The Ritz Cinema, High Street, Aldershot

Later ABC / Canon / Odeon / Gala Bingo / Buzz Bingo

Aldershot Theatres Index

Above - A Google StreetView Image showing the Ritz Cinema, Aldershot and also the former Empire Theatre, Aldershot - Click to Interact.

The Ritz Cinema was built by Union Theatres next door to the Empire Theatre, on land which was previously occupied by the Royal Engineers, and opened on the 15th of May 1937. The Theatre was designed by Frank Verity and S. Beverley as a cine-variety Theatre with a fully equipped stage and an auditorium designed in the Art Deco style on two levels, stalls and one balcony. The Theatre was equipped with a Wurlitzer 3 Manual / 7 Rank Organ.

Right - Verity and Beverley's Ritz Cinema, Aldershot - From The Builder, 31st of December 1937.

The Builder reported briefly on the new Theatre in their 31st of December 1937 editions saying:- 'This cinema, for Union Cinemas, situated on a prominent site in the High-street, is entered through a double line of glass doors forming a draught lobby, thence into the entrance vestibule. From the entrance vestibule and foyer, doors lead to the stalls and staircases give access to the balcony and circle.

The auditorium is decorated in graded tones of terra cotta, peach and gold, with the seating and furnishings in harmony. The stage is fully equipped for the presentation of variety features. Air-conditioning, heating and electrical installation have been installed under the supervision of the consulting engineer, Mr. S. W. Budd. The quantity surveyor was Mr. J. Pritchard Williams, F.S.I.

Above - Verity and Beverley's Plans for the Ritz Cinema, Aldershot - From The Builder, 31st of December 1937.

The builders were Messrs. Robert Rogerson and Co., Gower-street, London, W.C., and Glasgow. Subcontractors were:— Steelwork, Rees and Kirby; concrete, B.R.C. Engineering Co., Ltd.; asphalt, General Asphalte Co.; reinforcement, Self Sentering Co., Ltd.; roofing, Turner's Asbestos Cement Co.; stonework, Girling's Ferro Concrete Co., Ltd.; " Cullamix " cement, Cement Marketing Co.; metal windows, Crittall Manufacturing Co., Ltd.; vent cowls, Braby and Co.; iron stairs, D. Sebel and Co., Ltd.; fibrous plaster, S. Wright and Co., Ltd.; decorative painting, Campbell Brothers; lightning conductors and flagstaffs, J. W. Gray and Sons, Ltd.; lantern lights, Hills Patent Glazing Co.; ornamental metalwork, Garton and Thorne; terrazzo, Art Pavements; marble, Marbolith Flooring Co.; fire equipment, Pyrene Company; stage equipment, Knight and Co., Ltd.; hardware, N. F. Ramsay and Co., Ltd.; electrical work, Troughton and Young; and heating and ventilating, G. N. Haden and Sons, Ltd.' - The Builder, 31st of December 1937.

Union Theatres were taken over by ABC in October 1937, just 6 months after the Ritz had opened, and the Theatre's name was changed to ABC at the same time. In the 1970s the balcony of the Theatre was split into three screens whilst the former stalls of the Theatre was converted for Bingo. Around this time it was known as the Canon. There are images of the Theatre during this period here, and here.

In 2002 the three screen cinema part of the building was renamed Odeon, making it the third Odeon in Aldershot over the years, see the Alexandra Music Hall, and the Empire Theatre.

The Odeon cinema part of the building closed on the 10th of July 2003 and the space was then stripped out but the Gala Bingo Club in the former stalls was still running there in 2015, later changing to a Buzz Bingo Club in 2018, but this was closed in January 2024 and the building has since remained unused.

There is a video with details and history, along with many images of the Theatre, available online here.

If you have any more information or images for this Theatre you are willing to share then please Contact Me.