Odeon Nottingham
9 Angel Row,
Nottingham,
NG1 6HN
9 Angel Row,
Nottingham,
NG1 6HN
4 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: County Cinemas Ltd., Odeon Theatres Ltd., Rank Organisation
Architects: Samuel Beverley, Alfred John Thraves, Francis Thomas Verity
Firms: Harry W. Weedon Partnership, Verity and Beverley
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Ritz Cinema, Odeon 1 & 2, Odeon Film Centre
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Mar 2, 2010 — Happy 45th, "The Sound Of Music"
Built for and originally operated by the County Cinemas chain, this opened as the Ritz Cinema. Local architect Albert J. Thraves was also brought in by the main architects Verity & Beverley.
The main façade on busy Angel Row was narrow and gave no indication to the size of the vast auditorium that lay behind it. The Ritz Cinema was fully equipped with a large stage, a Conacher 4Manual/22Rank theatre organ which was designed by organist Reginald Foort (who opened the instrument) and a large café/restaurant. The opening film on 4th December 1933 was “The Private Lives of Henry VIII” starring Charles Laughton.
Odeon Theatres Ltd. gained a controlling interest in County Cinemas from 1935 and took full control in 1939, but the Ritz Cinema retained its name until 1944 when it was re-named Odeon.
The Conacher organ was last used during the run of the Todd A.O. production of “South Pacific” and was removed from the theatre in 1964 and split up. The stage was used less often in later years, but did get a short term re-use in the early-1960’s when pop groups such as The Beatles played in concerts to packed houses in the theatre.
The final film screened in the original single screen auditorium was Sean Connery in “Goldfinger” on November 15, 1974 and on November 16, 1974 the final stage show featured The Searchers, Dionne Warwick & The Zombies". The original auditorium was destroyed when the Odeon became the first cinema in the United Kingdom to be split into a twin screen operation. The architectural firm Harry W. Weedon Partnership were responsible for the conversion, with Trevor Stone & Mavis Stone the interior design consultants. It re-opened on 12th July 1965 with two modern curtain walled auditoriums. The upper Odeon 1 in the former circle had 924 seats and was designed as a showcase for roadshow presentations and opened with Julie Andrews in “The Sound of Music”. The Odeon 2 screen in the former orchestra stalls level had 1,450 seats and played regular releases, opening with Julie Andrews in “Mary Poppins”.
Odeon 2 was further sub-divided in 1976 when it was made into 3 screens seating 500, 130 and 110. A new screen, Odeon 5 was fitted into a former basement reception room and had 101 seats. In 1988 another room in the basement was made into Odeon 6 which seated 90 persons.
The Odeon 1-6 closed on 26th January 2001 and stood unused until September 2012, when demolition commenced. A hotel, apartments, shops and a car park are planned for the site. In 2022 a Taco Bell occupies the site which housed the former entrance to the Odeon.
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Recent comments (view all 23 comments)
After reading the overview and seeing photo’s of screen 1 & 2 it seems strange that “1” was for Roadshows yet the screen in “2” seems to be bigger “image wise”. The same can be said of the old Odeon at Bradford.I saw a photo of the opening films for Nottingham Odeon and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was on in screen “2”, it was shot in Ultra Panavision 70mm.
Very sad to see that this has been demolished. I remember being on a behind-the-scenes tour just prior to it opening as a twin screen cinema. I was in my early teens at the time and used to see 2-3 films a week in Nottingham throughout my teens. I’ll always remember the Odeon as being shiny and new. I still remember the projection “suite” with a rotating micro-switch drum to control curtains, lights etc.
Nice cinema sad this was 2001.
Link to some pictures.
http://www.urbexforums.com/showthread.php/11524-Nottingham-Odeon-2001
Exactly 50 years ago this fortnight to its original broadcast on ITV television, here’s the link to a mini-video from the archive of the East and West Midlands' universities' media project regarding the then new automatic control system
http://www.macearchive.org/Archive/Title/atv-today-05071965-nottingham-cinema/MediaEntry/10882.html
The link in goodshow’s post no longer works; however the video can be viewed at:
http://www.macearchive.org/films/atv-today-05071965-nottingham-cinema
Grand opening ad posed.
July 12th, 1965 grand reopening:
This claimed to be the first automated Cinema per:
The Odeon closed for twinning from Tuesday November 17th 1964. The last film presentation was Goldfinger which completed a six week run on Sunday Nov. 15th. On Monday Nov. 16th was a final stage show featuring The Searchers, Dionne Warwick and The Zombies. Less than two weeks earlier, on Thursday November 5th The Beatles had performed to sell out audiences. Rank announced in its advertising that the new twin cinema would open in the spring of 1965, but this target was missed. The reference to automation in the article above refers only to Odeon 2, with its Cinemeccanica projectors. The Phillips DP70s which were retained in Odeon 1 from the old theatre were not able to be automated.
Odeon 2 closed from April 13th 1969 for the installation of a new “Cinerama” screen. Similar screens were being installed in other Rank cinemas around this time, including the Astoria Charing Cross Road, the Odeon Merrion Centre, Leeds, the Odeon Market place, Leicester and of course were installed in the upstairs screens during the rebuilding of the Gaumonts Sheffield and Bournemouth. Odeon 2 Nottingham re-opened in June 1969 with a road show run of Ice Station Zebra in 70mm Cinerama.