It is the end of an era for the UK cinema industry after the last remaining ABC cinema closed its doors in Bournemouth last month, following its final screening of Back to the Future just under 90 years after ABC (Associate British Cinema) began. The cinema in Bournemouth is set to be redeveloped into flats following its closure, but its owners Elstree Studios will continue on with its extensive work in media production.
Elstree Studios formed ABC under the ownership John Maxwell, and the cinemas were a regular feature on most British highstreets when ABC was in its prime, serving a great purpose in the industry for many years. The company was known as ‘The British Hollywood’ at the time and was the biggest producer of feature films here in the UK, so the legacy that has been left behind by ABC cinemas will certainly live on for some time.
“The closure of the last ABC cinema is the end of an era, and perhaps a reminder of the golden era of British Film production,” commented Roger Morris, the Managing Director at Elstree Studios. “However, we celebrate the success of our new Film and TV era for this millennium, with amazing talent, award winning production and new technology reaching a worldwide audience. Elstree Studios has a great past and a great future.”
Roger Morris was the former owner of Teddington Studios up until 2006, and ABC operated TV production sites at Teddington as well as Elstree, so Morris’ involvement within ABC cinemas was very big. Everybody involved with ABC over the years will certainly be sad to see things come to an end, however the future of British cinema is certainly still looking very positive, and we can of course look back very fondly on the era that was ABC.
