Essoldo Tottenham

290-294 West Green Road,
London, N15 3QR

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Essoldo Circuit (Contol) Ltd.

Architects: E.A. Thorne

Functions: Banquet Hall

Styles: Neo-Classical

Previous Names: Imperial Electric Theatre, Imperial Cinema

Nearby Theaters

Essoldo Tottenham

The Imperial Electric Theatre opened on 6th November 1913 with Tom Mix in “The Only Chance”. The architect was E.A. Thorne and he designed an attractive façade which had decorative features of bunches of grapes in the stonework. There was a tiny foyer and the auditorium had seating on one level with decoration which could be described as minimal.

The Imperial Electric Theatre closed soon after the beginning of World War I but re-opened after the war ended and was known as the Imperial Cinema, operated by the Lion Cinematograph Company Ltd. By 1931 it was operated by H. & G. Sado and it had been fitted out with a Western Electric(WE) Sound system.

On 24th August 1945 it was taken over by the Newcastle-upon-Tyne based Essoldo Circuit cinemas and was re-named Essoldo Cinema. It was fitted with a CinemaScope screen in 1954 but the writing was on the wall for small neighbourhood cinemas and it closed on 31st May 1958 with Tyrone Power in “Witness For the Prosecution” and Phillip Friend in “The Betrayal”.

The building had its seating removed and became a carpet store selling ‘surplus end of rolls’. After over 40 years, the carpet store moved out around 2000 and the building sat empty until early-2004 when it was taken over for use as church. The façade has been re-painted and it again has the name ‘Imperial’ attached to it.

By December 2017 the church had moved out of the building and it was converted into a banquet hall name the Imperial Venue.

Contributed by KenRoe

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

Ken Roe
Ken Roe on March 14, 2006 at 1:19 pm

I photographed the exterior and interior in September 2004, now a church it has reverted back to its original name.
Exterior:
http://flickr.com/photos/53257210@N00/112629041/
Close up of exterior decorative detail:
http://flickr.com/photos/53257210@N00/112629438/
Auditorium:
http://flickr.com/photos/53257210@N00/112629714/
Auditorium photo #2:
http://flickr.com/photos/53257210@N00/112629946/

a73uk
a73uk on July 29, 2009 at 12:58 pm

What about “The Royal” (where the Ritzy club was) & “The Palace” (where the bingo hall now is).

Ken Roe
Ken Roe on July 29, 2009 at 1:40 pm

a73uk; The Palace Theatre has its own page here:
/theaters/15231/
The Royal/Ritzy is listed as the Canadian Rink Cinema here:
/theaters/15241/

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