photo', or a near-identical one, forms the cover illustration of Allen Eyle’s excellent and definitive book, “Odeon Cinemas 2: From J. Arthur Rank to the Multiplex”.