Royal Cinemas

After Covid..it seems the Company was hiding something about this cinema,and as usual corporate rubbish was spouted..ie need 9 mths to refurbish before opening. Well many cinemas can be sorted and still be open if done screen by screen.. or at least maybe 1 mth per screen max…by keeping closed patrons found other open cinemas..and for them to sell their car park..no way could the cinema continue. It’s such an iconic building..but any potential operators will be scupperd by the future building of flats..and really I believe sadly the whole place will be demolished for more flats !! Such a waste !

Opening article:

Odeon Sutton Coldfield opening 20 Apr 1936, Mon Birmingham Gazette (Birmingham, West Midlands, England) Newspapers.com

Firstly. John Cecil Clavering designed the whole thing. he with Roland Satchwell created Odeon look.. There is no evidence that Weedon designed a whole cinema.. Prior to the Odeon work he was assistant architect at the Harold Seymour Scott practice. Cleaving transferred from the Satchwell & Roberts co., (they were a larger Practice) to become Head architect . 16 cinemas Later Bullivant took his place. Weedon did prepare the budgets for the eighth cinema onwards in the Odeon Chain.

Secondly.. Ambak is correct.. It was designed in a morning. The Rank engineer Mr Poole and Morgonites technical Rep Les Castree along with a Bell and Howell 631 16mm Projector a step ladder. tape measure and chalk Les Castree did rough drawings, which Ranks Architects converted to proper drawings. The big mistake Rank did was not getting Modernisation Ltd., to do the job. So you could here 3 films at once It was a Moore Bird Job.. Noted for sound breakthrough..

Some great photos from April 1936 of this cinema inside and out at the National Archives here:

http://bit.ly/zrPS71

A Summer 1971 view of the Odeon Sutton Coldfield:
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An October 2001 colour photograph:
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