ABC Cinemas, also known as Associated British Cinemas, was a prominent cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1927 by John Maxwell, a solicitor who merged three smaller Scottish cinema circuits. The company grew rapidly during the 1930s through acquisitions and an ambitious building program under the direction of chief architect W. R. Glen1.
ABC Cinemas became a wholly owned subsidiary of the Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC) in 1937. By the 1940s, it operated over 400 cinemas and was second only to Rank's Odeon and Gaumont chains1. The company also ran cinemas under the Ritz brand.
In the 1950s, ABC Cinemas started rebranding most of its cinemas as ABC and dropped names like Regal. The company expanded into television with the creation of ABC Television Limited, which gained the Independent Television contracts for the North of England and Midlands at the weekend1.
The brand name was reused in the 1990s until 2000, when it was merged with Odeon Cinemas. The ABC Cinemas brand was eventually phased out in 20211.
