The Ritz, in Woking, opened on 12 April ’37 and was located on Chobham Road at the corner of Church Street East. The Union Cinemas chain owned and ran The Ritz, who were taken over by ABC in October ’37, but The Ritz wasn’t renamed until ’62.
Like many of the ABC and Odeon cinemas it hosted package tours. On 12 March ’56, The Ritz hosted the Wakey! Wakey! package featuring Billy Cotton and his Band along with Terry O’Neill and Peggy Haig, Bea & Zelda Marvi, Kendor Bros., Fred Atkins, and Pierre Bel.
In ’72 it was closed for a few months and converted into a smaller cinema and a bingo club. The Cinema closed on 4 September ’82, but the bingo continued until ’87. The building was demolished in ’88, with Hollywood House now standing on the site.
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