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Union Terrace Gardens, c. 1910
1736 A view of Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen. The centre of the picture is dominated by the prestigious Palace Hotel on Union Street, which was built in 1873 by Pratt & Keith, drapers. In 1891, the hotel was acquired by the Great North of Scotland Railway Company and quietly established a high reputation for itself. The building was destroyed by fire in 1941 and was never rebuilt. The gardens themselves have always been a popular meeting and walking place in the centre of town for city residents and visitors alike. The arches to the right are those which support Union Terrace. The Palace Cinema
2810 The exterior of the Palace Cinema, Bridge Place, Aberdeen. The photograph most likely dates from the 1950s.
Many thanks to correspondent Philip Wright for identifying the car on the right as an Austin Cambridge A40 or A50. These cars went into production in 1954.
The Palace Cinema
2811 The exterior of the Palace Cinema, Bridge Place, Aberdeen. The cinema is advertising showings of It Always Rains on Sundays, a film starring Googie Withers and Jack Warner and released in 1947. This gives the photograph an approximate date. The canopy also advertises Jitterbugs which was a Laurel and Hardy film from earlier in the decade. Aberdeen Theatres: The Palace Theatre building
3387 The former Palace Theatre as seen on 14th July 2018 from outside the Royal Hotel on Bath Street. The building was designed by John Rust and opened in 1898. It was on the site of an earlier music hall, the People's Palace, which had burned down two years before. The building has seen much development and varied use over the years.
It showed variety and "legitimate" theatre at different points during the earlier 20th century. It was rebuilt and opened as a cinema in 1929 and was substantially extended in 1931.
The cinema closed down in 1959 and it was converted into a dance hall and later a nightclub. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regal / ABC / Cannon
3396 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Shiprow entrance to the Regal cinema in February 1961. The cinema is advertising showings of Saturday Night, Sunday Morning with Albert Finney, Linda with Carol White and Alan Rothwell, and Pathé News.
The Regal was opened on Monday 26th June 1954 by Associated British Cinema (ABC). The opening of this substantial cinema was the conclusion of a long and much delayed enterprise.
This Shiprow site was previously the location of Aberdeen's first permanent cinema, Dove Paterson's Gaiety. It had later become the Palladium and had laid shuttered for close to seven years when the owner put the site up for sale in early 1937.
Bert Gates of Aberdeen Picture Palaces (APP) put in an offer and made plans to build a very large cinema at the location. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) suggests that had this plan gone ahead it would have made the local company a force with which to be reckoned.
Gate's plans were thwarted however when another offer for the property from ABC (Cinemas) was accepted. ABC were a major cinema operator throughout the UK, at the time second only to the Rank Organisation, which owned the Odeon and Gaumont chains. ABC's arrival in Aberdeen would offer stiff competition to local companies such as APP. Both in terms of having the best venues and having the best films to show in them.
ABC's arrival in Aberdeen did not go smoothly, however. It was not until 1939 that the cinema's plans received official approval. War was declared not long after construction had begun and in 1941 the project was stopped by government restrictions that halted the construction of non-essential buildings where roofing had not already been started. Only the outer shell had been built at Shiprow and the building would subsequently lie incomplete for over a decade.
After much campaigning, including by local MP Hector Hughes, the government finally gave its consent and on 28th October 1953 ABC announced that work on the Regal would recommence. The plans for the cinema were modernised and construction was quickly finished.
The completed Regal was an impressive, modern cinema with a seating capacity of 1,914. Its inaugural film was The Knights of the Round Table and the opening gala was attended by stars Richard Todd and Anne Crawford.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regal / ABC / Cannon
3397 A photograph of the Union Street entrance to the ABC Cinema in around 1963. The canopy above the entrance advertises It Happened at the World's Fair with Elvis Presley and Joan O'Brien. This was an MGM film and the ABC had first rights to films from this company, a big draw for the public.
Prior to ABC's arrival in Aberdeen in 1954, MGM films were previously first shown in Aberdeen Picture Palace's Capitol on Union Street.
This cinema on Shiprow and Union Street had been known as the Regal since opening in 1954. In March 1962 ABC rationalised the names of its cinemas and this venue, along with many Regals around the UK, became known simply as the ABC. An earlier Regal vertical sign was replaced by the new one we can see in this photograph.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Aberdeen Cinemas: Electric / Capitol
3401 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Capitol cinema at 431 Union Street in February 1980. At this time the Capitol was in more regular use as a concert venue than as a cinema. This image shows large numbers of people queuing to get tickets for a performance by the band Genesis.
The Capitol was built as a cinema back in 1933. A few days before its opening, it was advertised in local papers as "Aberdeen's wonder cinema". Opened to large crowds on Saturday 4th February 1933, the Capitol was then the largest venue of its kind in the north of Scotland and had a stage that could be adapted for both film and variety entertainment.
The Capitol was built by Aberdeen Picture Palaces Ltd. on the site of an earlier upmarket cinema called the Electric Theatre that dated from 1910. When the Capitol opened, it was regarded as the most up-to-date theatre in the country due to its complex lightning system, organ music and other modern features, some of them being introduced for the first time in Scotland.
The venue could accommodate more than 2,000 people. The building's plans were prepared by Aberdeen architects Alexander Marshall MacKenzie and Clement George. Local newspapers stressed the local ownership of the cinema and the local craftsmanship that went into its construction.
Aberdeen City Libraries hold a souvenir brochure of the cinema's opening. One interesting feature of the brochure is the inclusion of specially created adverts for all the companies involved in the construction and furnishing of the new cinema. Some of the adverts provide rich information on the history of the companies and give an insight into how the companies saw themselves. The brochure details the companies behind every aspect of the buildings from the cinema seating and terrazzo work to the innovative lighting.
On the opening day, Mrs A. D. Hay, wife of the chairman of the Aberdeen Picture Palaces, unlocked the main entrance door with a gold key. This key is still held by the Hay family today. The cinema's first, busy evening featured a variety of entertainment. In addition to the showing of films, there was a ballet performance by the Henrietta Fuller Dancers and Mr Edward O' Henry played the theatre's new top of the line Compton organ.
During the opening ceremony, Bert Gates, another director of Aberdeen Picture Palaces, said: "It was a long lane that had no turning. They had built the Capitol not for to-day, but for the generations of Aberdeen people to come. The company had dedicated the Capitol to the people of Aberdeen, their children, and their children's children in the hope that in generations to come they might appreciate what had been given them."
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picture House / Gaumont
3403 The Picture House was opened on 14th December 1914 with an inauguration ceremony chaired by Lord Provost James Taggart. It was built at 181 Union Street by the rapidly expanding English firm, Associated Provincial Picture Houses. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) explains that construction of the cinema was delayed due to the war.
As seen here in 1937, the cinema's entrance was dominated by two squat white marble finish pillars topped by bronze capitals. The atmosphere inside was said to be cosy and luxurious. After conversion, the pre-existing building on Union Street contained the cinema's large foyer and within this was retained a large, original fireplace to warm visitors.
The 900-seater auditorium stood side-on between Union Street and Windmill Brae. With a budget of £12,000, the Picture House was designed by English architects Robert Atkinson and George Alexander. Thomson explains that the architects were inspired along Classical theatre lines and the building featured dark wood walls hung with French tapestries. A large tea-room, called the Tapestry Room, took up the first floor of the Union Street building. Above that, on the top floor, was the manager's office.
Thomson suggests that an early strength of the Picture House was its highly competent orchestra, originally led by pianist W. G. Ross. These were pre-radio days, with recording still in its infancy, so the orchestral playing would have been a significant attraction.
The profits from the Picture House's first screening back in December 1914 were distributed to Aberdeen charities. The first talking picture to be shown at the cinema was The Singing Fool in 1929. The Picture House was an upscale operation and one of the key early venues for cinema exhibition in Aberdeen.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Aberdeen Cinemas: Picture House / Gaumont
3404 Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson explains that by 1950 the Picture House was owned by the Rank Organisation. The British entertainment conglomerate had acquired various cinema exhibition companies: British-Gaumont, Odeon, and the Provincial Cinematograph Theatres (successor company to Associated Provincial Picture Houses). As part of business rationalisation, on 22nd March 1950 the Picture House was rebranded as The Gaumont.
Thomson's Silver Screen indicates that the Gaumont's vertical neon sign dates from the time of the rebranding. In 1956 the design of the cinema was further updated. This saw the introduction of the illuminated canopy and use of the beech design shown here in the redeveloped interior and exterior, replacing the pillars of the Picture House era. A new marble backed fireplace replaced the old one that had been a well-known feature of the cinema since its opening in 1914. The projection equipment and seating were also modernised. This night-time image from the Aberdeen Journals Archive accompanied an article about the Gaumont's new look in the Evening Express of 19th April 1956.
The image shows promotion for a number of films on the cinema's updated exterior: The Rose Tattoo with Burt Lancaster and Anna Magnani, Flight from Vienna and Aberdeen Photographic Service's presentation of A Photographic Review of the Royal Tour of Nigeria.
The manager at the time of the Gaumont's redesign was Mr. R. E. Miller. He had managed the cinema since January 1948. In early 1951 Miller converted the upstairs restaurant area, which had laid empty since 1928, into a gallery space. Known as the Gaumont Gallery, it was ideal for photographic exhibitions and was in frequent use well into the 1960s.
Thomson states that during this period Mary Garden, the retired opera singer who returned to Aberdeen in 1939, was something of a regular at the Gaumont. This well-known and much-loved figure would be escorted to her seat by the cinema's commissionaire George Repper, who was also a popular and familiar figure. Repper worked at the Gaumont from 1940 to 1964 and his job was to shepherd queues, attend to patrons and ensure all progressed smoothly.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picture House / Gaumont
3405 This image from the collection of the Aberdeen Journals Archive shows the staff of The Gaumont dressed in Tudor costume on the day of the Scottish premiere of the Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn drama, Anne of a Thousand Days.
The national premiere of the Richard Burton and Geneviève Bujold picture took place at the cinema on 25th May 1970. The couple in evening wear are Lord Provost James Lamont and his wife. Along from them, also in evening wear, is the cinema's manager Alex Greig.
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picture House / Gaumont
3406 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph showing the exterior of the Gaumont Cinema at 181 Union Street in October 1972. Promotion for Doomwatch, the British science-fiction film, Cabaret, starring Liza Minelli and The Concert for Bangladesh can all be seen.
This image dates from when the Rank Organisation, the cinema's owners, applied to Aberdeen City Council for permission to demolish the venue and redevelop the site for shops and office space.
As detailed in Michael Thomson's book Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) the Rank Organisation had a special department that considered cinema sites they owned that could be profitably redeveloped by the company. Aberdeen was experiencing a pre-oil property boom and the early 1970s saw the closure and redevelopment of a number of cinemas.
The final night of the Gaumont was Saturday 6th October 1973. The last film to be shown as The Lovers with Paula Wilcox and Richard Beckinsale. This photograph was used in the preview of the cinema's final night in the Evening Express of the day before.
The majority of the cinema was demolished not long after. The façade of the upper floors was retained as it was listed as of architectural and historic interest. The site laid empty for some time due to the financial recession of 1974-75 and subsequent uncertainty over its occupancy. In 1976 the site was redeveloped as a Job Centre and shops.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picture House / Gaumont
3407 This photograph from across the road shows the Gaumont cinema and its surrounds in September 1973, shortly before it closed down for good.
The cinema appears to have shown more X-rated, European films prior to its closure. This image shows adverts for Hot and Blue (original title: Jeux pour couples infidèles) and Hungry for Sex (Liebesspiele junger Mädchen).
Newspaper listings indicate that the cinema was also showing at this time late night screenings of Scream and Scream Again, an Amicus horror starring Christopher Lee, Vincent Price, and Peter Cushing, and a biker movie called Hell's Angels '69. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picture House / Gaumont
3408 A photograph showing the redeveloped site of the Picture House/Gaumont in January 2021. Aberdeen Cinemas: Casino
3410 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Casino cinema in around 1963.
The Casino cinema was opened on Wales Street on 7th February 1916 by John Peter Kilgour, a dealer in various waste materials. It had close competition with Bert Gate's Star Picture Palace just around the corner on Park Street. Michael Thomson in The Silver Screen in the Silver City describes the Casino as the second of Aberdeen's purpose-built picture halls. It and the "Starrie" served the population of the city's east end for many years.
The Casino was built on the site of Kilgour's factory yards. The architects for the project were George Sutherland and Clement George. The building's "Spanish villa" design is described by Thomson as unique for Aberdeen and highly unusual throughout Scotland. One distinctive feature was the low square tower at the Park Street side of the building that was topped by a red-tiled concave pyramidal roof. Thomson writes that features of the building combined to "bring a welcome splash of colour and gaiety to an otherwise drab corner of the city."
Following the death of John Peter Kilgour in 1920, the running of the Casino and his waste business was taken over by his son, Ormande L. Kilgour.
In the silent era the venue was a stronghold of cine-variety, showing all manner of performances in-between film screenings. In February 1936 the cinema celebrated its 20th birthday and a cake was cut by Kilgour and one the Casino's oldest patrons, a Mrs Stewart.
In November 1939 Bert Gates and Aberdeen Picture Palaces bought a controlling interest share in the Casino. The Beach Boulevard, which opened on 25th May 1959, ran directly outside the cinema and gave the Casino a prominent location. In March of that year the cinema was given a thorough renovation.
Despite its new prominent location and recent renovation, the Casino closed down as a cinema on Saturday 3rd October 1959. A spokesperson for the Donald Cinemas Group stated in the Evening Express at the time that the closure was due to the housing in the area being pulled down and people moving to new estates. Michael Thomson suggests that the proximity of the relatively new first-run Regal in Shiprow might also have drawn away the hoped-for holiday crowds from the Casino.
In 1961 the empty Casino was sold to local bookmakers James Rennie and Arthur Forbes to be used as a bingo hall. This was at the height of bingo's popularity and the Casino proved too small. The bingo operation was moved to the Kingsway Cinema which had showed its final film, Warlord of Crete on 3rd February 1962.
The area around the Casino was earmarked for redevelopment by Aberdeen Town Council. The cinema building was compulsorily purchased and, after spending some time as a store, was demolished at the same time as the Star in 1971. The site is now occupied by a residential development.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Picturedrome / Cinema House
3411 The Cinema House was located at the corner of Union Terrace, Skene Terrace and North Silver Street. The building was designed by Arthur H. L. Mackinnon and originally built in 1897-1898 as a clubhouse for the Aberdeen Union Club. Mackinnon (1870-1937) was a local architect who also designed the Aberdeen Fire Station on King Street and Mile End School.
The building's first recorded use for cinematographic purposes was a New Year Holiday Carnival organised by the pioneering Aberdeen cinematographer and exhibitor William Walker in December 1901. Alongside an early picture show the extravaganza featured the popular fiddler James Scott Skinner and a conjurer called Harry Marvello.
It was a Londoner by the name of Henry N. Philips who came to Aberdeen and in June 1910 converted this building into Aberdeen's second permanent cinema: the Picturedrome. The enterprise was a great success and Philip's formed a company called British Animated Pictures to run the cinema.
The 'Drome's first manager was Harry Fenton. He also appeared on the cinema's stage as a singer. This was a time when cinemas would often show a mixture of films and variety performances. The venue had a pianist called Hal Scott who would accompany performances and provided musical ambience.
The Picturedrome was noted for showing the film productions of Thomas Edison's Edison Studios and for consistently good stage turns.
In 1923 the Picturedrome/Union Club block was sold to the Loyal Order of Ancient Shepherds. They were one of the 19th century friendly societies in which people would band together prior to the development of more comprehensive welfare provision. The Shepherds continued to run the cinema for a period. A sign for the society can be seen in the top left of this image.
In May 1924 the cinema was taken over by James F. Donald. He was the patriarch of the Donald family that played a prominent role in the history of cinemas and theatres in Aberdeen. Restored and improved, the venue reopened on the 11th August of that year as the Cinema House. Donald initially held the premises on a 20-year lease, but would go on to buy the property outright.
This photograph, taken from in front of the Central Library, dates from around 1934 and shows the cinema advertising Father Brown Detective and The Lemon Drop Kid. Also visible next door at 2 Skene Terrace is a branch of the successful grocer and provision merchants, Wilburn Ltd.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Aberdeen Cinemas: Picturedrome / Cinema House
3414 This photograph shows the Cinema House building in 2021. The bulk of the building is unoccupied at the time of writing. It remains a building of great interest, with a rich history, and is one of the few remaining picture houses of its age and type in Scotland. Aberdeen Cinemas: West End / Playhouse
3415 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Playhouse at 475 Union Street in January 1959. The venue originally opened on 12th November 1915 as a cinema called the West End. This was the first venture into full-time picture-hall proprietorship by James F. Donald, a key figure in the history of independent cinema exhibition in Aberdeen.
Donald was born in Newhills and came to Aberdeen for an apprenticeship with a coachbuilding firm. He had a varied career before coming to prominence as a highly successful dancing teacher. He was the leader of the Gondolier School of Dancing and Deportment.
He moved into the cinema business after acquiring the necessary projecting equipment and occupying a former billiard hall above the Aberdeen Dairy at 475 Union Street. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) describes the cinema as a "strictly utilitarian affair", but a successful one at that. It was only heated by stoves, and coupled with being above a diary, it became known as "The Tuppenny Freezer".
Donald's lease on the cinema expired in September 1920 and he was immediately followed as proprietor by Bert Gate's Aberdeen Picture Palaces. It was a time of expansion for the incoming company. They had recently purchased The Picturedrome on Skene Terrace and shortly looked to transform the West End. The latter closed on 2nd April and reopened on 14th September 1921 as the 1,000-seater Picture Playhouse.
The opening ceremony was attended by Gates, the cinema's architects George Sutherland and Clement George, and various local VIPs. The opening films were A Yankee in the Court of King Arthur, a comedy called Jerry on the Spot, Pathé news, and another short. Thomson states that Aberdeen Picture Palaces were "now the proud possessor of a large, well-situated 'flagship' house, and Union Street now sported a fine up-to-date cinema."
The design of the Playhouse was "classical" and up-market, in accordance with its prominent west-end location. As seen here, the Union Street entrance was surrounded by white Sicilian marble facings on a black marble base. The paybox was oval in shape with one end in the vestibule and the other in the front foyer.
The main foyer was through the Union Street part of the building and up a 12-feet wide carpeted, marble stairway. This way was a tea room called the Ingleneuk, the manager's office, and the ornately decorated auditorium. The plush new cinema represented competition for the nearby Picture House.
Bert Gates, the manager of the Playhouse, was somewhat sceptical of the talkies but fully embraced the new development in February 1930 with the installation of a full Western Electric sound system.
The opening of Aberdeen Picture Palace's Capitol down the road in 1933 saw a reduction in ticket prices at the Playhouse. The two partner cinemas were advertised at the time as "Aberdeen's Premier Pair".
On 23 May 1941 it was announced that James F. Donald (Aberdeen Cinemas) Ltd. had bought a controlling interest in Aberdeen Picture Palaces. This meant that the Playhouse, along with the other APP venues, were now in the Donald circuit of cinemas.
This photograph dates from 1959 shortly before the cinema was relaunched as the Playhouse Continental, showing popular, often more risqué, films from Europe. This only lasted for a couple of years and the cinema reverted to being the Playhouse in 1961. This photograph shows the cinema advertising The Wind Cannot Read with Dirk Bogarde and All for Mary.
By 1973 the profitability of the Playhouse was eroded by spiralling costs. The owners of the building, builders James Scott & Son, had moved premises and were looking to dispose of the Union Street property. The cinema's lease was terminated at the end of 1973 and the cinema closed on 9th May 1974. Ownership of the block passed to Devanha Properties Ltd. and after lying empty for a few months the Playhouse was demolished to make way for a new block of shops and offices.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Regent / Odeon
3417 The Regent was opened as the second, companion cinema of Jack Poole, after his transformation of the Palace on Bridge Place that had opened in 1931. The Justice Mills location was selected and the cinema was constructed on the eastern end of the historic Upper Mill. A cinema was able to utilise the sloping nature of the site in the way few other projects could.
Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) states that work progressed on the new cinema at an excellent rate with virtually all material and labour coming from local sources. The sparkling Rubislaw granite frontage was the work of masons Edgar Gauld of Gilcomston Terrace. Wood for the joinery work came from Sweden and Finland.
The Regent was Aberdeen's first all-new cinema since the Torry Picture House a decade before. It was also the first cinema designed by Thomas Scott Sutherland, who had previously been a designer of, and dealer in, houses, notably the granite bungalows of the Broomhill estate.
The impressive new cinema opened on Saturday 27th February 1932, to an audience mostly of guests, with the main feature being a melodrama called Over the Hill. Reporting on the opening, the Evening Express wrote the following:
"Even though Aberdeen has many magnificent edifices, there is nothing quite so distinctive as the modern design of the front of the new Regent. Fine use has been made of straight lines and curves placed in sharp contrast, and the face that looks through the entrance to Justice Mill Lane on Holburn Street has an imposing dignity about it and yet an elusive gaiety in its composition. It is built of grey granite decorated with bands of red terracotta, and a polished black granite base."
The frontage was floodlit by night and outlined by Aberdeen's neon display. Above the gantry was the large, neon "Regent" sign which made the cinema a beacon at night. The Regent and the Palace were then advertised as "Aberdeen's Super Two".
The Regent's manager John K. Stafford Poole, son of Jack Poole, was aged only 21 when the Regent opened and his innovative promotion and displays became a signature of the cinema. The younger Poole regularly invited the Gordon Highlanders to screenings and in return they would afterwards march, pipes a-skirl, through the cinema and along Union Street back to their barracks.
The Regent proved hugely popular and was soon out-performing the Palace. The success of Poole's Regent prompted Aberdeen Picture Palaces to undertake the creation of their own super-cinema, the Capitol, which would open in 1933. The same year also saw the release of King Kong and the publicity stunt of a human dressed as an ape rampaging on the frontage of the Regent.
On 16th July 1936 it was announced that another southern company called County Cinemas had acquired all the Poole picture houses, those in Devonport, Derby and Plymouth, as well as the Palace and Regent in Aberdeen. In 1939 County Cinemas merged with the larger Odeon chain. In July 1940 the "Regent" sign came down to be replaced with one that read "Odeon". As part of this powerful national circuit, the cinema could rival any in Aberdeen for showing major features.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] Aberdeen Cinemas: Queen's
3420 The building that housed the Queen's cinema was initially built in 1836-37 to a design by John Smith for the Society of Advocates in Aberdeen. It was their first purpose-built meeting hall and library in the city. The society sold this building at 120 Union Street in 1870 and moved to new premises in Concert Court, where they remain to this day.
After varied use as a restaurant, billiard hall, and salesroom, the building was converted into a cinema in 1913 by its then owner Robert J. Mackenzie. He shortly afterwards opened a companion cinema, also called the Queen's, in Stonehaven's Allardyce Street.
Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) explains that by the late 1920s the Queen's Rooms Cinema Syndicate was struggling. In the spring of 1927 James F. Donald made an offer for a majority share interest in the company and this was accepted. On 24th July of that year, a re-seated and redecorated Queen's reopened under Donald's operation. This revitalised the venue and it became a popular picture house once more.
The cinema saw its first talking picture, So this is College, on 6th August 1930 and was advertised at the time as "The Finest and Clearest Talkie House in Town". A severe fire at the Queen's Cinema in 1936 led to the reconstruction of the building's interior. Thomson states that the granite outer shell was all that the rebuilt cinema, designed by architects George Watt & Stewart, had in common with its predecessor.
The Queen's was a popular cinema for much of the 20th century. This Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph shows the cinema in 1969 at its prominent location at the junction of Back Wynd and Union Street. Its large display boards are advertising screenings of the film Never Mention Murder.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Queen's
3421 This Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph shows the Queen's cinema in 1972. The film being shown is Up Pompeii, a film version of the British sit-com of the same name.
The Queen's had been a popular cinema throughout much of the 20th century. Due to increasing costs and competition from home entertainment, it finally closed down, along with George Street's Grand Central, on 17th October 1981. Michael Thomson explains that this brought an end to James F. Donald (Aberdeen Cinemas) Ltd.'s long history as picture hall proprietors.
The building laid empty for some years before the company converted it into a nightclub that opened in 1987.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: La Scala / Majestic
3424 This photograph from the collection of the Aberdeen Journals Archive shows the Majestic Cinema on Union Street in 1972. This super-cinema at 234 Union Street was designed by architect Thomas Scott Sutherland and was built on the site of Aberdeen's first purpose-built picture house, La Scala.
A public company called Caledonian Theatres Ltd., with James Brebner of the Belmont as managing director, was formed for the purpose of acquiring the site of La Scala and some nearby buildings and constructing a large new cinema.
The Majestic opened on 10th December 1936 with a film called Eliza Comes to Stay as its main feature. In his autobiography, Sutherland states that the Majestic was his finest design. Michael Thomson in Silver Screen in the Silver City suggests that the cinema's style could be described, "without too much facetiousness", as "Sutherland Perpendicular".
Sutherland's characteristic long window panels were set in side panels on the building's Kemnay granite front. Decorative neon stripes were placed between each column. At the top of the front elevation was the neon "Majestic" sign and below that, in the centre, was the space to advertise the venue's programme.
In 1938 James F. Donald (Aberdeen Cinemas) Ltd. acquired Caledonian Theatres and the Majestic operated as part of the Donald circuit from then on. In time the cinema closed down with the site marked for redevelopment. The Majestic showed its last film, Kelly's Heroes, on Saturday 29th September 1973.
The cinema and the neighbouring Clydesdale Bank building were soon demolished. On the site was built a new £1.5 million office block called Caledonian House. This was opened on 25th February 1976.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: News Cinema / Curzon / Cosmo 2
3426 An Aberdeen Journals Archive photograph of the Cosmo 2 cinema at 15 Diamond Street in January 1976.
This site was first used as a picture hall by the News Cinema which opened on Saturday 5th September 1936. This was only the second cinema of its type to open in Scotland. Michael Thomson explains that news cinemas aimed to entertain those with only limited time, with programmes lasting approximately an hour made up of comedy and local interest shorts, newsreels and cartoons. They were ideal for travellers waiting for connections or those passing time before appointments.
The News Cinema in Aberdeen was owned by Ernest Bromberg and was located next door to the Palais on Diamond Street. The cinema was converted from a former stable building that Bromberg had owned since 1931. Thomson states that "the acoustics and the RCA talkie system were excellent, and all in all the little cinema more than made up in comfort and quality for what it lacked in size."
The News Cinema made its own local newsreels that documented happenings in the town. In October 1941 one of these captured footage of the tragic fire that destroyed the upper section of the Palace Hotel and killed 6 people. Major national events such as coronations and the second world war were also heavily represented in the News Cinema's programme.
On 4th April 1955 the cinema was rebranded by Bromberg as the Newcine Continental and specialised in showing films from Europe, which were then growing in popularity. During the next year the cinema shifted back to news programmes and reverted to its original name on 3rd December 1956.
The current events function of news cinemas was increasingly superseded by the growth and availability of TV news reporting. In May 1959 the cinema changed its name to the Curzon and returned to showing continental films, including the more risqué variety which were popular at the time.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson]
Image © Aberdeen Journals Ltd. Aberdeen Cinemas: Torry Picture Palace / Torry Cinema
3428 Torry had a cinema from as early as 1910. The Torry Skating Rink Association opened premises on Sinclair Road and called it the Torry Picture Palace. This closed down due to the First World War. In 1921 a new cinema was opened. It was called the Torry Picture House and was located on Crombie Road on the north side of the junction with Victoria Road.
It later changed its name to the Torry Cinema as we can see in this photograph. Throughout the 1920s a band accompanied films shown at the cinema and 'talkies' were introduced in 1930. In this image the film advertised is The Mystery of Mr X with Robert Montgomery which dates the photograph as being from around 1934.
The cinema closed down on the 24th September 1966. Following its closure, it was initially planned to be converted into a bingo hall. A good offer was received for the prominent Crombie Road site, however, and it was sold and the building was demolished to make way for shops. At the time of writing, in 2021, the site is the location of the Crombie Court block of flats.
[Information primarily sourced from Silver Screen in the Silver City (1988) by Michael Thomson] |