Bradford Odeon is the name applied to two different cinemas in central

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

, West Yorkshire, England. One, in Godwin Street, was built in 1930 and survives; the other, in Manchester Road, was built in 1938 and demolished in 1969.

Godwin Street building

The cinema, originally built as a 3,318 seat

cine-variety Cine-variety is a form of entertainment with a mix of Music hall, variety acts performing in between the showing of films all for the price of one admission fee. It was popular in the United Kingdom and Ireland between 1900 and the 1930s. Cine-var ...

theatre, was the largest outside London, and the third largest in England. It was completed in 1930 as the New Victoria. It is on the site of William Whittaker's brewery and

malting Malting is the process of steeping, germinating, and drying grain to convert it into malt. Germination and sprouting involve a number of enzymes to produce the changes from seed to seedling and the malt producer stops this stage of the process w ...

, which had closed in 1928. It is a

Renaissance Revival Renaissance Revival architecture (sometimes referred to as "Neo-Renaissance") is a group of 19th-century architectural revival styles which were neither Greek Revival nor Gothic Revival but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of ...

building designed by the architect William Illingworth, with copper-covered

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, usually dome-like structure on top of a building often crowning a larger roof or dome. Cupolas often serve as a roof lantern to admit light and air or as a lookout. The word derives, via Ital ...

s on two corners complementing those on the neighbouring

Bradford Alhambra The Alhambra Theatre is a theatre in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, named after the Alhambra palace in Granada, Spain, which was the place of residence of the Emir of the Emirate of Granada. It was built in 1913 at a cost of £20,000 for t ...

theatre. The New Victoria combined a 3,318-seat auditorium, ballroom and 200-seat restaurant. The auditorium was primarily a cinema, but also a concert and

ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

venue with a stage,

orchestra pit An orchestra pit is an area in a theatre (usually located in a lowered area in front of the stage) in which musicians perform. The orchestra plays mostly out of sight in the pit, rather than on the stage as for a concert, when providing music fo ...

Wurlitzer organ The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

and excellent

acoustics Acoustics is a branch of physics that deals with the study of mechanical waves in gases, liquids, and solids including topics such as vibration, sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician ...

. As a cinema it was the third largest in Britain when it opened, with only the Trocadero at

Elephant & Castle Elephant and Castle is an area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark. The name also informally refers to much of Walworth and Newington, due to the proximity of the London Underground station of the same name. The nam ...

and Davis Theatre at

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

being larger. By 1930 cinemas had converted to screen sound pictures, which had been introduced in 1927, but the New Victoria was the first cinema in Britain to be purpose-built for "talkies". It was built at a cost of £250,000 for Provincial Cinematograph Theatres, backed by the

Gaumont British The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was a British company that produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of France's Gaumont. Film production Gaumont-British was fou ...

Picture Corporation. In 1950 the complex was renamed the Gaumont, by this time both the Odeon and Gaumont circuits were controlled by Circuits Management Association Ltd., a subsidiary of the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...

. With the city's Odeon scheduled for re-development by Bradford Corporation, Rank decided to redevelop the Gaumont as a twin cinema and bingo club and on 30 November 1968 it closed for nine months. By the time that the building was ready to re-open, the original Odeon had been closed for five months and the new complex opened on 21 August 1969 with the Odeon name.

The Gaumont as the Odeon

The

converted the Gaumont into a complex with the former circle divided into two film auditoria, one of 1,200 and the other of 467 seats. The former stalls were converted into a 1,000 seat Top Rank bingo hall, replacing the company's bingo operation in the former Majestic cinema in Morley Street. The "Odeon" name was transferred to the new two-screen cinema, which opened in August 1969. The bingo hall opened later in the year. The Gaumont (formerly New Victoria) ballroom had also closed in 1968, and it remained unused for 20 years. In 1988 Rank had it converted into a 244-seat auditorium and reopened that June as a third screen of the cinema. In 1991 Rank had plans prepared to convert the bingo hall into three film auditoria and the former restaurant into retail units. In 1994 it had plans prepared to divide the 1,200-seat auditorium into three auditoria and the 467-seat auditorium into two. Neither plan was implemented. In the 1990s the Gallagher Group planned to redevelop a site at Thornbury on the eastern edge of Bradford into a leisure park that would include a 13-screen multiplex. The cinema chain originally contracted to operate it withdrew, so Odeon (Rank had sold the cinema chain to

Cinven Cinven Limited is a global private equity firm founded in 1977, with offices in nine international locations in Guernsey, London, New York, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Luxembourg, Madrid, and Hong Kong that acquires Europe and United States–bas ...

in February 2000) took its place and in July 2000 opened the new cinema as the Odeon Leeds-Bradford. It closed the Bradford Odeon in June 2000 and the

Odeon Cinema Leeds Two Odeon Cinemas, Odeon cinemas were formerly located in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England: The Headrow Located at the junction of Briggate with the Headrow, the Odeon first opened as the Paramount Pictures, Paramount Theatre with a showing ...

in 2001.

Live music

The New Victoria / Gaumont was a distinguished venue for live music.

Big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

s played for dancers in its ballroom, and its season included charity balls hosted by the

Grand Order of Water Rats The Grand Order of Water Rats is a British entertainment industry fraternity and charitable organisation based in London. Founded in 1889 by the music hall comedians Joe Elvin and Jack Lotto, the order is known for its high-profile membership an ...

and the

National Union of Journalists The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) is a trade union supporting journalists in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The NUJ was founded in 1907 and has 20,693 members. It is a member of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), Trades ...

. The main auditorium was the largest concert venue in the north of England. The

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

(LSO) played at its opening gala in 1930, and a subsequent LSO concert was conducted by

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. H ...

. Further

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

performances included the

London Festival Ballet English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Alicia Markova, Dame Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin (ballet dancer), Sir Anton Dolin as London Festival Ballet and based in London, England. Along with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham ...

in 1952 and the Italian tenor

Beniamino Gigli Beniamino Gigli ( , ; 20 March 1890 – 30 November 1957) was an Italian opera singer ( lyric tenor). He is widely regarded as one of the greatest tenors of his generation. Early life Gigli was born in Recanati, in the Marche, the son of a sho ...

in 1954. The Gaumont's main auditorium continued to host stage performances. In 1950 it hosted an

ice show An ice show is an entertainment production which is primarily performed by ice skaters. The major ice shows were founded between 1936 and 1943, when professional figure skaters began to appear in shows, in hotels, at fairs, and "at any place a ...

, ''

Babes in the Wood Babes in the Wood is a traditional English children's tale, as well as a popular pantomime subject. It has also been the name of some other unrelated works. The expression has passed into common language, referring to inexperienced innocents ent ...

on Ice''. UK tours of the most successful popular music acts included concerts at the Gaumont, including

Billy Daniels William Boone Daniels (September 12, 1915 – October 7, 1988) was an American singer active in the United States and Europe from the mid-1930s to 1988, notable for his hit recording of " That Old Black Magic" and his pioneering performances on ...

(1953),

Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer and songwriter whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performa ...

(1953),

Bill Haley & His Comets Bill Haley & His Comets were an American rock and roll band formed in 1947 and continuing until Haley's death in 1981. The band was also known as Bill Haley and the Comets and Bill Haley's Comets. From late 1954 to late 1956, the group record ...

(1957),

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer, songwriter, and musician who was a central and pioneering figure of rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texa ...

(1958),

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter and actor. His songs include " Diana", “ You Are My Destiny", “Lonely Boy", " Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also wr ...

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

and the

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

vian soprano

Yma Sumac Zoila Augusta Emperatriz Chávarri del Castillo (born Zoila Emperatriz Chávarri Castillo; September 13, 1922 – November 1, 2008), known as Yma Sumac (or Imma Sumack), was a Peruvian singer. She won a Guinness World Records, Guinness World Re ...

. In 1960 the Gaumont hosted

Gene Vincent Vincent Eugene Craddock (February 11, 1935 – October 12, 1971), known as Gene Vincent, was an American rock and roll musician who pioneered the style of rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his backing band the Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-a-Lula", is ...

and

Eddie Cochran Ray Edward Cochran ( ; October 3, 1938 – April 17, 1960) was an American rock and roll musician. His songs, such as " Twenty Flight Rock", " Summertime Blues", " C'mon Everybody" and " Somethin' Else", captured teenage frustration and desire in ...

's first ever British concert, and Vince Eager was the supporting act. 1963 was a notable year at the Gaumont. In February

Helen Shapiro Helen Kate Shapiro (born 28 September 1946) is a British Pop music, pop and jazz singer and actress. While still a teenager in the early 1960s, she was one of Britain's most successful female singers. With a voice described by AllMusic as poss ...

headlined a concert there, with supporting performances by Danny Williams and

Kenny Lynch Kenneth Lynch, OBE (18 March 1938 – 18 December 2019) was an English singer, songwriter, entertainer, and actor. He appeared in many variety shows in the 1960s. At the time, he was among the few black singers in British pop music. He was app ...

. At the bottom of the bill was a new band called

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, who were about to release their first

LP record The LP (from long playing or long play) is an Analog recording, analog sound storage medium, specifically a phonograph record format characterized by: a speed of revolutions per minute, rpm; a 12- or 10-inch (30- or 25-cm) diameter; use ...

Please Please Me ''Please Please Me'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Produced by George Martin, it was released in the UK on EMI's Parlophone label on 22 March 1963. The album's 14 tracks include cover songs and original ma ...

''. In October

The Everly Brothers The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close-harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly and Phillip "Phil" Everly, the duo combined elements of rock and roll, country, ...

headlined a concert with supporting acts by

Bo Diddley Ellas Otha Bates (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist and singer who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, including Buddy ...

and another new British band,

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

. In December The Beatles returned, headlining a concert playing to two packed houses with supporting performances from The Barron Knights,

Tommy Quickly Tommy Quickly (born Thomas Quigley, 7 July 1945) is an English rock and roll singer who recorded mostly in the early 1960s. He was a later signing of artist manager Brian Epstein, whose biggest act was the Beatles. He was born to Patrick Quigl ...

, Billy J. Kramer,

Cilla Black Priscilla Maria Veronica White (27 May 1943 – 1 August 2015), better known as Cilla Black, was an English singer and television presenter. Championed by her friends the Beatles, Black began her career as a singer in 1963. Her singles "A ...

and

Rolf Harris Rolf Harris (30 March 1930 – 10 May 2023) was an Australian musician, television personality, painter, and actor. He used a variety of instruments in his performances, notably the didgeridoo and the Stylophone, and is credited with the inventi ...

. The Rolling Stones returned in 1965, this time heading the bill.

Tom Jones Tom Jones may refer to: Arts and entertainment *Tom Jones (singer) (born 1940), Welsh singer *Tom Jones (writer) (1928–2023), American librettist and lyricist *''The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling'', a novel by Henry Fielding published in 1 ...

sang at the Gaumont in 1968.

Redevelopment proposals

Since 2000,

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

has been removed from the former New Victoria / Gaumont building but it has remained unused. In 2003 the

regional development agency In the United Kingdom, regional development agencies (RDAs) were nine non-departmental public body, non-departmental public bodies established for the purpose of development, primarily economic, of England's Government Offices for the English R ...

Yorkshire Forward Yorkshire Forward was the regional development agency (RDA) for the Yorkshire and the Humber region of the United Kingdom. It supported the development of business in the region by encouraging public and private investment in education, skills, ...

bought it for £3 million and proposed to redevelop the site. Public opposition quickly formed the Bradford Odeon Rescue Group (BORG), whose campaign included a "Hug the Odeon" event in July 2007 in which an estimated 1,000 people encircled the building in a human chain. BORG's supporters include

Richard Attenborough Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough (; 29 August 192324 August 2014) was an English actor, film director, and Film producer, producer. Attenborough was the president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and the British Acade ...

George Clarke George Clarke (7 May 1661 – 22 October 1736), of All Souls, Oxford, was an English architect, print collector and Tory politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1702 and 1736. Life The son of Sir William Clark ...

and

Jonathan Foyle Jonathan Foyle is a British architectural historian, broadcaster and advocate for heritage sites. He is also an artist. Background Foyle grew up in Market Deeping in Lincolnshire and attended The Deepings School. He has a Master of Arts fr ...

. In 2009 an open public campaign began which included several websites, Twitter accounts and Facebook groups created by members of the public. As part of the public 'Save The Odeon' campaign, a series of demonstrations around the building were organised by members of the public, such as an alternative Christmas lights switch-on, projections onto the towers of the building during the opening of City Park, and pinning 'get well soon' cards and flowers to the building during maintenance works. The public campaign gathered the support of

David Hockney David Hockney (born 9 July 1937) is an English Painting, painter, Drawing, draughtsman, Printmaking, printmaker, Scenic design, stage designer, and photographer. As an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considere ...

Terry Jones Terence Graham Parry Jones (1 February 1942 – 21 January 2020) was a Welsh actor, comedian, director, historian, writer and member of the Monty Python comedy troupe. After graduating from Oxford University with a degree in English, Jones a ...

Terry Gilliam Terrence Vance Gilliam ( ; born 22 November 1940) is an American-British filmmaker, comedian, collage film, collage animator, and actor. He gained stardom as a member of the Monty Python comedy troupe alongside John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael Pa ...

Jenny Agutter Jennifer Ann Agutter (born 20 December 1952) is an English actress. She began her career as a child actress in 1964, appearing in '' East of Sudan'', '' Star!'', and two adaptations of '' The Railway Children'': the BBC's 1968 television seri ...

Michael Winner Michael Robert Winner (30 October 1935 – 21 January 2013) was an English filmmaker, writer, and media personality. He is known for directing numerous action, thriller, and black comedy films in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including several c ...

and

Imelda Staunton Dame Imelda Mary Philomena Bernadette Staunton (born 9 January 1956) is an English actress and singer. After training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Staunton began her career in repertory theatre in 1976 and appeared in various theatre pr ...

. Yorkshire Forward contracted a commercial property development company, Langtree Group, to demolish the building and redevelop the site. However, in March 2012 Yorkshire Forward was abolished as a result of

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury or HMT), and informally referred to as the Treasury, is the Government of the United Kingdom’s economic and finance ministry. The Treasury is responsible for public spending, financial services policy, Tax ...

2010 Spending Review A spending review, or occasionally a comprehensive spending review, is a governmental process in the United Kingdom carried out by HM Treasury to set firm expenditure limits and, through public service agreements, define the key improvements that ...

, and in September 2012 ownership of the building passed to the

Homes and Communities Agency Homes England is the non-departmental public body that funds new affordable housing in England. It was founded on 1 January 2018 to replace the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA). HCA in turn was established by the Housing and Regeneration Act ...

(HCA). In late 2013 the HCA sold the building to Bradford City Council for a nominal £1 on condition that the latter invest £1.32 million in its maintenance and repair. The city council invited bids to redevelop the building, retaining as much as possible of its original fabric. Two parties, Bradford Live and Bradford One, each proposed to remove the partitions and false walls inserted in 1968–69 and restore the original auditorium as a single performance space. Bradford One said the restored auditorium would provide part-standing capacity for 3107 people, or for 2,487 people all seated. Bradford Live said redevelopment would cost £20 million and claimed it could increase capacity from the original 3,318 seats to between 3,500 and 4,000. In January 2019 Bradford Live and NEC Group International working together secured £4 million funding and aimed to start construction in summer 2019. The redevelopment of the Bradford Odeon into Bradford Live suffered numerous setbacks and delays due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and parts of the existing building needing to be fully replaced rather than simply refurbished, pushing the completion of the new venue to 2024. In September 2024, when most of the refurbishment had been completed, NEC Group pulled out of the project "with immediate effect". Susan Hinchcliffe, leader of Bradford Council, stated that they would now be in discussion with several potential operators, and still intended to have the venue open to host events during Bradford City of Culture 2025. In February 2025,

Trafalgar Entertainment Trafalgar Entertainment is a British multinational entertainment group co-founded in 2017 by Sir Howard Panter and Dame Rosemary Squire after they stepped down from running Ambassador Theatre Group. Based in London, UK, the company primarily f ...

agreed to take on the operation of the building, and signed a 25-year lease with Bradford Council. They announced that the official opening would be in late August or early September, By May, the announced programme included events from 1 August.

In popular culture

The Godwin Street building, under the name New Victoria, was the subject of an episode entitled "The Palace of Dreams" in the UK TV series ''Portillo's Hidden History of Britain'', broadcast 30 November 2018 on Channel 5.

Manchester Road building

The building in Manchester Road was completed in 1938, on the site of Joseph Cooper's Central Mills Wool Combing works. It was a 2,713-seat super cinema built for Oscar Deutsch's

Odeon Cinemas Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsi ...

as a competitor to what was then the New Victoria. Odeon's house style was futuristic

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

, and this one was a

Streamline Moderne Streamline Moderne is an international style of Art Deco architecture and design that emerged in the 1930s. Inspired by Aerodynamics, aerodynamic design, it emphasized curving forms, long horizontal lines, and sometimes nautical elements. In indu ...

building designed by the architect Robert Bullivant of

Harry Weedon Harold William "Harry" Weedon (1887 – 17 June 1970) was an English architect. Although he designed a large number of buildings during a long career, he is best known for his role overseeing the Art Deco designs of the Odeon Cinemas for Oscar ...

and Partners. A ''

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

'' air raid in August 1940 seriously damaged the building, but despite wartime restrictions Deutsch had extensive repairs completed in only 10 weeks, reopening the cinema on

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between th ...

1940. Capacity was slightly reduced to 2,685 seats. Although Rank would normally have been expected to keep the Odeon open until the re-developed Gaumont had opened (as happened in other cities),

Bradford City Council City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council is the local authority of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford has had an elected council since 1847, which has been reformed on several occasions. Since 1974 it has been a metr ...

required the site and it closed on 22 March 1969 and was demolished to make way for a realignment of Manchester Road.

References

{{coord, 53, 47, 32.9, N, 1, 45, 23.4, W, region:GB_type:landmark_source:GNS, display=title Theatres completed in 1930 Theatres completed in 1938 Art Deco architecture in England Buildings and structures demolished in 1969 Cinemas in Yorkshire Concert halls in England Demolished buildings and structures in West Yorkshire Renaissance Revival architecture in the United Kingdom Odeon Cinemas Buildings and structures in Bradford History of Bradford