Odean Cinema, Dalston

Film & cinema, History of Hackney

Does anyone know where this cinema was?

Photo by dusashenka

See more Hackney cinemas here: http://www.yeahhackney.com/hackney-history-cinemas/

9 Comments

  1. Yes. This was directly opposite what is now the Kingsland Road entrance to Dalston Junction station. It sat between Stamford Road (the road going off left in the foreground) and Tottenham Road just visible to the right of the cinema) at the point where they both meet Kingsland Road. It was open in the late Seventies, when I saw Carrie there. I’m not sure when it closed. The other cinema in Dalston at that time was, I think, the ABC, was at the south end of Stoke Newington High Street, about 50 yards north of the the traffic lights junction with Crossways and Shacklewell Lane, on the west side of the road. I don’t know when it shut, but I saw Saturday Night Fever there when it first came out. Both these were pre-Rio days. The latter cinema was, in around 2000 ish, .a large carpet warehouse, I think. Both were pretty good old-fashoned flea-pits, as they were called.

  2. @debeauvoirian pics of the ABC are in this forum http://www.yeahhackney.com/abc-stoke-newington – I think it closed in the early 80’s

  3. so, this is what it looks like now:

  4. Yes. Spot on

  5. What a beautiful building.

  6. I used to go to saturday morning pictures here it used to get packed out, if the films got boring everyone would start kicking the seats and chanting \Tottenham” “Arsenal” etc. it turned into a riot and the Manager would turn off the film and come out and tell us off and threaten to chuck us all out before switching the film back on. Generally though the shows were good value entertainment.

  7. I lived on Kingsland Road, opposite the Waste, and went to De Beauvoir School on Tottenham Rd between ’79 and ’86. I’m sure it was shut when I started school…but remember it well for its sheer size. Then it was boarded and demolished early ’80s, much to my grandparents’ disappointment – and comments about the ‘good old days’.

  8. The Dalston Odeon was never a ‘fleapit’ but a picture palace. Almost opposite, was the Plaza ( I think that was the Name), now this was a ‘fleapit’ or ‘bug hutch’ as we used to say!

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