PLYMOUTH |
The Encyclopaedia of Plymouth History |
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DRAKE-ODEON CINEMA In 1990 the Drake Film Centre at Derry's Cross, Plymouth, was taken over by the Odeon chain and this brought about a change to five screens. After the evening performance of "Arachnophobia" on Sunday January 6th 1991 workmen started to erect a wall twelve rows from the front of Screen 1. Behind it were constructed Screens 4 and 5. The upstairs lounge was converted into a projection room and fitted so that Screens 1, 2 and 3 could -- if the demand required it -- show the same film simultaneously. The cinema never really closed at all as "Arachnophobia" and "Home Alone" continued to be shown on Screens 2 and 3 during the alterations. The cinema became the Drake-Odeon Cinema and was the only Odeon cinema in the country that was allowed to keep its original name. It reopened after its £450,000 facelift on Friday March 29th 1991 with Allan Rosser continuing as its general manager. The opening films were "Look Whose Talking Too", "Duck Tales the Movie", "Green Card", "Awakening" and "Three Men and a Little Lady". Accommodation then ranged from 440 in screen 1 to 120 in screen 5. The Drake-Odeon Cinema did not survive the opening of the Warner Village at Coxside and it closed on Sunday October 31st 1999 with the film "Big Daddy". The audience, according to Mr Steve Johnson, consisted of 8 men, 1 woman, ....... and 25 staff.
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