ABC Cinema Stoke Newington

Film & cinema, History of Hackney

Some stunning photos of the ABC on Kingsland Road, Stoke Newington from dusashenka on Flickr1963 1972 1983 1984 1986 See more Hackney cinemas here: http://www.yeahhackney.com/hackney-history-cinemas/

18 Comments

  1. … and today from Traxcitement“

  2. http://cinematreasures.org/theater/14878/This is a great website for the history of these old cinemas. There was once an abundance of cinemas within walking distance of the ABC on the Main Road: The Odeon Dalston, The Tatler (Rio), The Colliseum was literally a stones throw away and further towards Stoke Newington there was another cinema that is now a colourful mosque.

  3. I’d like to say a very big thank you to @ewebber and dusashenka for these photographs because I have wondered what happened to that cinema for many years.During 1975/76 I lived with my first girlfriend in Dunsmure Road on Stamford HIll and we were regular visitors to the ABC pictured, along with the Odeon Holloway Road (via the then 253 bus).It is wonderful to be able to follow the history of the cinema from its working life to its standing even now albeit in a different form.What a joy this website is and thanks to everybody who contributes to it.

  4. @piecesofeight glad you are enjoying the site 🙂

  5. http://www.flickr.com/photos/traxcitement/5526311988/sizes/m/in/photostream/I think this is the ABC Stoke Newington (usherettes have ABC on their tops).My Nan worked at the Classic (Rio) and the ABC (Savoy).

  6. Walked past the ABC every day on the way to school. Vividly remember the Revenge of the Jedi posters outside the venue!

  7. This cinema holds many memories for me.  I remember going with my little brother to see CONAN THE BARBARIAN. It was a AA cert. We were too young to see it.  I was 12 and my brother 11. But we gave false dates of birth to the manager when he asked. He didn’t believe us but let us in. It was only us two in the cinema and some dodgy man in a Mac in the front seats. When the lights went down and the music Boomed I started TO GET WORRIED. But I made sure I never went to those toilets by myself . They were like some thing out a SAW movie. The only time I saw this cinema packed was when my sisters sneeked me into see GREASE 1978.movies I saw thereSUPERMAN and SUPERMAN 2CREEPSHOWBATTLE BEYOND THE STARSFLASH GORDONBATTLE STAR GALATICA ….what CRAP!I kept going there every week after school to see if THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was gonna be on. They never showed it . Had to go to the RIO DALSTON instead. The movie projector kept breaking down. Then I went again with my dad who was pissed after he just came out the Victoria pub. He didn’t know what hit him.  By the time RETURN OF THE JEDI  was on there I had already advanced to watching it at the DOMINION THEATRE.

  8. @richfly222 I also saw Grease at the ABC with my sister!Just looking at the 1963 photograph of the cinema it has a very strong Art Deco look.

  9. My wife used to go there in the early 80s I think, if it was the one that showed a lot of King fu movies then.

  10. @marty21 the cinema that showed the Kung Fu films was the Apollo which is just a bit further down the road towards Stoke Newington; it is now the Aziziye Mosque.http://www.yeahhackney.com/apollo-cinema-stoke-newington The ABC showed regular films (apart from a short period showing Bollywood films) and wasalways in competition with the Odeon in Kingsland Road both of which had Saturday morning pictures for children.Here’s the song we used to sing/shout on Saturday mornings before the films started…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzWjw7AO_Xo More on Saturday morning pictures at the ABC here… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAhZ41IaKEg and the kids are are all wearing their ABC Minors badges too!”

  11. cheers @traxcitement – just chatted to mrs21 – she did go to the Apollo as well – she saw a Stephen King film called Cujo there – and afterwards a group of teens were terrified when they saw a huge dog nearby !

  12. I used to go to an ABC cinema in Bath when I was a nipper – same song I think.

  13. In the 1950s there were about 17 OR 18 cinemas along the road from Dalston to Stamford Hill, including tha ABC. Opposite Stoke Newington Police Station was the unusual Vogue Continental. This unique cinema showed only foreign films and all the signs were written in french. I think a small section of the sign remains. I will look for it when I next pass. I’m not sure that I can remember all the names of these ‘picture palaces’. ( What a delightfully descriptive name this is)

  14. Yes, the sign is still there, it is above the Testi kebab shop on the corner of Batley Road and Stoke Newington High Road. I recall going there to see ‘The Golem’, an Israeli horror film!

  15. How interesting, here it is.”

  16. An opening date is not known for the Majestic Cinema, but it is listed in the Kinematograph Yearbook 1937 edition as operating with a seating capacity of 700 on one level. The corner entrance was a conversion of an end of terrace shop unit with the auditorium constucted behind. By 1940 it had been taken over by Capital & Provincial Cinemas Ltd and re-named Vogue Cinema. Capital & Provincial Cinemas Ltd became Classic Cinemas and specialised in re-runs of classic Hollywood films. It had become the Vogue Repertory Cinema by 1945 and the seating capacity had been reduced to 451. In the mid-1950’s it went over to screening mainly foreign films and was re-named the Vogue Continental. It closed on 21st June 1958 as a protest by Classic Cinemas against the landlord’s rent rise. The last programme to be screened was Katharine Hepburn in “The Little Minister” and Noelle Middleton in “You Can’t Escape”. The building was shuttered and remained so for 42 years! It was thought by cinema afficianados that the Vogue was the longest closed-down/unused cinema building to exist in London. Signage still hung onto the building proclaiming it to be the Vogue Continental Cinema, although most of the neon tubing had been broken. In November 2000 work began to convert the building into a restaurant and residential use. An extra floor was built on top of the auditorium that created living units and the ground floor became a Turkish restaurant named Testi. A nice touch by the new owners was to restore the ‘Vogue’ vertical sign. cinematreasures.orgAccording to a comment at the above link this is a picture from 1983:Vogue Cinema Stoke Newington Was this number of cinemas usual for a London neighbourhood at the time or was Stoke Newington a place to go to see a film?“

  17. @king4acknee @jamieb There is a topic already on the Vogue over here http://www.yeahhackney.com/majestic-vogue-stoke-newington/. And more on other cinema here http://www.yeahhackney.com/hackney-history-cinemas/

  18. I am hoping that the VOGUE sign will be added to the local list as it has aesthetic and historical appeal.

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