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The HISTORY of REDDITCH New Town

Redditch Cinemas - The Danilo Cinema

The facade is still
r e c o g n i s a b l e
today, only the
name has
changed.

In 1936, Mortimer Dent, a cinema owner and operator, decided to register a new
company, The Danilo (Redditch) Ltd. The Danilo opened on Saturday 4th February 1937,
and Redditch was proud to have a second Super Cinema like the Danilo. Southam Morris
Associated Cinemas, took over the Danilo circuit in October 1947, then in March 1954
the Essoldo purchased the Danilo but the Danilo name did not come down until around
1961 when it was known as the Essoldo. A complete refurbishment took place in 1962,
then in April 1972 the Essoldo chain was taken over by Classic, thus just to confuse, the
Danilo became Redditch's second “Classic” Cinema.
In the 1970s, Classic attempted to make better use of their buildings by twinning or
tripling screens in their cinemas, thus it was that, in June 1973, the Classic Cinema in
Redditch was Triple screened. The Classic re-opened on Thursday 5th July 1973, as a
three screen cinema, In early 1983, the Classic was given a £100,000 facelift. New
high-backed luxury seating was installed, as was Dolby Stereo sound. When the Cannon
Cinema Circuit bought the Classic Circuit in 1984 the Classic was the only cinema in the

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