Abandoned and Decaying Reel Cinema and Gala Bingo Plymouth

The history of Reel Cinema
The Royal Cinema was designed by the ABC Cinema ‘in-house’ architect WR Glen, and opened in 1938.

Large for a late 1930s provincial cinema, it sat 2,404 and was fitted with what may have been the best Compton Organ installed in any cinema.

Within a few short years many of the buildings nearby had been destroyed in the Blitz, and the Royal Cinema was one of the few pre-war buildings mentioned by name in ‘A Plan for Plymouth’, which saw it forming the nucleus of a new entertainment district.

In the 1950s the ABC chain introduced live performances to its cinemas to counteract falling audiences, and the cinema (by now known as the ABC) saw many live acts including two visits by the Beatles.

In the 1970s the building was subdivided, with the cinema reopening with three screens located above the foyer and in the former circle, while the stalls and stage were converted into a bingo hall.

This secured its future through the 1980s, a period which saw the loss of many cinemas. It has been a Cannon Cinema, and an MGM, and is now under the Reel brand.

In 2017 Plymouth City Council announced the building has been added to its Assets of Community Value register, which gives the community the right to bid for the building should it be put up for sale.