Aberdeen Cinemas: Torry Picture Palace / Torry Cinema

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]

Crombie Road