Art Deco Cinemas back to basics

Discussion in 'The Lounge Bar' started by CL1, Apr 28, 2021.

  1. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    ABC cinema Harrow Middlesex opened in 1936
    2500 seater

    External facade buggered up by a metal working lunatic architect in the 1980s.

    Now the need for homes is about to turn this back into its original facade
    Now stripped back to its original skin In the flesh it looks like a set from a1930 futuristic film and like a trip back in time.The Crittall windows are gigantic and a beauty to behold




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    Harrow’s Dominion revealed – after 59 years! – unrestricted theatre
     
    Last edited: Jul 16, 2021
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  2. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

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  3. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    How the artist perceives the completed project
    cinema.jpg


    Kyle
     
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  4. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    One article says that the first floor theater will be retained and another says they are building an 11 story building on the site. Anyone know if the whole exterior of the building will be saved? Hope so. I bet a lot of servicemen went there during the war.
     
    Chris C likes this.
  5. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Hello Dave the outside will be saved it is a listed building in the UK which protects it from demolition
    Planning application
    below
    Redevelopment to provide part 11/part 5 storey building with basement level comprising of 78 residential units; cinema (Use class D2) to ground floor and ancillary cafe to first and second floors; parking; landscaping; bin and cycle stores
    https://www2.harrow.gov.uk/documents/s161721/1-04 - Safari Cinema Station Road - P-3043-19.pdf
     
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  6. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Another one just down the road but not as grand outside called the Granada
    Granada Harrow Wurlitzer








    The cinema, designed by J. Owen Bond & Son with interior by Theodore Komisarjevski, opened on 25th October 1937 with a seating capacity of 1900. The original organ was a Granada designed 3 manual 8 rank Wurlitzer Theatre Organ. It is technically still playable.

    The cinema was tripled in 1973, two small screens being added in the rear stalls area under the circle. The cinema was for many years the home of our 'Young Theatre Organist of the Year' competitions, but it closed in November 1996.

    At the time of the sale of the building, Granada's Head Office management wished to donate the organ to our Chapter in return for all the work Les Rawle and the technical team had undertaken on it over many years. However since the building was 'listed' our understanding was that the organ had to remain 'in situ' and we refrained from risking any attempt to remove it.

    For many years the building was abandoned; it suffered water damage and the organ chambers became home for a large number of pigeons. The area was declared hazardous and the chambers were securely double locked until the new owners finally understood their obligation to ensure the organ needed to be made safe.

    Granada Harrow Wurlitzer



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    http://stories-of-london.org/granada-theatre-harrow/
     
    Last edited: Apr 29, 2021
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  7. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    Well I never knew that the ABC was hiding such a secret. Those two cinemas bring back great memories for me: Jaws, Rocky 2, Grease, Star Wars, Friday the 13th and Kramer vs Kramer for some reason!! :)
     
  8. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    Breathtakingly beautiful!
    Fritz Lang would have wept for joy....
     
  9. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    It is walked pat it this morning and it is even better in the flesh
     
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  10. Tolbooth

    Tolbooth Patron Patron

    It's a shame they'll probably not restore the orginal interior. On holiday several years ago we discovered the joy of the Regent Cinema, Lyme Regis - not a particularly inspiring exterior but the inside was a joy.
    Alas it burnt down in 2016, a few months after we visited (coincidence, honest!). Plans are still afoot for a rebuild....

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    [​IMG]
     
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  11. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Granada Cinema,Harrow Middlesex
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  12. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Grosvenor Cinema ,Rayners Lane ,Middlesex


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  13. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    There used to be a double fronted Pet Shop a few doors down from the cinema, sort of opposite the tube station. More memories Clive, this time Saturday Morning Pictures. Not in the Pet Shop!
     
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  14. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Peters Pet Shop it was
     
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  15. bamboo43

    bamboo43 Very Senior Member

    So it was.:)
     
  16. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    South Harrow Odeon
    The ends remain but the middle now flats

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  17. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Ruislip Embassy cinema
    Facade still there
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  18. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    East Finchley
    Phoenix cinema built 1910
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  19. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

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  20. PsyWar.Org

    PsyWar.Org Archive monkey

    Memories for me here too. Saw Rollercoaster and Grease at the Embassy Ruislip. And a double bill of Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back at Rayner's Lane cinema.

    My paternal grandmother was a Rayner and it's family legend that she was related to the two brothers who owned Rayner's farm.
     
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