# Majestic/Odeon Darlington May 2010



## sidsabbath (Jan 20, 2011)

This report is posted on another site I'm a member of. But seeing as I'm new to this site, I thought I would share 

This was a solo explore (apart from the odd unexplained footsteps and creaks!).
I'm not from Darlington so I have taken the history of this beautiful building from Cinema Treasures.

The Majestic Cinema opened on 26th December 1932 with Nancy Brown in "Maid of the Mountains". It was built for an independent operator.

Seating in the auditorium was provided for 1,039 in the stalls and 541 in the balcony. The proscenium was 45 feet wide, the stage 17 feet deep and there were five dressing rooms. The cinema was equipped with a Compton 3Manual/8Rank organ which was opened by Frank Matthews. An additional facility was the provision of a cafe.

In November 1935, it was taken over by National Provincial Cinemas Ltd. who were part of Union Cinemas chain. In 1937, Union Cinemas pulled out of the running of the Majestic Cinema and it returned to its original operators.

It was taken over by the Oscar Deutsch chain of Odeon Theatres Ltd. on 16th July 1943 and re-named Odeon on 9th April 1945. The cafe was still advertised as open during the 1950's. In 1968, the Compton organ was sold and removed from the building. It was around this time that the facade was covered over with metal strips, in order to 'modernise' the building.

There was talk of the Odeon being converted into a twin-screen cinema, but these came to nothing. It was loosing money, and the Rank Organisation closed the Odeon on 24th October 1981 with Burt Reynolds in "Cannonball Run" being the final film screened. The building lay empty and unused for several years, and in October 1986 it was converted into use as a snooker club, which operates today as Riley's Snooker Club. 

Enjoy.

This is an external shot of the cinema taken in 1961






This is an external shot of the cinema taken in 1981





The above external shots are thank to the Darlington Times.

Now on with my own shots.



















































Fantastic wallpaper in the managers office

















































































And finally, no report would be complete without this 






Thanks for looking.


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## RichardH (Jan 20, 2011)

Oooh, mercury arc rectifier! :wubclub:


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## sidsabbath (Jan 21, 2011)

Yes! A lovely piece of kit. No mercury in it though, must have been drained.


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## Foxylady (Jan 21, 2011)

Fabulous photos and lighting...a really nice 'cinema feel' to them. Great to see the Art Deco features still in situ too.
Good stuff.


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## muppet (Jan 21, 2011)

some great pics there . thanks


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## Lady Grey (Jan 27, 2011)

Some really great photographs. There is nothing to compare to an Art Deco cinema.


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## scrappy (Jan 27, 2011)

great report, i really like cinemas.


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## Goldie87 (Jan 27, 2011)

Excellent stuff, really nice that is.


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## King Al (Jan 27, 2011)

Great pics sidsabbath, like the old pics and the arc rectifier, really hope that stays intact


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## TranKmasT (Jan 29, 2011)

Very nice. Very nice indeed.


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## davidralph (Feb 3, 2011)

The secrets behind the snooker tables! As a Darlington man, I had no idea all this stuff was still in there.


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