PLYMOUTH CINEMAS
ODEON CINEMA
| The Odeon group had
apparently purchased some land in Union Street
ready for a new cinema. The outbreak of the Second
World War put a stop to this plan but evidently not to Oscar Deutsch's intentions.
The story goes that Mr Deutsch invited Mr Prance of the Regent Cinema to lunch with him at Exeter and
announced his plans for a new major cinema that would put the Regent out of
business. Unless, that is, the owners sold it to him. This they subsequently
did and thus it was that on June 17th 1940 the old Regent
Cinema reopened as the Odeon Cinema. |
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Mr Deutsch himself was at the opening when the film "Contraband"
was shown.
 |
The Odeon was forced
to close during the height of the Blitz
but reopened on Monday May 5th 1941 when "Men Against the Sky" was shown fron
Midday until 8pm only. <
During the Second World War the Cinema was
used by Field-Marshall Montgomery for a briefing session with his officers prior to the
D-Day landings. |
Being a relativel
new building the Odeon survived the Second World War
but as the new city centre developed became something of a sore thumb, lying at an angle
in what used to be Frankfort Street but
was now New George Street. It not only looked out of place but was unviable given
that the Drake was also under Odeon control.
The Odeon Cinema closed on
September 8th 1962 it closed to be replaced with the New Odeon Cinema in the former Gaumont Palace building in Union Street.
During June and July 1963 the
Odeon was demolsiehd and a Littlewood's department store was built on the.
|
