Classic Littlehampton
53 High Street,
Littlehampton,
BN17 5EJ
53 High Street,
Littlehampton,
BN17 5EJ
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Odeon Theatres Ltd., Rank Organisation
Architects: Andrew Mather
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Odeon
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The Odeon was built and operated by Oscar Deutsch as one of the cinemas in the original Odeon Theatres Ltd. chain. It opened on 23rd May 1936 with Jack Hulbert in "Jack Of All Trades". The narrow entrance was clad in stone, and was flanked by a parade of shops. Above the entrance was a concave recess, which was topped by a stone urn on each side, giving a rather old fashioned look to the building. Immediately above the entrance was a small sculptured panel depicting a naked male figure with a lyre. Inside the auditorium seating was provided for 438 in the stalls and 532 in the circle. An unusual feature was the circle seating area contained more seats than the stalls, and it was only overhanging the rear stalls by a couple of rows.
The Odeon was one of a batch of cinemas sold by the Rank Organisation to the Classic Cinemas chain, and it was re-named Classic from 10th December 1967.
Part time bingo was soon introduced, and the final film shown was "The Belstone Fox" on 1st June 1974. It became an independent bingo club, known as the Regal Bingo Club. This had closed by 1984, when the building was demolished, and shops were built on the site. In 2024, the central shop unit, where the entrance to the cinema was located, is occupied by a discount store named The Works.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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Recent comments (view all 1 comments)
About halfway down on this webpage, there is a picture of this theatre as the Odeon at its opening followed by a picture of the site as it is today (there is an apparently mislabeled picture of another Odeon theatre above the correct one): View link.