The Oxford Cinema & Café
A restored 1924 cinema on Magdalen Street, reopened in 2023 as The Oxford Cinema & Café — French Renaissance interiors, the original G. Rushton murals, and a programme of mainstream and event cinema.
The Oxford Cinema & Café occupies the former Super Cinema on Magdalen Street, near the Martyrs' Memorial and the corner of St Giles'. The original cinema opened in 1924 in a French Renaissance style, with murals by G. Rushton in the auditorium and seating for over 1,000. It hosted Oxford's first "talking picture" presentation in 1930.
The building went through several owners and a long fallow period in the late twentieth century, before a restoration project returned it to cinema use. It reopened in 2023 under independent operation as The Oxford Cinema & Café, with the original interiors substantially repaired and the café-bar a deliberate part of the experience.
What's on
Programming mixes mainstream new releases, classics, family matinees and event cinema (NT Live, opera relays, occasional concert recordings). The cinema is the newest of Oxford's screens but the building is the oldest cinema interior in the city — a pairing that gives it a distinct identity from the Phoenix Picturehouse and the Ultimate Picture Palace, both of which lean arthouse.
The café is open through the day, not only at showtimes — coffee, cakes and a short food menu in the foyer.
Visiting
The entrance is directly on Magdalen Street, opposite the Randolph and the Ashmolean and a minute's walk from Cornmarket. Public transport drops at Magdalen Street stops. There is no dedicated car park; the Worcester Street and Westgate car parks are both within walking distance.
1924 opening as the Super Cinema, French Renaissance style, G. Rushton murals, 1000+ seat capacity, 1930 first talking picture and 2023 reopening as The Oxford Cinema & Café from the Oxford Cinema & Café website's history pages.
Nearby
Within a few minutes' walk
