With all the pomp and ceremony that 1930s Horsham could muster, the popular cinema chain ODEON arrived 90 years ago today!
A special programme was produced to mark the day, October 7 1936.
The opening ceremony was conducted by the local MP, Earl Winterton,
The BBC’s Director of Dance Music Jack Payne and his band entertained the assembled invited guests before the The Band of His Majesty’s Scots Guards took over.
The main feature was a showing of the film Little Lord Fauntleroy which had just been released. It starred Freddie Bartholomew. Born in England, Freddie studied acting at a very young age and moved to the USA, aged ten, to star in MGM’s David Copperfield.
He would go on to act in several more movies and, at one stage was the second highest paid child actor behind Shirley Temple.
The Horsham ODEON (the company was named after founder Oscar Deutsch – Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation) was the 26th in the UK.
It enjoyed success in this heyday of the cinema and in the 1950s was upgraded with a Cinemascope wide screen.
However, come the 1960s and interest began to wane. Horsham had too many cinemas at this stage and television was cramping their style.
The building was sold off to Classic Cinemas (and renamed The Classic) in 1967. Upstairs was turned into two smaller cinemas with the ground floor becoming a Mecca Bingo Club.
This lasted until 1976 when the cinemas were closed. Bingo continued for a while but once that also shut the building, with its iconic tower, lay empty for a while. The site was finally demolished in 1981.
Footnote: Back in 1936 when the ODEON foundations were being dug builders discovered the shoulder bone of a small ox.
Discover more from Friends of Horsham Museum & Art Gallery
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
