The history of London's West End cinemas dates back more than one hundred years. This book details all of them, in chronological order, totalling well over one hundred. The best of the West End's cinemas were outfitted to a very high standard to match their role as showcases for new films, hosting press shows and premieres, as well as a being a magnet for film enthusiasts anxious to see films on exclusive premiere runs. Even now, when films are available everywhere at the same time, the West End's cinemas are a vibrant attraction to visitors from all over the world as well as for Londoners having a night on the town. The oldest survivor is the Cineworld Haymarket, dating back to 1928 as a cinema. Other famous cinemas with a long history include the landmark Odeon Leicester Square and nearby Odeon West End as well as the Curzons in Mayfair and Soho, both replacing earlier picture houses. Many cinemas survive in other uses, such as the Rialto as a casino and the New Victoria as the Apollo Victoria live theatre. But here also are dozen of long vanished cinemas, some lasting only a few years and forgotten, others like the original Empire (1928 to 1961) - the largest cinema ever built in the West End - still living on in fond memory. There are interior views as well as exteriors of most of the cinemas, and over 50 illustrations are in full colour. This is a valuable and comprehensive addition to the history of the West End that will appeal to cinema enthusiasts as well as social historians and students of London and of architecture and design.

In the first of two volumes tracing the history of Britain's most famous cinema circuit, Allen Eyles looks at its creation in the early '30s by Oscar Deutsch and colleagues, the evolution of the distinctively modern house style in the hands of its key architects, the takeover of other cinemas, the start of the Odeon circuit release, and the impact of World War Two. This book pays tribute to some of the best buildings erected in Britain in the '30s and to Oscar Deutsch, whose long battle against ill-health culminated in his early death in 1941.
"Odeon Cinemas" is lavishly illustrated with interior and exterior photographs of almost all the new Odeons and draws extensively on unpublished material including the notes of some of Deutsch's associates and company records. It includes a detailed list of all the cinemas that were part of the Odeon circuit in Deutch's lifetime.
A second volume will follow, covering the years from 1941, when J. Arthur Rank took over control, to the present day.

There have been many changes since the first edition of this publication appeared in 1984. In addition to the closure of many more local cinemas, there has been the growth of the multiplexes so the picture is not entirely black. This book has been written by Alan Eyles, a full-time specialist researcher and writer on the history of cinema. The new edition has twice the number of pages as the first and nearly 200 photographs including many which have been uncovered by the author in the last 20 years. It includes every cinema which has opened in Hertfordshire since 1908 (when the first opened its doors) and is arranged by town for ease of reference.