Now you would pretty much think that the old Odeon cinema in the centre of town could not offer up any more surprises.
It has been empty for years and the demolition of the building seems almost to rival the building of the Great Wall of China.
Almost every day Andy Robertson has gone down to record the progress in the demise of this picture house.
Along the way he has got some fine shots and I rather like this one the tall towering chimneys of the office building opposite.
In their wisdom the developers had decided to retain the frontage of that old building, but for whatever reason the same bold nod to the past wasn’t on the card for the Odeon.
That said even now there are a few surprises, and Andy found one in the detail from another shot.
At his request to enlarge the particular image I was rewarded with that sign firmly requesting staff “Please do not put rubbish bags on Henry the Hoover”, along with that wall mounted control pad and the hand written list of places in the cinema.
There is a Maria Celeste feel to the picture and you wonder just what else might have been abandoned in the building on the last night.
I doubt that anyone would have had the heart to clean away the last half empty cups of coffee, taken down the posters advertising the last film or given one last run round with Henry the Hoover.
I had hoped I might be able to name the last film shown in 2004, but so far I have yet to track it down, although I do know that it "opened on October 6 1930 with Maurice Chevalier in 'The Love Parade', plus a variety show on stage, and it was equipped with a Wurlitzer 4Manual/20Ranks theatre organ ........ and had a cafe for the convenience of its patrons."*
Apparently there was a move to have it listed but this fell at the last hurdle because there was little left inside that was original.
All of which just leaves Andy’s pictures to reveal a little of what was there in 2004.
Location; Manchester
Pictures; the Odeon, July 20, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson
* Odeon Manchester, cinema TREASUERS, http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2430
Almost every day Andy Robertson has gone down to record the progress in the demise of this picture house.
Along the way he has got some fine shots and I rather like this one the tall towering chimneys of the office building opposite.
In their wisdom the developers had decided to retain the frontage of that old building, but for whatever reason the same bold nod to the past wasn’t on the card for the Odeon.
At his request to enlarge the particular image I was rewarded with that sign firmly requesting staff “Please do not put rubbish bags on Henry the Hoover”, along with that wall mounted control pad and the hand written list of places in the cinema.
There is a Maria Celeste feel to the picture and you wonder just what else might have been abandoned in the building on the last night.
I had hoped I might be able to name the last film shown in 2004, but so far I have yet to track it down, although I do know that it "opened on October 6 1930 with Maurice Chevalier in 'The Love Parade', plus a variety show on stage, and it was equipped with a Wurlitzer 4Manual/20Ranks theatre organ ........ and had a cafe for the convenience of its patrons."*
Apparently there was a move to have it listed but this fell at the last hurdle because there was little left inside that was original.
All of which just leaves Andy’s pictures to reveal a little of what was there in 2004.
Location; Manchester
Pictures; the Odeon, July 20, 2017 from the collection of Andy Robertson
* Odeon Manchester, cinema TREASUERS, http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2430
Perhaps it's a good thing The Paramount is no more, I believe it was riddled with asbestos.
ReplyDeleteI won tickets in the early 90's to see The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (courtesy of Sky Cinema). It was on a Sunday morning and halfway through the movie a light came on behind the screen, it was the cleaner in her cupboard!
ReplyDeleteSmashing story
ReplyDelete