Around the corner at the Odeon

LONDON, England (CNN) -- In this month's edition of The Screening Room, we met an old and treasured resident of Leicester Square: the Odeon Cinema's Compton Organ.

Glowing like a jitterbug and booming into every corner of the cinema, the machine is a dazzling feature of the premiere center of London. Donald MacKenzie, the instrument's key master, spoke to CNN about his historic charge.

"This fantastic instrument was built in 1937," says Mackenzie. "Organs were installed in cinemas to replace orchestras for accompanying silent films."

But the dawn of the talkies meant that organs were no longer needed, and many were removed. "There were 500 to 600 cinema organs installed in the UK. Now there are just a handful of them in their original installations," said the organist. "This one has survived because it's been used and favored by the public."

"When we have a silent film, a feature or one of the shorts from a concert, I sit down in the pit and accompany the action on the screen," MacKenzie explained. "But for a premiere night or an ordinary film night I just play the audience in."

He recently performed at the premiere of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," while star Daniel Radcliffe and his fellow cast members took their seats before the audience embarked on another journey to Hogwarts.

Each organist has a favorite playlist, and MacKenzie is no exception. "My signature tune that I use was written in the 1930s by one of the organists in the Odeon circuit. It's called 'Around the corner at the Odeon,'" he told CNN.

The organ's intricate piping system consists of 1,300 pipes and 300 keys. It can play an astounding array of sound effects, from sirens to steam boats.

The instrument has charmed audiences of all ages, and MacKenzie believes this is down to its unique and somewhat nostalgic cinematic experience. "You've got the young people in the cinema who have never seen anything like this before and this great beam lights up from the base of the theatre and plays happy tunes, and you have the older generation who remember it up to the 1960s," he said.

MacKenzie's romance with the Leicester Square Compton Organ goes back a long way. "I first encountered this organ when I was a teenager and loved the sound of it," he told CNN.

"I still think it's the most fantastic instrument full of multifaceted tones." And he remains fiercely proud of his Compton. "It certainly wasn't the biggest of cinema organs, but I think it's the best." E-mail to a friend