The Kingstanding pub and the Odeon, 1960s
1960s · Kingstanding Road
The Kingstanding Odeon in the 1960s. Copyright Ron Jameson.
From the Voices of Kingstanding page of memories of the Beacon / Odeon Cinema / Mecca Bingo at the Circle.
Alan Hitchman writes there: “The Odeon Cinema was a regular Saturday morning matinee … there was always a Cowboy movie on plus a cartoon and the serial about Flash Gordon … I do remember it was quite a lavish place though with a big foyer, I also remember it had an organ that popped up some weeks on the left of the screen.”
Notes
Taken from the same spot as Ron Jameson’s photo of the Kingstanding pub dated 1965. The opening and closing dates are commenters’ statements.
About this place: The Odeon · The Kingstanding pub
Local memories
What people who knew this place have said about it, in their own words. These are memories, not checked facts.
“The Odeon Cinema was built in 1935/6 and was originally to be called the Beacon but was acquired by the Oscar Deutsch organisation and called the “ODEON” … I went to the Saturday morning matinees there as a nipper in 1944 … I remember singing the words of a song projected on to the screen and a ball bouncing above them to keep us in time … when the film broke or there was a cowboy chase we would tip our seats up and kick our heels against the plywood seat panels. The noise was terrific.”
“The Odeon closed on 1st December 1962 with the 1955 film; Audie Murphy in “To Hell and Back”. It opened on 22nd July 1935 with Gary Cooper in “Lives of a Bengal Lancer”.”
“Does anyone remember the Odeon song? … “We come along each Saturday morning, greeting everybody with a smile / We come along each Saturday morning, knowing it’s well worth while / As members of the Odeon club we all intend to be / good citizens when we grow up and champion of the free …””
“Did you ever sneak in the back door near the toilets? We used to put all our money together, one would pay to go in and then open the back door for the rest of us.”
“I was a regular at the Saturday morning matinee at the Odeon Cinema. I remember cowboy films with Roy Rogers and his horse, Trigger, and Gene Autry … Later, the Odeon was a venue for dates.”
“I can’t remember the Odeon being a cinema, but I do recall it becoming a bingo hall in about 1973 up until 1999.”
“My Nan was an usherette there in the early days.”
“… went to work there in 1966 as a bingo caller at bar bingo and a bingo steward.”
Comments
Comments will load here.