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New Victoria / Gaumont / Odeon Prince's Way (formerly New Victoria Street) Bradford. Quick Links to other sections on this page . . .
In Part 1 - New Victoria / Gaumont Era 1930 to 1968
 Introducing Odeon The Conversion The £370,000 conversion or 'twinning' of the former New Vic/Gaumont was pretty unique in itself at that particular time in that the previously giant auditorium was split into three units. The former stalls area was converted into the Top Rank Bingo Club with capacity for over 1,000 players. This was the first such conversion in the Rank cinema chain to have a Bingo & Social Club under the same roof as a twinned cinema. The Bingo operation having been transferred from the Majestic (former Morley Street Picture House) a short distance away. The Bingo area was to open at the end of 1969 after the twin cinemas. 
The upper part of the auditorium was levelled at front circle level and its giant width split into two separate auditoria with one significantly larger than the other. This side-by-side splitting of the original auditorium was the first in this country and only possible due to the exceptional width (150 feet at the rear of the stalls) of the original. Other cinemas were conventionally twinned by simply splitting stalls and circle areas by 'drop walling' as it became known. A complete new shell was built inside the old auditorium and damaging but not totally destroying all the original architecture. The false roof of the new shell is below the original New Victoria ceiling and dome, the shape of which still exists. Inside this shell two cinemas, Odeon 1 and 2 were created. The original entrances in the domed towers were now used for entry to the Bingo with main access via the tower nearest the Alhambra. The former restaurant was later converted to a machine bingo hall with its own entrance near the Thornton Road end. A new and enlarged entrance had been created for the Odeon twin cinemas in the same location as the original Ballroom entrance between the two towers. The entrance was to have a large illuminated canopy and a very large double width Read-o-Graph backlit advertising sign above. A new double staircase leading up to the new foyer following the natural curve of the original auditorium ending with a licensed bar in the former tea room area of the octagonal domed tower. The lounge bar wall was decorated with bold 'op art' murals designed by Trevor Stone. 
From the newly created upper lounge/waiting area at first floor level, Odeon 1 was accessed by a single double door entering at the left hand side of the very plain auditorium broken only by the festoon curtain illuminated by coloured spotlights. The larger Odeon 2 was accessed by a pair of double doors and up a few steps to a central vomitory. First impressions inside the auditorium were of its immense length from the back with stepped seating to the raked front section. There was no proscenium as such and screen was surrounded by wall-to-wall rising curtains. Both Odeon 1 and 2 (and later Odeon 3) had the added attraction of deep orange 'luxury' seats at the prime viewing position at extra cost to the discerning patron. In both auditoria the stadium style (stepped) seating extended downwards from the former balcony level over the old circle and down to the new screens positioned in front of the original proscenium opening leaving the original huge stage area behind unused. The original circle is still in tact in a building 'void' and is accessible via an access door in a storeroom between Odeon 1 and the later Odeon 3 addition. 
The new twin cinemas originally had 1207 gold seats in Odeon 2 and 467 silver seats in Odeon 1. Both had separate new projection rooms built at the uppermost rear of what was the old balcony. The Odeon twins were fitted with giant screens and first generation Dolby surround sound was added later. For a short period of time Odeon 1 (the smaller twin, surprisingly) was capable of showing 70mm super definition widescreen films but this feature was later removed after the supply of new 70mm prints dried up. The 'throw', that is the projection distance from the lens to the screen, of Odeon 2 was greater than that of the original Gaumont due to the new projection room being right at the very top back of the auditorium and so much higher than the original and as such was one of the longest in the country at around 150 feet. Opening of Odeon 1 & 2 Odeon 1More 70mm Super Panavision films were shown, each lasting for a short season.  Derek Mann was the manager of the new twins, he had previously been manager of the Gaumont immediately prior to its conversion. A Social Gaffe! A feature of Odeon 1 and 2 at its opening was that it pioneered (at least outside London) the concept of advance booking for a cinema seat - quite a novelty in 1969. However historical research shows that several Bradford suburban cinemas had a booking system for their 'best' seats on Saturday nights as far back as the 1920's. The new Odeon provided a cloakroom for patrons in the new foyer though this did not last very long and soon became the handyman's room. Additionally, the Odeon had its own licensed bar in the former tea room/café (in the octagonal tower facing the Alhambra) exclusively for its patrons.  Later, Odeon 2 had its seating capacity reduced to 1000 to meet new fire regulations. 1982 More Flood Damage  The Bingo & Social Club closed for a few days for a massive clean-up but the Odeon Film Centre upstairs continued without interruption as power supplies and access were not affected. Adding Odeon 3 On Thursday 23rd June 1988 the new Odeon 3 opened with the local premier of . . . "Crocodile Dundee II" - 1988 Australia/USA Color 110 mins.The remaining Odeons 1 & 2 closed that evening in order to give maximum prominence to the new cinema's gala opening. The manager at this time was still Derek Mann who had been in post since Gaumont days. The seating of Odeon 3 was in red to contrast with the silver seats of Odeon 1 and gold seats of Odeon 2. Each auditorium had additional "luxury" seats available at increased cost. Thereafter as an Odeon triple unit it has shown most of the major top films to Bradford audiences including special lettings to the Asian community for their own films and visits by 'Bollywood' screen stars. Later managers of the Odeon triple have included Dale Burton, Cliff Baillie and Phil Westhead. Odeon used for Church Worship Senior Citizen Film Shows In fact, the shows and their simple concept were so successful they have been copied by many other Odeon cinemas across the country. Bradford was the first in exploring this new field and many of its regular senior citizen supporters also had fond memories of when it was the New Victoria and Gaumont. The final Senior Citizen performance on the morning of Wednesday 28th June 2000 was preceded an electronic organ recital and sing-a-long by Dr. Arnold Loxam once a resident "Mighty Wurlitzer" organist (click here for more details of the Wurlitzer organ) back in the New Victoria/Gaumont days. The large audience in Odeon 2 gave Arnold (now a sprightly nonagenarian) a standing ovation then settled down to enjoy the film . . . "The Sixth Sense" - 1999 USA Technicolor 107 mins.This nostalgic finale achieved much press, radio and television coverage much to the annoyance of Odeon Cinemas Ltd senior management who preferred a quiet closure - clearly they had totally underestimated the feelings of local people who wanted to finish in style. Since the closure of the Odeon 123, senior citizen shows have continued at the new Odeon 13-screen multiplex at Thornbury and also at the nearby Pictureville cinema in the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television. Final Closure In the final week the Odeon's three screens were showing . . . "Chicken Run" - 2000 UK Technicolor 84 mins.The very last film to be shown was "Chicken Run" in Odeon 2 (the largest auditorium) on Sunday 2nd July 2000. An invited guest in the audience was 77 year old Norman Scurrah who as a 7-year old boy had been brought to the opening of the New Victoria in 1930. Mr Scurrah completed his cinema hat-trick by being a guest at the opening of the new Odeon 13-screen multiplex at Thornbury the following week. A touching finale was outside on the giant Read-o-Graph display sign above the entrance with the message . . . New Victoria . . . and the future? Equally there are many who feel this building should be saved and restored to its former self by stripping out all the internal conversion work and restoring the original 3000+ seat theatre to double as a concert and conference hall and large enough to attract big-name orchestras, bands and world class performers on their UK tours that our present city theatre and halls cannot accommodate. After all, Sheffield has seen the light and has invested in a multi-million Pound refurbishment of its City Hall and retain the dance hall underneath as was demanded by its citizens. This is Bradford's last chance to save the building and recreate a prestige showpiece building of which the city can again be proud and to compliment the Alhambra and St George's Hall and so attract more visitors to our city. Oh, and its name? . . . . . well, it has to be New Victoria, of course. Surely Bradford folk would want nothing else. Will some common sense prevail, I wonder? The Bradford Odeon Rescue Group (BORG) was set up in 2004 to liase with Bradford Centre Regeneration Company and Bradford Council to represent the many thousands of people who wish to save and restore the building. Their efforts and difficulties encountered are detailed on the BORG webpage and are well worth reading. Origins of the Cinema Names Local tales that the Bradford New Victoria was named after the nearby statue of Queen Victoria and Victoria Square are quite erroneous. New Victoria Street was named after the newly built cinema as the street was previously called Brewery Street when Whittaker's Brewery was on the site. Another rumour was that New Victoria was so called to distinguish it from the Victoria cinema further up Thornton Road at Girlington. This is likewise incorrect! Interestingly the Girlington cinema was actually advertising itself in the Telegraph & Argus as New Victoria on the very day that the city centre New Victoria opened but soon changed to just calling itself Victoria Girlington. Having explained all that, most Bradford folk simply called their new theatre "New Vic" for short and that affectionate name is still talked and written about today. Odeon - Based on the Latin 'Odeium' and Greek 'Odeion' as in the famous Odeion of Herodes Atticus, the huge open air theatre at the foot of the Acropolis in Athens. It had been used earlier as a theatre name, eg. Odeon in Paris. A business friend of Deutsch had also seen the name Odeon in Tunis and recommended it particularly as it started with the initials of Oscar Deutsch. Thus the name was adopted by Oscar Deutsch (of Birmingham) founder of the Odeon Cinemas circuit. The name Odeon has been jokingly used as an acronym for "Oscar Deutsch Entertains (or Entertaining) Our Nation" and as such is fairly well known. The fact is that the first Odeon at Perry Barr was opened before the chain of cinemas grew and long before someone thought of the acronym which actually turned out to be quite appropriate in later years. After the death of Oscar Deutsch in 1941 the Odeon circuit was sold to J. Arthur Rank and later joined with Gaumont to become CMA - Circuit Management Association and the largest circuit in the country. Reference Sources & Acknowledgements May not be copied or reproduced without permission.
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It was not until 1988 that a use was found for the empty and disused Ballroom. It was converted into the 244 seater Odeon 3 by the addition of a raked (sloping) floor, suspended ceiling, new projection room, widescreen and the now ubiquitous Dolby (not digital) surround sound. The newly built proscenium and screen were positioned uncomfortably high due to emergency exit stairs underneath. This also restricted the height (and thus the width) of the screen which was considered small for the size of auditorium. The new cinema still retained the ornate wall pillars of the original ballroom and was more cosy and intimate than the other two auditoria.
Now over five years later (Nov 2005) there is much speculation as to what will happen to this unique landmark building. There are repeated threats to demolish it to make way for more bars, offices and apartments which many feel is quite inappropriate on this valuable and prestige site in Bradford's 'West End' entertainment quarter. The building still proudly displays its Bradford City Heritage plaque.