Sunday, August 23, 2015

The Holloway Odeon (1938), Islington, London N7


This wonderful building was where I first went to see a movie in the very early 1960s. It's just a few hundred yards from where I was born and was a familiar landmark to me until I moved away from London in the early 1970s. Built in the 1930s, it opened in 1938 and was struck by a V1 rocket during World War II (1944). The back part of the building was later rebuilt, and it reopened in the late 1950s.


The Odeon site on the corner of Holloway Road and Tufnell Park Road. All of these pictures were taken in July 2006, and although the building was, and still is, in use as a cinema, the exterior could do with a bit of a clean and some restoration. It is a beautiful building nevertheless.







Originally called the Gaumont, there is quite a bit of information on this building already available on the Web, starting here:

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/4300

Full history here:

http://www.mawgrim.co.uk/cavalcade/holloway.htm

Excellent collection of photos of the building, including vintage interiors, here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcinemaphotos/sets/72157621211450783/


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