Tussaud's Cinema
34 Marylebone Road,
London,
NW1 5LR
34 Marylebone Road,
London,
NW1 5LR
1 person
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Associated British Cinemas Ltd.
Architects: Frederick Edward Jones
Styles: Neo-Classical
Nearby Theaters
Built on the site of the 300 seat, Madame Tussaud’s Cinema which was opened in 1909 and was destroyed by fire in 1925 (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures). The Tussaud’s Cinema opened on 26th April 1928 with Maria Corda in “Helen of Troy”. It was adjacent to the new Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum which also contained a restaurant and dance hall. The cinema entrance was to the immediate West of the building almost adjacent to Baker Street railway/tube station.
Seating was provided in stalls and circle levels and the cinema was equipped with a Wurlitzer model F theatre organ. John Maxwell, of Associated British Cinemas(ABC) became chairman of the Madame Tussaud company in February 1929 and the cinema was booked by ABC (but not operated by them).
It was destroyed by German bombs during the Blitz in on the night of 9th/10th September 1940. The Wurlitzer organ was damage but recued from the building and later repaired and installed in the Palace Ballroom, Blackpool. The main waxworks part of the building was not so badly damaged. In March 1958 the London Planetarium was opened on the cinema site, becoming the SkyDome Auditorium from 2006 and the Madame Tussauds Cinema from 2010 (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures)
Contributed by
Christopher Walczak
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
There was a Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum on the Atlantic City boardwalk in the seventies. I did’t know there was more than one.
On p. 23 of the May, 2007 of the newsletter of the Hollywood Heritage organization (available at: View link) is a copy of a 1934 program for the Tussaud’s Cinema, and a small picture of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (later known as the Queen Mum) inspecting the ruins of the Tussaud Cinema can be found here: http://100years.upi.com/photogallery.html
The Madame Tussaud’s Waxworks building and the (then recently closed) London Planetarium that I photographed in October 2004:
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/1414021374/
Details and photographs of the console of the Wurlitzer organ which was installed in the Tussaud’s Cinema:
http://www.ukwurlitzer.co.cc/1716.html
Here is a drawing of how the Tussaud’s building looked before the bombs destroyed the theater portion of the building: View link
The dome is now a 4D cinema that shows a short 10 minute Marvel Hereos 4D film. The image is projected onto a screen located on the dome wall and additional images are projected around the dome. The film is projected using 2 digital projectors.