History of Three Towns Picture Houses
Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 3:14 pm
The La Scala when it opened in 1913 was the first purpose-built cinema in the Three Towns; it survived as a cinema all the way till 1991, and the building still stands today in the guise of the Salt Cot pub-restaurant.
But how many of us knew that in the Thirties it only narrowly escaped being replaced by a bigger and better super-cinema called the Queen's; a plan only scuppered by the outbreak of World War Two ? Or that at the time it opened, it was just one of a whole plethora of early picture houses locally, now vanished and virtually forgotten .
In this article from about 1974, the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald ( http://www.ardrossanherald.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) set out to uncover the complete cinema history up till then of the Three Towns, and you'll find it all here; though even then , as you'll see from the postscript, it took the memories of some elderly Stevenstonians to complete the story. They sound like they would have made ideal Threetowners members !
Their efforts took the tally of local cinemas that had existed up till then to a surprising fifteen ( though that it seems included ones that had merely changed their name ); and as every current three towns residents probably knows ( though finding out recently came as a surprise to this exile ) that's now up to sixteen with the arrival in the past decade of the Apollo on the seafront.
Susan
WHERE WE WENT TO "THE PICTURES "
CINEMA FANS must number thousands in the North Ayrshire area — and it might provide some head-scratching efforts of memory for the older generation to ask if they could remember the names of even 12 out of the 13 cinemas which operated over the years in Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston.
For the 15 years after the invention of moving pictures about 1895, all the films produced were short ones, lasting from 10 to 20 minutes, and they were shown as part of the programme among variety acts in established music halls.
The first "story" film the name of which is generally known, was "The Great Train Robbery," made in 1903 and which ran for 11 minutes.
Soon, travelling showmen started to provide film shows in booths at fairgrounds; and although the "pictures," as film shows came to be known, were still restricted to short subjects, permanent "kinemas" began to be established from about 1905 onwards, in most cases existing halls being hastily adapted for the purpose.
In the United States, the first cinema, as such, was opened in Pittsburgh in 1905. Called the "Nickelodeon" — because entry cost a nickel — the first programme shown included "The Great Train Robbery." Whether it was shown at the first film programme in this area cannot now be established, but it is probable.
The first picture-house in this district was called Saltcoats Picture Palace, and it was set up in the Masonic Hall in Bradshaw Street. It proved successful, and to accommodate all the spectators who desired admission the much larger hall hitherto used as a skating-rink in Glencaim Street was reopened as Saltcoats Picturedrome in June of 1911. It was renamed The Pavilion six months later, and continued as a cinema until 1919 when it became a garage.
In this hall there was screened in 1913 the first full-length film made: the Pathe production, "Les Miserables," which had been made in 1910 and which ran for about three and a half hours .
The next cinema to open in Saltcoats was La Scala in Hamilton Street. It was one of the first brick-built cinemas in Scotland — and one of the few purpose-built picture houses in the country which still continues in its original function.
The first film to be shown at La Scala was the original version of "Quo Vadis?" This was an Italian production — and in the publicity of the time, as for that of "Les Miserables," there was no mention, of who the actors were; the "star" system had not yet begun to function.
Meanwhile, in Ardrossan, the Premier Picture Theatre was opened in March 1912, and the Crown Picture Palace opened in the same town in September 1913. It is known that one or-other of these cinemas operated in the Assembly Hall in Bute Place, but as the contemporary advertisements give no evidence of the location of the picture houses, there is now doubt as to the whereabouts of the other cinema, and perhaps an older reader could throw light on the matter.
The first permanent cinema in Ardrossan was opened as "The Princes" in 1921, and was renamed "The Lyric" in 1932, under which latter name it still functions as a bingo hall.
Back in Saltcoats, even the town council had decided to cash in on the now-booming cinema industry and they converted the town hall in Countess Street to a picture house, naming it the Countess. The hall was opened as a cinema in 1915 and continued to function in that capacity until two years ago. The town council had found difficulty controlling the cinema as a corporate body, and after a couple of years they leased the hall to Mr J. B. Thomson, whose family continued as lessees for 51 years.
The next cinema to open in Saltcoats was the Casino, opposite La Scala. The Casino functioned from 1919 until 1930 when it was demolished, and the Regal Cinema was built on the same site. The first full-length "talking" picture, "The Singing Fool," had been shown in La Scala in 1929.
In Stevenston, the De Luxe Cinema in New Street had opened in 1916 and it remained the only picture house in the town until the Grange was built in 1939.
In this locality the cinema industry was most successfully operated by the Kemp family, who owned the Regal, La Scala, De Luxe and Grange. The business was started by Mr George Kemp who had had a travelling show originally, and his son, Mr Harry Kemp, expanded his operations in Saltcoats and Stevenston.
Mr Kemp intended before the second war to replace La Scala with a new cinema to be called The Queen's, but the war, and the later decline of the cinema, precluded the idea being carried through.
Apart from films most cinemas in the locality have also housed stage shows: La Scala for many years had summer variety shows in which Dave Willis and the Houston Sisters appeared with other well-known artistes.
Nobody knows how many films have been shown in Saltcoats, but what is a little bit surprising is that some of the classics have never been publicly shown in the town. The film chosen by an international jury in 1958 as the best picture ever made — "Battleship Potemkin," made in 1925 — was screened only by the North Ayrshire Film Society to an audience of about 20, in the Orlington Restaurant some 20 years ago.
Nevertheless, thanks to the Kemp family, the Regal and La Scala remain in operation: the former after its recent conversion as one of the best-equipped and most comfortable cinemas in the country, and the latter proudly maintaining its 60-year-old popularity.
This postscript to the article appeared in a following week's paper:
Mr Archie Dale of 19 Wheatley Road comments in connection with our recent article on the history of cinemas in the district, that there were four cinemas in Stevenston at one point. It would appear that a number of old people in the town have been arguing about this. Mr Dale says that one was " the wee electric " which stood in Portland Place, where there is now a garage, and another was in Ardeer Halls, now the community centre.
But how many of us knew that in the Thirties it only narrowly escaped being replaced by a bigger and better super-cinema called the Queen's; a plan only scuppered by the outbreak of World War Two ? Or that at the time it opened, it was just one of a whole plethora of early picture houses locally, now vanished and virtually forgotten .
In this article from about 1974, the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald ( http://www.ardrossanherald.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; ) set out to uncover the complete cinema history up till then of the Three Towns, and you'll find it all here; though even then , as you'll see from the postscript, it took the memories of some elderly Stevenstonians to complete the story. They sound like they would have made ideal Threetowners members !
Their efforts took the tally of local cinemas that had existed up till then to a surprising fifteen ( though that it seems included ones that had merely changed their name ); and as every current three towns residents probably knows ( though finding out recently came as a surprise to this exile ) that's now up to sixteen with the arrival in the past decade of the Apollo on the seafront.
Susan
WHERE WE WENT TO "THE PICTURES "
CINEMA FANS must number thousands in the North Ayrshire area — and it might provide some head-scratching efforts of memory for the older generation to ask if they could remember the names of even 12 out of the 13 cinemas which operated over the years in Ardrossan, Saltcoats and Stevenston.
For the 15 years after the invention of moving pictures about 1895, all the films produced were short ones, lasting from 10 to 20 minutes, and they were shown as part of the programme among variety acts in established music halls.
The first "story" film the name of which is generally known, was "The Great Train Robbery," made in 1903 and which ran for 11 minutes.
Soon, travelling showmen started to provide film shows in booths at fairgrounds; and although the "pictures," as film shows came to be known, were still restricted to short subjects, permanent "kinemas" began to be established from about 1905 onwards, in most cases existing halls being hastily adapted for the purpose.
In the United States, the first cinema, as such, was opened in Pittsburgh in 1905. Called the "Nickelodeon" — because entry cost a nickel — the first programme shown included "The Great Train Robbery." Whether it was shown at the first film programme in this area cannot now be established, but it is probable.
The first picture-house in this district was called Saltcoats Picture Palace, and it was set up in the Masonic Hall in Bradshaw Street. It proved successful, and to accommodate all the spectators who desired admission the much larger hall hitherto used as a skating-rink in Glencaim Street was reopened as Saltcoats Picturedrome in June of 1911. It was renamed The Pavilion six months later, and continued as a cinema until 1919 when it became a garage.
In this hall there was screened in 1913 the first full-length film made: the Pathe production, "Les Miserables," which had been made in 1910 and which ran for about three and a half hours .
The next cinema to open in Saltcoats was La Scala in Hamilton Street. It was one of the first brick-built cinemas in Scotland — and one of the few purpose-built picture houses in the country which still continues in its original function.
The first film to be shown at La Scala was the original version of "Quo Vadis?" This was an Italian production — and in the publicity of the time, as for that of "Les Miserables," there was no mention, of who the actors were; the "star" system had not yet begun to function.
Meanwhile, in Ardrossan, the Premier Picture Theatre was opened in March 1912, and the Crown Picture Palace opened in the same town in September 1913. It is known that one or-other of these cinemas operated in the Assembly Hall in Bute Place, but as the contemporary advertisements give no evidence of the location of the picture houses, there is now doubt as to the whereabouts of the other cinema, and perhaps an older reader could throw light on the matter.
The first permanent cinema in Ardrossan was opened as "The Princes" in 1921, and was renamed "The Lyric" in 1932, under which latter name it still functions as a bingo hall.
Back in Saltcoats, even the town council had decided to cash in on the now-booming cinema industry and they converted the town hall in Countess Street to a picture house, naming it the Countess. The hall was opened as a cinema in 1915 and continued to function in that capacity until two years ago. The town council had found difficulty controlling the cinema as a corporate body, and after a couple of years they leased the hall to Mr J. B. Thomson, whose family continued as lessees for 51 years.
The next cinema to open in Saltcoats was the Casino, opposite La Scala. The Casino functioned from 1919 until 1930 when it was demolished, and the Regal Cinema was built on the same site. The first full-length "talking" picture, "The Singing Fool," had been shown in La Scala in 1929.
In Stevenston, the De Luxe Cinema in New Street had opened in 1916 and it remained the only picture house in the town until the Grange was built in 1939.
In this locality the cinema industry was most successfully operated by the Kemp family, who owned the Regal, La Scala, De Luxe and Grange. The business was started by Mr George Kemp who had had a travelling show originally, and his son, Mr Harry Kemp, expanded his operations in Saltcoats and Stevenston.
Mr Kemp intended before the second war to replace La Scala with a new cinema to be called The Queen's, but the war, and the later decline of the cinema, precluded the idea being carried through.
Apart from films most cinemas in the locality have also housed stage shows: La Scala for many years had summer variety shows in which Dave Willis and the Houston Sisters appeared with other well-known artistes.
Nobody knows how many films have been shown in Saltcoats, but what is a little bit surprising is that some of the classics have never been publicly shown in the town. The film chosen by an international jury in 1958 as the best picture ever made — "Battleship Potemkin," made in 1925 — was screened only by the North Ayrshire Film Society to an audience of about 20, in the Orlington Restaurant some 20 years ago.
Nevertheless, thanks to the Kemp family, the Regal and La Scala remain in operation: the former after its recent conversion as one of the best-equipped and most comfortable cinemas in the country, and the latter proudly maintaining its 60-year-old popularity.
This postscript to the article appeared in a following week's paper:
Mr Archie Dale of 19 Wheatley Road comments in connection with our recent article on the history of cinemas in the district, that there were four cinemas in Stevenston at one point. It would appear that a number of old people in the town have been arguing about this. Mr Dale says that one was " the wee electric " which stood in Portland Place, where there is now a garage, and another was in Ardeer Halls, now the community centre.