The Odeon Luxe Leicester Square is a prominent cinema building in the West End of London. Built in the Art Deco style and completed in 1937, the building has been continually altered in response to developments in cinema technology, and was the first Dolby Cinema in the United Kingdom.

The cinema occupies the centre of the eastern side of Leicester Square in London, featuring a black polished granite facade and high tower displaying its name. Blue neon outlines the exterior of the building at night. It was built to be the flagship of Oscar Deutsch's Odeon Cinemas chain and still holds that position today. It hosts numerous European and world film premieres, including the annual Royal Film Performance.

History

The Odeon cinema building was completed by Sir Robert McAlpine in 1937 to the design of Harry Weedon and Andrew Mather on the site of Nevill's Victorian Turkish baths and the adjoining Alhambra Theatre a large music hall dating from the 1850s. The site cost £550,000, and the cinema took seven months to build, at a cost of £232,755, The opening night was Tuesday 2 November 1937; the film shown that night was The Prisoner of Zenda. The British public debut of CinemaScope (screen ratio 2.55:1) followed on 19 November 1953 with the quasi-biblical epic, The Robe. (The first cinema to install CinemaScope in the UK was the Odeon Tottenham Court Road on 9 June 1953, but it was not open to the public until later).

The theatre's chief engineer, Nigel Wolland, was appointed MBE for services to the film industry in 2007. The theatre's general manager, Chris Hilton, was appointed MBE for services to the film industry in 2010.

After Nigel Wolland's retirement in 2006, Mark Nice was appointed the cinema's chief engineer. Mark Nice was later promoted to the position of Odeon company engineer with Toni Purvis and Michael Mannix assuming the role of Operations Manager Digital.

thumb|left|Black polished granite facade

The first Dolby Cinema system to be installed in the UK is at the Odeon in Leicester Square. This introduced a combination of Dolby Vision dual-laser projection system and a Dolby Atmos sound system.

Screens 2 – 5

Five screens, each seating between fifty and sixty patrons, were added in April 1990 in what was once an alleyway running alongside the main house. The screens were originally known as Odeon Mezzanine and were renamed Odeon Studios in 2012. Following the refurbishment in 2018, the number of screens was reduced to four with reduced capacity and renamed as Screens 2 – 5.

Recent developments

In 2018 Odeon undertook a full refurbishment at a projected cost of £1015 million, which saw the building retained as a single-screen cinema with stalls and circle levels, with the stated intention to maintain its character. The cinema closed on 10 January 2018 with an anticipated reopening in time for the BFI London Film Festival in October—which it failed to meet. The cinema reopened on 21 December 2018 rebranded as part of the Odeon Luxe chain, with a reduced capacity in luxury seats, an enhanced concession offering, and the first commercial Dolby Cinema screen to open in the UK.

See also

  • Odeon Cinemas, the British cinema chain
  • Odeon Marble Arch, a former cinema also located in London's West End
  • Odeon Luxe West End, a second cinema on the south side of Leicester Square
  • Scenes in the Square, which includes a statue of Batman on the roof of the cinema

References

Sources

  • Guide to British Theatres 1750–1950, John Earl and Michael Sell pp. 128 (Theatres Trust, 2000)
  • Alhambra Theatre History Archive material, information, and images on the Alhambra Theatre, Leicester Square
  • Leicester Square webcam – Close up of the Odeon Cinema for film premieres
  • The Cinema Organ Society information on the organ
  • Film Premieres in Odeon leicester square