Oh No.… No Odeon... Another Cinema Bites the Dust

 

Gremlins (1984)

Another iconic theatre is set to close its doors.

Any cinema lover growing up, watching favourite films at their local ‘picture house’ will lament with me today. The sad news filters through of yet another Odeon Cinema closing down. Weston-super-Mare’s beloved but slightly neglected Odeon Theatre, is shutting its doors on 5th June. This is not only a blow to the cinephile’s intellect, but also a deep strike at this movie-lover’s heart. 

Mirroring the once vibrant town centre of Weston, another seaside resort on the North Somerset coast, which has slowly fallen into dis-repair and despair, the Odeon dies along with tourism and the memories. The Covid pandemic, world-wide economic decline, Internet streaming services, and other technological advances resetting for the digital AI age, have claimed their next victim.

No rescue for this Odeon!

I was alerted through Twitter by friend, and fellow movie-buff, aka The Headless DJ, that my beloved local Somerset Art Deco cinema is closing too. Gone will be its standout 30s architectural heritage, showcasing a minimalistic style, the epitome of ‘high-tech’ for a post-war Britain, and housing (in the floor of Screen Four) one of the two remaining working ‘Compton Theatre Organs’ in existence in the UK. A venue the Beatles once played, apparently twice-nightly for a week in the summer of 1963, and other similar luminaries of the era, like Gene Vincent and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

I had no idea that the Odeon Cinema Group was cutting its losses by closing several venues throughout the country, including the Blackpool Odeon, Banbury and Oxford, as well as the Odeon in Ayr, Scotland. I was so shocked at this sad news that I rushed over to my local theatre to get the truth from the manager face-to-face. It was alarming to find a table of old billboard posters in the foyer with a ‘Please Take One’ sign, and confirmation from the staff. I admit, I shed a tear or two.

This jolt to the senses had me reminiscing about the good ole’ days spent as a child, watching all the big movie releases with friends and family. So many distant memories, forgotten events, suddenly brought to life again.

I remember my first movie experience in Screen One. Climbing up the grand red carpeted split-staircase, into the upper foyer, the velvet Chaise Longues with gold trim edges, packed with people, and then up more stairs into a low-light auditorium, revealing more velvet chairs, a large screen looming white above my head… full of promise. We found our seats and waited with excitement for Walt Disney’s ‘The Rescuers’ (1977). 

It was a rare occasion when my mum wasn’t working and had an hour or two to take me and my little brother to the cinema. We were treated to popcorn from the Usherette’s selection box, during the long-lost tradition of an interval. It was a magical time for us kids, a time before computers, smart phones, and disillusionment.

Screen 4 with fashionable hexagonal clock

I remember my dad trying to get us seats for ‘Star Wars IV: A New Hope’ (1977), but they were like gold and sold-out every day. We cried and sulked, until one afternoon he came home with the coveted tickets, and we finally got to see our first blockbuster in wonderment.

I remember a giant cut-out iconic James Bond 007 of Roger Moore, Walther PPK gun in hand, adorning the tall flat roof of the Odeon in 1981, ‘For Your Eyes Only’, held in place by ropes, it was visible for miles. 

I remember trying to get into the Odeon, pretending to be 15, to see director John Badham’s ‘Blue Thunder’ (1983), a very ‘adult’ film at the time. The lady that sat in the round cubicle ticket office, which use to be in the centre of the foyer, checked me up and down saying I looked about 12 so there was no ticket for me!

I remember my best friend visiting from Bournemouth, to watch ‘Back to the Future (1985) in Screen Two, and it was so packed out that management brought in metal foldable chairs to add to the end of the isles. People were turned away in droves, even though they filled two auditoriums. We were the lucky ones it seemed.

I remember baby-sitting a friend’s sister and taking her to see ‘Hook’ (1991), attempting to be mature, while dozens of very loud children trampled all over my feet going in and out of the isle. I swore I’d never do it again. My feet hurt just watching a TV rerun of it now.

I remember seeing ‘Remains of the Day’ (1993) in Screen Three, and everyone talking loudly over each other whenever a Somerset landmark appeared on screen, it was so off-putting in that tiny auditorium. I can’t watch Emma Thompson anymore, far too annoying.

I remember my brother and his mates trying to sneak in through the side Emergency Exit door on Alexandra Parade, to see Val Kilmer in ‘Batman Forever’ (1995), while myself and a friend had bought our tickets and waited for them to arrive through ‘legal’ means. When they didn’t turn up, we went to look for them, figuring that they would be messing around, and finding one of them snogging his girlfriend in the stairwell, next to the Mens toilets, forgetting to open the fire-door to let the others in.

The 80s and 90s were the ‘hay days’ of the Weston Odeon I remember from my youth. Can you see a trend…. as the economy sinks, and technology changes, viewing figures plummet. It was only a matter of time before running a seaside cinema became, in the words of the Odeon’s spokesperson, “no-longer viable”. 

Many of us will be sad to see it gone, boarded-up, yet another casualty of ‘progress’. A pivotal element of our art and cultural experience soon reduced to dust. It would take hundreds of thousands of pounds to save the Odeon now, and more than nostalgia to bring it out of a soon to be bygone age. 

I will forever remember it as the place that brought my dreams alive, put stars in my eyes, and gave me hope for the future… all on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Goodbye Odeon old friend and thanks for the memories!

RIP Tina Turner (1939-2023)