Transformation of former Zanzibar club into Cosmo restaurant nears completion

“@OlliB1, ha! Ha! I remember those serials, Zorrow, Lone Ranger, Flash Gordon "Cliff hangers"!”

“I can remember being dumped there of a Saturday morning. The films used to be serials at the end of each episode the hero loked like he had died iehad actually gone off a cliff then the next week the car or whatever would miracuously just turn away in time. I saw Flash Gordon and Starwars there too among others. The que used to be all the way along the road sometimes.”

“Sorry again, looking at the map I realise that the side/rear entrance was on Exchange Street not Albion Street (Exchange Street continues on from Albion Street). This now leads up hill into the Eagle/Westfield centre. The map on the Cinema Treasures website shows the location of the ABC/Regal as Exchange Street, not East Street. This is either a misplacement of the marker or the map shows the location of the rear entrance?”

“@bobbyj, you are quite correct, thanks for correcting me and jogging my memory! I remember going to the ABC, but can't remember going to the cinema when it was the Regal. I do remember the Compton Organ that used to rise out of the floor in front of the screen.

My confusion was due to a side entrance or back exit to the cinema on Albion Street, near to where the entrance to the Eagle Centre/Westfield is now and this had a small ABC sign over it. I think it was located at about the same spot as the clock with railwaymen movement (which no longer works).

I saw Sinbad at the Gaumont in 1964 and I think it was still called the Gaumont when I watched "The First Men In The Moon" (starring Lionel Jeffreys) but it was called the Odeon when I watched 2001 a Space Odyssey and several Jams Bond films. The cinema website gives a pretty good history of the Gaumont and covers the names and uses the building was put to.

The Coliseum was originally a church,but this was demolished to make room for Bradshaw Way, but later it was realised that the demolition was not necessary (a criminal waste). The Marks & Spencer's opening to Westfield now stands on this site.
The Superama on Colyear Street (next to the Pennine Hotel Bar) was also a popular cinema during the 1970s, I watched 2001 for the second time here, and I was a regular at the Friday Night Horror shows that ran until the early hours of a Saturday morning (2.30am).

I am pleased that the building is being restored and hopefully it will be a success, I look forward to trying the cuisine at this new venue.”

“Sorry for the repeat entry modern technology.”

“Derby_born, The Regal on East Street was also known as The ABC, and there was no cinema in Albion Street.The above building, Gaumont Palace, Gaumont, Odeon, Trocedero Centre with a Cannon cinema and finally an ABC cinema.
Within the footprint of the Eagle centre { now skippyvill} were The White Hall later Odeon now BHS, The Regal- ABC and The Colosseum. All Derby's cinemas history can be found on the Cinema Treasures website.”

“Derby_born, The Regal on East Street was also known as The ABC, and there was no cinema in Albion Street.The above building, Gaumont Palace, Gaumont, Odeon, Trocedero Centre with a Cannon cinema and finally an ABC cinema.
Within the footprint of the Eagle centre { now skippyvill} were The White Hall later Odeon now BHS, The Regal- ABC and The Colosseum.”

“Derby_born, The Regal on East Street was also known as The ABC, and there was no cinema in Albion Street.The above building, Gaumont Palace, Gaumont, Odeon, Trocedero Centre with a Cannon cinema and finally an ABC cinema.
Within the footprint of the Eagle centre { now skippyvill} were The White Hall later Odeon now BHS, The Regal- ABC and The Colosseum”

“The website, Cinema Treasures gives a full history and explains the takeover by the Odeon:

"As audiences began to dwindle, other Derby cinemas began to close but the Gaumont fought back by running concerts including Little Richard, the Everly Brothers, Cliff Richard, Gene Pitney, the Kinks, Roy Orbison, the Walker Brothers and the Who.

When the Rank Organisation closed the nearby Odeon Cinema on St. Peter Street, the Gaumont was renamed Odeon in 1965".
http://tinyurl.com/clhpqx2

I watched The Voyages of Sinbad at the Gaumont in 1964, a special screening when 2,000 kids watched the film for free thanks to a Billy Butlin Marketing exercise.
It is good to see that the new owner is taking so much care to preserve the history of this place, and I look forward to trying their cuisine when they open.”

“Definitely the Gaumont Palace, later renamed the Odeon.
There is a plaque on the wall of this building that tells of its history,the plaque was placed during the Centenary of the British Film Institute and it states the following:
on this site stood the Gaumont Palace, Derby's first super cinema, opened September 17th 1934.
Here is a link to a photo of the plaque http://tinyurl.com/buafnom

There is a website that gives a history of this cinema, with a photo:
http://tinyurl.com/clhpqx2

"Derby's grandest super cinema, the Gaumont Palace, opened on 17th September 1934 with Jessie Matthews in "Evergreen". It had taken a year to build using over 500 tons of steel, a million bricks and 5,000 tons of concrete according to the publicity at the time. Built on a difficult sloping site, the scale of the building for Derby was quite monumental, the impact of the building was reduced by a large central recess flanked by the staircase towers either side. A flight of white stone steps led up to the impressive marble and walnut lobby.

The auditorium was dominated by the stunning deco ceiling with its long central recess filled with over 500 light bulbs, the Gaumont publicity department boasted that it was "the most beautifully lit theatre front of its size in the kingdom" and the auditorium was a 'fairyland of light'".
The Cinema on East Street was the Regal and the one on Albion Street was the ABC.”