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Question: I remember at least 2 cinemas in and around the town center before the Odeon cinema was build in the early 60s. Can anyone tell me the names of those cinemas or have pictures of them. Any information will be appreciated.
Answer: Yes they were the Princess, roughly where the Civic Centre is today and the Luxor roughly where Woolworths is.
The Princess was demolished in 1962 and the Luxor in 1960.
If you click on the links below you will find more info and pictures.
Memories From: Michael Darvell
Film Review Annual
I remember the Luxor Cinema in the Marlowes, Hemel Hempstead , mainly because of what had to be done when the cinema showed a wide-screen film .
The Luxor | Because the auditorium was exceptionally narrow, there was very little room for expansion on the stage.
In the 1950s, these were the days before electrically controlled masking came into use, at least in the Essoldo run cinemas in Hemel Hempstead .
So, during the ice cream break it was possible to see a member of staff walk down the aisle, go on to the stage and with much fumbling behind the tabs, adapt the masking to a letterbox shape to accommodate the CinemaScope film when projected. As you can imagine, the resulting screen was quite tiny in comparison to today's blockbuster IMAX jobs, and very narrow and not very wide. Still, it was widescreen – of a sort.
I probably preferred the Princess Cinema which, with its stadium seating, was more in keeping with today's cinemagoing. I often used to go straight from school (I was at Apsley Grammar) generally on a Monday as the cinema opened at 5pm and I saw great double-bills such as Carousel and Carmen Jones or Tarzan with Laurel and Hardy and one memorable programme of Checkpoint with Anthony Steel and Christine with Alain Delon, which we had to see because the leading actress flashed a little bit of breast. Ooh! Happy days!
Info from a reader: Name: Richard Pickett
Address: The Prince of Wales Inn ,Meinciau Road, Mynyddygarreg,Carms.
Views: re: Luxor Cinema, I used to cycle the newsreels from the old Princess to the Luxor when I was 12!!
My brother Terry (now deceased) was projectionist there. I went on to work at the Princess when I left school and became chief projectionist at the Odeon until about 1982 when I left to work in the sound dept. at Elstree Studios.
I now own a pub in Wales where I display my souvenirs from my days in cinema and film studios......
For lots more info on The Princess, click here
A picture of The Luxor is included in our Old Marlowes pics, just click here | 