Odeon in Harrogate / United Kingdom

The Odeon in Harrogate opened on 28th September 1936. The one hall had a total of 1,647 seats -  1,049 in the stalls and 598 in the circle.

First shown movie was the British comedy film Where’s Sally. 

Oscar Deutsch (1893-1941) was the owner of this cinema and the founder of Odeon Cinemas in 1928. 

1937, there were 250 Odeons, including the flagship cinema in Leicester Square, London, making Odeon one of the three largest cinema chains in the United Kingdom.

Like the majority of Odeon's cinemas, the Odeon Harrogate was built in the Streamlined Moderne style and was designed by Harry Weedon and W Calder Robson. Harry Weedon (1887-1970) became involved with the Odeon chain in 1934 and his company produced designs for some of the finest buildings of the period. Influenced by the work of Erich Mendelsohn and Hans Poelzig – the Odeons "taught Britain to love modern architecture".

The auditorium of Odeon Harrogate was divided in August 1972 with screen 1 forming the former circle and the front stalls with seating for 532 and screen 2 and 3 formed under the circle with 108 seats each. In 1989, the circle and front stalls were separated into 2 screens making 4 in total. Odeon Harrogate has since been modernised and has 5 screens today.

The building was awarded Grade-II listed status on 24 May 1988.

The postcard is a PHQ card (PHQ 178). PHQ (Postal Headquarters) cards are postcards issued by the British Post Office and represent the motifs of their commemorative stamps. 

This Postcard (and stamp) were issued in 1996 in a series of 5 stamps on the topic 100 Years of Cinema.