Ramsgate's Odeon - Classic Art Deco


Many thanks to John for sending some more pictures of the Odeon Cinema. Ramsgate's Odeon opened in 1936 and was designed by Andrew Mather. Mather also jointly designed the Odeon in Leicester Square which opened 1 year later.


I remember the exterior as being a striking example of Art Deco styling, but it must be 50+ years since I've seen the interior. Having been one of Ramsgate's premier venues for many years I'm surprised I can't find much written about it. If you have any recollections or if you worked there you're more than welcome to share your memories here. The pictures are HERE

7 comments:

derick97 said...

Hi Phil
Here's a usefull link for free research

http://www.historicaldirectories.org/hd/index.asp

All the best John

Anonymous said...

Very nice interior

Margate Make Lounge said...

Fabulous Building, and great collection of pictures, I will try to put a link frommy blog www.margatehistory.blogspot.com to yours for people wanting to look at Ramsgate in picture too.

Lesley said...

Fabulous photos of another wonderful old Art Deco cinema. Thanks for sharing. I love everything Art Deco, especially architecture. Wish I was still in England and could visit. Long time since I was in the north, though I was born in Stockton. I'm in Australia now, and we have a lot of lovely Art Deco cinemas, but most sadly neglected now.

Sol77 said...

I am trying to find out which films were shown at The Classic Cinema Ramsgate APRIL/MAY/JUNE/JULY 1976 and the dates they were on.
Any one, any ideas ??

Anonymous said...

My first visit to this cinema was in a group from St George's Secondary school, Church Road. We were taken to see a showing of 'The Wizard of Oz'. It was a great experience, the wonderful colourful curtain across the stage before the film started, a cinema organ that appeared and disappeared and then the film in glorious technicolour. It became a regular cinema to visit after I started work and it was kept open through the war. Initially we had to leave when air raid sirens started, but later clients could choose to stay or leave as they wished. There were two, three day films to see every week and the manager arranged for amateur talent performances to take place on the stage during the intervals. I remember some very good turns performed by members of the forces that were stationed in the area, in particular one soldier mimed the actions of sewing on a button and used yards of thread whilst doing so.

Phil said...

Fascinating reading Anonymous. My first thoughts are that you had the choice to stay during an air raid, and that the manager had the freedom to arrange his own events. I can't see that kind of thing happening in our modern safety conscious and sterile environment. If modern regulations had been in place during the war years, you would have been deprived of your memories!