Granada Thornton Heath

793 London Road,
Thornton Heath, CR7 6AW

Unfavorite No one has favorited this theater yet

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Blue Halls Ltd., Granada Theatres Ltd.

Architects: A.C. Matthews

Styles: Art Deco

Previous Names: State Cinema

Nearby Theaters

Granada Thornton Heath

Located in Thornton Heath, a district in the south of Greater London, just to the north of Croydon. The State Cinema was designed, built and operated by A.C. Matthews. It was opened on 26th December 1932 with Buster Keaton in "Speak Easy" and Alexander Carr in "Divine Love", plus Herman Darewski and His Band on stage.

The exterior had three tall windows framed in grey marble. Inside the auditorium, the seating was provided in stalls and circle levels. The ceiling had a series of bands across, while the side wall panels had painted pastoral scenes. The proscenium was 44 feet wide. The stage was 20 feet deep and there were five dressing rooms. There was a café located on the circle level foyer, above the entrance.

By 1937 it had been taken over by Blue Halls Ltd. It was taken over by the Granada Theatres chain in May 1948, and was re-named Granada on 1st January 1949. The Granada was closed on 1st July 1972 with Michael Caine in "The Italian Job" and Tony Curtis in "Monte Carlo or Bust".

It was converted into a Granada Bingo Club from 13th October 1972, and later was operated by Gala Bingo. It was closed in 2007, a casualty of the smoking ban in public places, and the building was soon demolished.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 4 comments)

GALABINGO
GALABINGO on October 22, 2015 at 12:37 am

I am trying to trace former staff of gala bingo t heath that I had the pleasure of working with,please sign up and send me an email .uk

rivest266
rivest266 on August 5, 2021 at 9:13 am

1932 grand opening ad posted.

ArtDirector
ArtDirector on February 3, 2024 at 7:00 am

This cinema had rising Venetian drape screen curtains as there was not enough room at the sides for centre opening tabs when Cinemascope was installed. It usuallay played the Odeon circuit releases.

You must login before making a comment.

New Comment

Subscribe Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.