- Granada, Tooting
The Granada Cinema in
Tooting , an area in the borough ofWandsworth ,London was one of the great luxurious cinemas built in the 1930s.History
It opened on 7 September 1931, as one of the Granada chain, with the film "Monte Carlo" and screened movies sometimes with Stage shows or organ recitals until it closed as a cinema on 10 November 1973 (showing "The Good, The Bad and The Ugy"). The organ was a
Wurlitzer theatre organ that had originally been used inSacramento , California. It had a full size stage on which a number of theatrical productions were performed. The normal program consisted of either twofeature films , or one with avariety show .The Building
The building, which became the first cinema to be preserved and given a Grade I listing, was designed by Cecil Masey in the
Art Deco style with four Corinthian style pillars over the entrance. It was the interior, however that was (and is still) spectacular. This was designed byTheodore Komisarjevsky , a set designer, making use of ornamental plasterwork by Clark and Fenn. It has marble foyers both at the main and balcony entrances, and a hall of mirrors and deep ceilings more suitable for a palace than a cinema.The seating capacity was over 3000, and was often completely sold-out. Stars such as
Frank Sinatra ,Danny Kaye ,The Andrew Sisters andCarmen Miranda gave concerts there.After closing as a cinema the building became as a bingo hall.References
* "The Granada Theatres", Allen Eyles pp. 42-49 (Cinema Theatre Association, 1998) ISBN 0-85170-680-0
External links
* [http://www.scottishcinemas.org.uk/uk/london/tooting/index.html Granada Tooting at Scottish Cinemas]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/articles/2007/07/11/britain_london_granada_video_feature.shtml BBC How We Built Britain excerpt covering Granada Tooting]
* [http://cinematreasures.org/theater/9424/ Granada Tooting at Cinema Treasures]
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