Cinema staff on their final day

THE films have rolled for 89 years – and there was barely a dry eye in the house on Tuesday when the final credits played out at the Odeon cinema, Parkway, which has shut for good.

The cinema, and adjoining bingo hall, have been earmarked for demolition.  In its place will rise a development of affordable and student housing, and a new entertainment venue with a range of uses and an entrance on Inverness Street.

One usher, who did not want to be named, told the New Journal: “It’s been a  great place to work – a nice crowd comes in and everyone who works here loves films, so we always have something to chat about. “I think everyone is feeling pretty sad, pretty nostalgic – it really hit home how this is the end of all these years of films here. It’s hard not to feel a bit teary when you consider all the people who have come in and watched something they will always remember. It is really emotional.”

The cinema originally opened in 1937 and was called the Gaumont: some opening night glitz was provided by the appearances of comedian Will Hay and the actor Lilli Palmer. Cinema architects William Trent, Sydney Trent and Daniel McKay drew up the original plans which included an auditorium for more than 2,000 people.

The money-no-object design included a £10,000 fit-out for one stage and an organ by Willesden-based organ-maker, John Compton.

The Mayor of St Pancras FW Fincham cut the ribbon on the opening night and punters flocked in to see Showboat, starring Paul Robeson, a James Dunn film called The Two Fisted Gentleman and a Mickey Mouse short.

The Parkway Odeon in the 2010s

A Saturday morning film club for children cost 3p to get in and zookeepers from London Zoo brought a penguin chick down to meet the children – it became a club mascot and children were invited to suggest names for the baby bird.  Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the cinema also held concerts, featuring stars such as Bob Hope and the orchestra leader Mantovani.

A bingo hall opened in the 1980s in part of the cinema, which missed out on being listed due to alterations carried out in the 1960s. And then the cinema closed for two years in the 1990s until independent film operator Peter Walker saw its potential and reopened it as The Gate. The Odeon chain took it on in 1997.

Staff, who have been relocated to other Odeons in London, spent this week packing up the pic’n’mix and getting ready to hand the site over to developers Shaw.

And while the films have stopped for now, this year the empty cinema is set to be given “meantime” uses, including a May Day film festival, screening the World Cup and one-off music events.