{"id":54,"date":"2017-07-22T09:50:17","date_gmt":"2017-07-22T09:50:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/?p=54"},"modified":"2019-04-15T08:18:44","modified_gmt":"2019-04-15T08:18:44","slug":"top-5-historical-facts-about-odyssey-cinema-in-st-albans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/top-5-historical-facts-about-odyssey-cinema-in-st-albans\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 5 Historical Facts about Odyssey Cinema in St. Albans"},"content":{"rendered":"

Established on 27<\/i><\/b>th<\/i><\/b> of July 1908 \u2013 The Odyssey Cinema is one of the historical and entertainment sites that flourish in St. Albans.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

\"alphapicturepalace-klr-1000x463\"<\/p>\n

(Photo:\u00a0<\/strong>The Alpha Picture Palace, 1910<\/em>)<\/p>\n

Located at 166 London <\/a>Road in St. Albans<\/a> \u2013 Odyssey Cinema has been known to show a wide-range of classic yet latest movies that leave the audiences thrilled. Despite its success, Odyssey Cinema has gone through some crucial time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the list of <\/span>top 5 historical facts about Odyssey Cinema<\/b> that you may not hear of. So, grab your popcorn because this is going to <\/span>historical!<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. \u00a0<\/span> Fire Damage to The Regent Cinema<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"fire-at-the-regent-cinema1\"<\/p>\n

    Odyssey was not the first name to be used for the cinema. There are a unique history and stages of the cinema that highlight its struggle with the place, audience, finances and the name.<\/span><\/p>\n

    In 1927 when the cinema building was known as \u2018<\/span>The Regent Cinema<\/a><\/i><\/b>\u2019 the building caught on fire and it damaged most of the interior. Upon investigation, it was found out that the fire was caught due to a lit cigarette that was left flaming under a mat.<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. \u00a0<\/span> World War II \u2013\u00a0Morale Movies<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      \"Odyssey-1-2-b-w\"<\/p>\n

      Wars are bad and they\u2019re not just bad for economy, civilization, or life but it has also damaged the entertainment sector. During WWII<\/a>, most of the cinemas in Great Britain were closed for a week. This decision was taken by the military to prevent citizens from gathering at one place which could provide a chance to hypocrites and enemies to attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

      Surprisingly, Odyssey was reopened a week later specifically for the people living in Great Britain. The cinema was ordered to show movies that could boost the morale of the citizens. Odyssey also played a vital role in the WWII war by providing the citizens with shelter as well. Not only the citizens were motivated but the few troops who managed to see some movies also left the cinema with boosted morale.<\/span><\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \u00a0<\/span> The Decline of the Cinema<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        \"Odeon_exterior_1979-1024x721\"<\/p>\n

        Before the invention of television, the cinematic era was considered to be the nostalgic golden era of entertainment. But the statistics were changed with an exponential decrease in the number of the audience coming to see a movie.<\/span><\/p>\n

        Hundreds of cinemas were closed during the 60s and 70s due to the aforementioned facts. However, Odyssey in St. Albans<\/a> managed to survive but the attendance kept decreasing until the late 80s when the cinema was known as \u2018<\/span>Odeon St. Albans<\/a><\/i><\/b>\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

          \n
        1. \u00a0<\/span> Waterworld, A Permanent Shutdown<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          \"odeon-LR\"<\/p>\n

          (Photo:\u00a0<\/strong>The derelict building, 1995)<\/p>\n

          Despite the audience decline, Odyssey was going through a financial crisis as well which took fire during the 90s. There were several campaigns to support the cinema but none worked out due to lack of influence and potential.<\/span><\/p>\n

          \"waterworld.18838\"<\/p>\n

          Keeping the current circumstances and condition of the cinema at the front, The Rank Organization closed Odyssey Cinema permanently on August 20<\/span>th,<\/span> 1995. The last movie to be premiered at Odeon St Albans (Odyssey) was \u2018<\/span>Waterworld<\/i><\/b><\/a>\u2019<\/a>. There were many critics and attempts to reopen the cinema but unfortunately, the gates were kept closed for so many years.<\/span><\/p>\n

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          1. \u00a0<\/span> Re-birth of the Odyssey Cinema<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            \"ody-pic-now\"<\/p>\n

            (Photo:\u00a0<\/strong>The Odyssey Cinema, December 2014)<\/p>\n

            In 2010, James Hannaway <\/a>owner of the famous Rex Cinema \u2013 Berkhamsted along with other investors managed to buy the cinema building to reopen. Thanks to the locals and St Albans Civic Society, James renamed the building from Odeon to <\/span>The Odyssey Cinema <\/i><\/b>on September 12<\/span>th,<\/span> 2010.<\/span><\/p>\n

            \"theoryofeverything1\"<\/p>\n

            The success then followed by a series of recreational construction to revive the cinema. Finally, on December 13<\/span>th,<\/span> 2014, the was officially opened to showcase movies. The first to matin\u00e9e show was Frozen sing-along that followed by the screening of a movie based on the life of Stephen Hawking<\/a>\u00a0\u2018<\/span>The Theory of Everything<\/i><\/b>\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

            Experience the historic pictorial of one of the best and oldest Cinemas of the UK<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":56,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1052,"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54\/revisions\/1052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.a1taxis.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}