Plaza Cinema
211 Camden High Street,
London,
NW1
211 Camden High Street,
London,
NW1
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Electric Theatres(1908) Ltd., Odeon Theatres Ltd., Rank Organisation
Architects: Cecil Aubrey Masey
Functions: Retail
Styles: Tudor Revival
Previous Names: Electric Theatre, Theatre DeLuxe, Britannia Picture Palace
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Located in the northwest London inner city district of Camden Town. The building was originally a bakery and was converted into the Electric Theatre in 1909. By 1914 it had been re-named the Theatre DeLuxe and was re-named Britannia Picture Palace in 1919 and was operated by Electric Theatres(1908) Ltd.
It was improved by architect Cecil Masey who gave the foyer and some other places within the building a mock Tudor look. It re-opened as the Plaza Cinema on 12th September 1937. Seating in the auditorium was on one floor.
It was taken over in 1938 by the Town Theatres chain who in turn were taken over by Odeon Theatres Ltd. from 26th January 1942. Passed onto the Rank Organisation they leased it out to Panton Films in 1969 and it went from normal releases to art house films.
The final operators were Artificial Eye from 9th June 1977 and they improved the building with larger more spacious seating for 340 persons. It became known as the Camden Plaza and continued for many years as one of London’s most popular art house cinemas. Rent increases from the landord forced closure which came on 29th September 1994 with a re-run of the classic horror/drama “Peeping Tom” starring Carl Boehm.
The facade of the building was re-built and it was converted into a retail store in the former foyer, the auditorium remained unused. The only sign of this being a former cinema from the street is the terrazo mozaic floor in the entrance with the word ‘Plaza’. In recent years the auditorium has been gutted and is now an indoor market.
Contributed by
KenRoe
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
A photograph of the rebuilt facade of the Plaza Cinema and some more history here:
http://www.tnunn.f2s.com/plaza.htm
More photo’s of the Plaza can be found
here for an exterior shot in around 1988
View link
and here for an interior shot in
View link
The retail store that was based in the former foyer of the building was closed in summer 2006. The foyer and auditorium are now in use as Camden Indoor Market. Unfortunately, all plasterwork has been removed from the auditorium, leaving bare walls and the metal roof trusses exposed inside the roof. The terrazo mozaic floor at the entrance with the word ‘Plaza’ has also been removed or cemented over.
A 1993 photograph, beneath the canopy showing the terrazo floor at the entrance with the ‘Plaza’ name:
http://flickr.com/photos/gerryjo/57257226/
the mosaic floor shortly before it was removed
http://flickr.com/photos/woody1969/121533600/
Great photos of the exterior and interior. It brings back memories of my only visit there when I saw ‘The Phantom of Liberty’ (plus a short foreign cartoon, the title of which I can’t remember – can anyone help?) in July 1981. The interior shot shows the auditorium as I remember it, a single shallow seating block and a large square-ish screen.