Odeon Cinemas is the largest chain of cinemas in Europe. Cinemaaustraliajpg|thumb|A movie theater in Australia ]]A movie theater, movie theatre, picture theatre or cinema is a venue It is owned by Terra Firma Capital Partners. Terra Firma Capital Partners (TFCP is a European Private equity firm with offices in London and Frankfurt employing over 100 people

History

Odeon Cinema in Harrogate, showing the logo used from mid 1990s

Odeon Cinemas was created in 1928 by Oscar Deutsch. Harrogate (or Harrogate Spa) is a large wealthy Spa town in North Yorkshire, England. Oscar Deutsch (1893-1941 was the founder of the Odeon Cinemas chain in the United Kingdom. Odeon publicists have claimed that the name of the cinemas was derived from his motto, "Oscar Deutsch Entertains Our Nation", but it had been used for cinemas in France and Italy in the 1920s, and the name is ultimately derived from Ancient Greek. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Italy (Italia officially the Italian Republic, (Repubblica Italiana is located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe, and on the two largest The name "Nickelodeon" was coined in 1905 and was widely used to describe small theatres in the United States during that era. For the Nickelodeon Theatre in Columbia, SC, see the page on the Columbia Film Society.

The Odeon company is also associated with J. Arthur Rank, the owner for the longest period in its history. Joseph Arthur Rank 1st Baron Rank ( December 22 1888 &ndash March 29 1972) was a British industrialist and Film producer

The first cinema opened by Oscar Deutsch was located in Brierley Hill, West Midlands in 1928. Brierley Hill is a Town and electoral ward of the Metropolitan Borough of Dudley, West Midlands, England. The West Midlands is a Metropolitan county in western central England with a population of 2591300 ^[1] The building has long since been demolished, but as of 2006, the former UCI Cinema (built in the 1980s) at the Merry Hill Shopping Centre in Brierley Hill has been recently refurbished as an Odeon Cinema. United Cinemas International or UCI is a brand of cinema currently operating in the Republic of Ireland and formerly operating in the United Kingdom The Merry Hill Shopping Centre is a Shopping centre in Brierley Hill, West Midlands, England. The first cinema opened under the "Odeon" brand was located in Perry Barr, Birmingham. Perry Barr is an area in north Birmingham, England. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own District committee. Birmingham ( ˈbɜːmɪŋəm Ber -ming-um ^[2][3] It was designed by Harry Weedon. Harold William "Harry" Weedon (1887 – 17 June 1970) was an English Architect. The frontage was remodelled following damage sustained in World War II and, having been a bingo hall, has since been converted into a conference venue. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including

Odeon Cinema (1936), Leicester in the Art Deco style. Leicester (ˈlɛstə is the largest city and Unitary authority area in the East Midlands of England, and is the traditional Now operating as Athena. Athena is a conferencing and banqueting venue in the heart of the new cultural quarter of Leicester City Centre.

Odeon Cinema (1937), Dudley, in the Art deco style.

By 1930, "Odeon" was a household name and the cinemas known for their maritime-inspired Art Deco architecture. Art Deco was a popular international design movement from 1925 until 1939 affecting the decorative arts such as Architecture, Interior design, and Industrial The term architecture (from Greek αρχιτεκτονικήarchitektoniki) can be used to mean a process a profession or documentation This style was first used in 1930 on the cinema at Perry Barr in Birmingham, which was bought by Deutsch to expand the chain. He liked the style so much that he commissioned the architect, Harry Weedon, to design his future buildings. Harold William "Harry" Weedon (1887 – 17 June 1970) was an English Architect. ^[4] George Coles was also one of their principal architects, remodelling a partially complete assembly hall in Portslade and designing his first purpose-built cinema in Upper Wickham Lane, Welling, Kent which opened on 22 October 1934 and closed on 22 October 1960. Portslade is the name of an area of the City of Brighton and Hove. Welling is a district in the London Borough of Bexley. It is a Suburban development situated between Shooter's Hill and Bexleyheath north of Events 202 BC - Hannibal Barca, leader of the Carthaginians, is defeated by the Roman legions under Scipio Africanus Year 1934 ( MCMXXXIV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display full 1934 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 202 BC - Hannibal Barca, leader of the Carthaginians, is defeated by the Roman legions under Scipio Africanus Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. It is presently a bingo club in the Mecca chain. It featured central linear lighting, a feature that became characteristic of his work.

In 1935, Oscar Deutsch commissioned John Maltby (1910-80), a professional photographer, to photograph every cinema in the Odeon chain at that time. The resulting collection, of internal and external photographs, is held by the National Monuments Record, in the public archive of English Heritage and can be seen online. The National Monuments Record (NMRis the public Archive of English Heritage, located in Swindon. English Heritage is a Non-departmental public body of the United Kingdom government ( Department for Culture Media and Sport) with a broad remit of

Deutsch sold the chain to the business interests of J. Arthur Rank, who was in the process of forming the Rank Organisation. Joseph Arthur Rank 1st Baron Rank ( December 22 1888 &ndash March 29 1972) was a British industrialist and Film producer The Rank Organisation was a British Entertainment company formed in 1937 and absorbed in 1996 by The Rank Group

In just 10 years between the first of the cinemas and Deutsch's death in 1941, 258 Odeons opened throughout Britain. See also Kingdom of Great Britain Great Britain (Breatainn Mhòr Prydain Fawr Breten Veur Graet Breetain is the larger of the two main islands ^[5] After the sale to J. Arthur Rank Corporation, Odeon also operated a wholly owned Canadian subsidiary, Odeon Theatres (Canada) Ltd. , with more than a hundred cinemas in Canada, coast-to-coast. Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page The head office of Odeon Canada was in Toronto, Ontario, and later, the north Toronto suburb of Willowdale, Ontario. Toronto (təˈrɒntoʊ colloquially pronounced or) is the largest city in Canada and is the provincial capital of Ontario Canada 2008 Willowdalejpg|thumb|250px|Driving down Yonge Street toward Churchill Avenue in Willowdale in 2008]] Willowdale is an established community in the former City of North This business was sold in 1978 to the Canadian Theatres chain and became Canadian Odeon Theatres, then was sold again in 1984 to Cineplex, forming Cineplex Odeon (now, once again, Cineplex). Cineplex Odeon Corporation was one of North America 's largest Movie theatre operators with theatres in its home country of Canada and the United

Each Odeon cinema had a different character to most other cinemas in the UK, often having unique and spectacular interiors. They also ran their own advertising company, called Rank Screen Advertising, in competition with the UK market leader Pearl & Dean, which it eventually overtook. Carlton Screen Advertising is the largest cinema Advertising sales house in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland. Pearl & Dean is primarily known as a British cinema Advertising company

A smaller number of Odeon cinemas opened in the post-war years (Odeon Marble Arch and Odeon Elephant & Castle being notable instances), but many single-screen cinemas either closed, sub-divided into smaller screens or were converted into other uses, such as bingo. The Odeon Marble Arch is a cinema located opposite Marble Arch monument at the top of Park Lane, with its main entrance on Edgware Road, The Elephant and Castle, sometimes shortened to the Elephant, is a major Road intersection in inner south London, England, and is also used as

The flagship cinema, The Odeon Leicester Square, is the largest cinema in Great Britain and host to most of London's West End film premières, retaining its large screen and circle & stalls layout. The Odeon Leicester Square is a cinema which occupies the centre of the eastern side of Leicester Square, London, dominating the Square with its huge black

Twenty-first century

Since the turn of the century, the company has undergone a series of sales, firstly to Cinven in 2000, which merged Odeon with Cinven's ABC chain and then to a group of private investors in 2003. Cinven is a European Private equity firm founded in 1977 with offices in London, Paris, Frankfurt, and Milan. In 2004, the chain was purchased by Terra Firma and merged with United Cinemas International to produce the largest cinema chain in Europe^[6]. United Cinemas International or UCI is a brand of cinema currently operating in the Republic of Ireland and formerly operating in the United Kingdom As a condition of this merger (imposed by the Office of Fair Trading), Odeon Newcastle upon Tyne, Sutton Coldfield, Poole, Quinton, Hemel Hempstead and London Bromley have been sold to Empire Cinemas. The Office of Fair Trading ( OFT) is a Non-ministerial government department of the United Kingdom, established by the Fair Trading Act 1973, Newcastle upon Tyne ( (often shortened to Newcastle) is a city and Metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, England Sutton Coldfield ( is a town within the City of Birmingham, in the West Midlands of England Poole ( is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset on the south coast of England Quinton is a suburb on the western edge of Birmingham, England. Hemel Hempstead is a Town in Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom with a Population of 81143 at the United Kingdom Census About the town The town has a large shopping and retail area including a pedestrianised High Street and The Glades shopping centre Empire Cinemas is a multiplex cinema chain in the United Kingdom. Many smaller, older cinemas such as Odeon Grimsby on Freeman Street were closed down to keep market-share within legal limits. The remaining UCI cinemas, including thefilmworks brands, were rebranded as Odeons from the November 4, 2005. Events 1333 - Flood of the Arno River, causing massive damage in Florence as recorded by the Florentine chronicler Giovanni Villani Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

On 14 August 2006, ODEON announced that it will open its first cinema in Northern Ireland, in Belfast city centre, as part of Belfast's Victoria Square development. Events 1183 - Taira no Munemori and the Taira clan take the young Emperor Antoku and the three sacred treasures Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ^[7]

The Republic of Ireland cinemas of UCI have also become part of the Odeon chain, and while they will be retaining the UCI brand name, some evidence of the merger has appeared in Ireland, for example when booking tickets by credit card, the name "Odeon" appears, as well as some dual branded campaigns. Ireland ( Irish: Éire, ˈeːrʲə is a country in north-western Europe. The Odeon inhouse film review magazine, "Onscreen", is now also distributed in UCI cinemas in Ireland, retaining the Odeon logo font throughout. In August 2007, UCI launched a new Irish website with an identical layout to odeon. co. uk. This website states that the Irish cinemas were sold to an Irish group, Entertainment Enterprises, in September 2006. This transaction went unreported in the Irish media. It also states that the cinemas remain part of the Odeon chain under a management contract. Rank/Odeon previously ran cinemas in Ireland (including the flagship, the Savoy Cinema in O'Connell Street) until 1982, when they were purchased by Ward Anderson. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world O'Connell Street (Sráid Uí Chonaill is Dublin 's main thoroughfare Ward Anderson is the largest cinema chain in Ireland. It operates cinemas throughout the Republic Of Ireland and Northern Ireland (part of the In April 2008, Entertainment Enterprises announced that it purchased the Republic of Ireland assets of Storm Cinemas (the entire chain with the exception of the Belfast cinema), and as with the existing UCI chain, would be contracting the running of the cinemas to Odeon. International holidays and other major events April 1 - April Fools' Day April 4 - Qingming Festival (Mainland Belfast ( is the capital city of Northern Ireland and the seat of government in Northern Ireland. [1]

Odeon has now acquired at least ten cinemas in Italy making Odeon officially the largest cinema chain in Europe and third in the world.

In 2007, Odeon announced the award of the number 1 Odeon staff member awards. Being the first receiver of the award, Gary McLean from the Dunfermline cinema received the award along with a large cash sum. Another member of staff from one of many UK cinemas will be badged as the winner early next year.

Current locations

Main article: List of Odeon Cinema locations

References

External links

• Official website
• Map of Odeon Cinemas in the UK
• A mirror of Odeon's old official website
• International cinema conservation archive
• Odeon cinema photographs Use Advanced Search/Collections/John Maltby to view the Odeon cinema collection from the National Monuments Record