Odeon Luxe London Leicester Square

I would expect someone with a nom de plume such as yours, Fanatical to say what you do in support of the original Odeons.

I am the first person to agree that in days of yore, all the circuit houses as well as many independents were , with a few exceptions, fascinating pieces of architecture in their own right.

From the opulence of the Granadas and Gaumont Palaces (the finest of which, Manchester, being designed and built for Granada, of course) to the more elaborate of Glen’s houses for ABC and the rather more functional but comfortable Odeons, they were all a pleasure to visit.

The latter,when compared with today’s austere, bland and characterless venues, were indeed highly elaborate and I am cautiously optimistic that the last largely unspoilt example, namely the Odeon Leicester Square, will receive the sensitive treatment it deserves when its refurbishment does eventually come to fruition.

Cjbx11, Agree with your every word. I’ve been familiar with several original Odeons since the early ‘fifties and personally found them superior internally to some of the more ornate Glen ABC auditoriums – most of which I liked but always felt they were in second place. The whole thing is subjective and there’s no right or wrong in our personal impressions. I came to Granadas relatively late and found Kingston, Bedford and Harrow very impressive while Tooting felt decidedly overdone. The more ornate the interior schemes, the more difficult to maintain they were and the sooner they appeared dusty and dowdy. Odeon’s sweeping, streamlined moderne interiors with, usually, wide rectangular prosceniums, spectacular curtains and much concealed lighting were my ideal cinemas and the house style was never better exemplified, in my opinion, than at Leicester Square, Scarborough and York.

Watched ‘The Optimists’ (1973) last night with Peter sellers. There is a fantastic section where they walk through London and you see a great shot of the Odeon Leicester Square as well as glimpses of the Rialto and Odeon Marble Arch.

Granadier…. As a point of interest each Granada was a separate project.. Both ABC and Rank had money in Granada. Now Those Granada’s that had ABC money was Ross-RCA Equipped. Rank money was GB Kalee Equipped. It also has to be remembered that the Bernstein’s had a management arrangement with J. Arthur Rank whilst Rank had money invested in Granada. (A name dropping moment) I met Sidney Bernstein when I was much younger when I worked with ABC as an Assistant Manager. Granada’s head office was diagonal to ABC’s in Golden Square. ABC had some of their offices in their building.. We have to give thanks that we once had so many individually magnificent Theatres – Cinemas whatever their ownership.. Unlike the bland boring bog standard modern ones we have today. Run by people that do not seem to have the same passion as our generation did.

Good that the integrity of the Odeon is going to be preserved (hopefully).

As for the purpose built Odeons, this was the best constructed as the remainder were, in the main, jerry -built, plain and unexciting affairs.

We on the Granada circuit quite rightly regarded our buildings as far superior and we rated ABC’s as second best to Odeon’s mediocre third rate status. ABC could also (after us) rightly boast better company – management/staff relations and conditions than Odeon .

CF100, I know exactly what you mean – my own breath will be metaphorically held until I’m able to see the results of what, given the budget parameters, is clearly going to be very fundamental work. Unless a new screen frame is positioned level with the proscenium arch and the curtains and historical safety curtain dispensed with and unused respectively, there is little scope for a larger image and not just because of the “top corner”/low rear stalls ceiling restrictions. The image size at present is a large one and comfortably commensurate with the dimensions of the auditorium, to my mind. I watched “Nicholas and Alexandra” from the back row of the circle and the, admittedly blown up to 70mm, image looked great. The Odeon is a very large cinema but not a cathedralic Gaumont State, Green’s Playhouse Glasgow, Odeon Blackpool or New Victoria Bradford or London, all of which shrank the image considerably from distant seats. The current OLS arrangement of having two screens, facilitated by its stage and flying space, has made it something of the ultimate showcase when silver for 3D and white for 2D has precluded any risk of compromise when both industry and public see a film for the first time. If this dual screen arrangement is perpetrated, the proscenium arch is safe and AMC’s reported wish to retain the organ would be another “safeguard”. The stage itself is obviously the perfect platform when actors, directors, producers etc. are presented to the audience prior to premieres and special events. George Coles' Empire Leicester Square had to make do with a specially placed platform for such presentations as the cinema had no stage and this was always a bit “clunky” when celebrities could only walk away into the audience. The Odeon’s huge balcony would, in any case, preclude such a less satisfactory arrangement if the screen frame were to be proud of the arch whereas the Empire Cinema’s stadium configuration allowed the inevitability. My speculations are just that and many of us will be anticipating just what is to come until the work is completed.
Given the advances in the use of ultra-bright LED luminaires in stage, TV and architectural lighting since the Odeon’s most recent transformation in 1998, I’m personally keenly waiting to see how that technology may impact on the scheme.

The “hair’s breadth” shoehorning of two auditoria into the erstwhile Empire cinema hasn’t worked for me and I’ve left the complex with a headache and a stiff neck for the last time!

A cinema operating friend attended the opening of a multiplex near Sheffield earlier this week and was amazed to find he needed to “hold down” his reclining seat to be able to watch the film and avoid staring at the ceiling. Good cinema designers, a dying breed? Feeding required capacities, dimensions, sound systems, air conditioning etc. into a computer model is clearly no substitute for a dedicated designer and his/her team. The computer has a brain but no heart.

Great news, hopefully!

From the Variety article: ““It’s impossible to think anyone would object to what we have planned for Odeon Leicester Square,” Aron said, adding that the upgrades would improve the site while retaining its character.”

Hmm, “impossible to think anyone would object”—maybe I’m being paranoid, but that sounds slightly omninous!

The Empire conversion and VUE West End refurb came in at around the £5m mark, so £10-15m sounds very extensive.

The large IMAX screen was only possible in the Empire by a hair’s (or roof truss'!) breadth.

I imagine there is some scope for increasing the screen size within the existing proscenium provided the rear stalls are removed—possibly in part for the additional toilets mentioned in the Variety article?!

FantaticalAboutOdeon—Re. reclining seats at the Empire—the same type of seats are installed in the “IMPACT” screen and they do recline. I don’t think there’s enough space in the IMAX screen because it’s using the original 1928 circle steppings.

As for the “iSense” brand—the OLS already is “iSense”… if you sit towards the front!

when is the work likely to start?

Ambak, The medication’s gone in the bin! Really good to have the accurate details now. Ten weeks in 70mm. in Victoria was indeed modest, even after twenty in the West End/Marble Arch – especially as “South Pacific” in Todd-AO was still packing out the huge Dominion (even without the Upper Circle) after over a year by the time “Oklahoma!” was seen in 70mm.

I do recall that, even as late as the early ‘seventies, Rank regarded OLS more as a showcase for their weekly release films (naturally most ran for more than a week but programmes changed pretty regularly) than a roadshow house. As detailed above, charity openings,special events and premieres always punctuated the Odeon’s calendar but continuous performances outnumbered roadshows – I saw “Diamonds are Forever” there twice one Sunday in the mid 'seventies during its typically continuous policy. Even after the success of “Lawrence”, John Davis, our chairman, had never liked committing OLS to a “special season”, preferring these to occupy other Rank West End venues. When continuous performances finally ceased virtually everywhere, the OLS’s policy was normally to have Harlands of Hull’s “theatre style” advance booking tickets for specific seats at every performance but these were costly for such a high capacity and were soon restricted to evenings and weekends with Automatickets and unreserved seating for earlier performances.

Sorry, Fanatical, you may need even more medication. When Oklahoma! was shown at the Odeon Leicester Square in the 35mm CinemaScope version, it was the European premiere on September 6th 1956 and the run was not a roadshow, it was continuous with four shows a day. After eight weeks (a long run at the time) it transferred to the Odeon Marble Arch for a further twelve weeks. The Todd-AO 30 fps version of Oklahoma! opened at the newly DP70 equipped Metropole on December 26th 1959, the first appearance in the UK of the 70mm version. This was a roadshow presentation (i.e. two shows a day, advance booking). It ran for a fairly modest ten weeks.

Absolutely correct. This tired old brain was thinking of “Oklahoma!’s” next day’s transfer to the Metroplole in 70mm. after opening in 35mm. at the Odeon.

Just to add to the fascinating list of films/events provided above by Steffan Laugherne and Ken Roe, “West Side Story” had its premiere/Royal Film Performance at the Odeon during 1962 and was the first presentation here in 70mm. 70mm. came surprisingly late to the Odeon (“South Pacific” was, by this time, over three years into its mammoth run of four years and twenty two weeks at the Dominion, Tottenham Court Road). “West Side Story” transferred the following day to the 70mm. equipped Metropole, Victoria and “Lawrence of Arabia” began its West End run in 70mm. at the Odeon. Many films made in 70mm. or “blown up” into the format have since been presented on the Odeon’s vast and handsome 70mm. screen and I feel lucky to have been around to enjoy many of them, beginning with the “blow up” of “Oliver!” in 1971.