A Century of Cinema City
by Neil Symington, Curator and writer specialising in film and cultural history.
Some seventy years ago, Glasgow was home to over 130 cinemas, which could accommodate a staggering total of 175,000 film fans each day. With more cinemas per person than any other city outside America, Glasgow earned the impressive title Cinema City. It was said that for the average resident, a ‘picture palace’ was within five minutes’ walk. While most people in Britain visited the cinema twice a month, Cinema City’s natives were going at least once a week. Clearly, Glaswegians loved ‘going to the pictures.’
Today, despite only around 10 cinemas existing to quench Glaswegians’ thirst for movie magic, the city’s claim to the title is stronger than ever. Whether watching it or making it, Glasgow’s passion for film is unrelenting.
In 2003, 1.8 million people visited the UGC making it the busiest cinema in Britain; the city continues to spawn increasingly bankable stars; and, in the last two years, over 20 films have been produced in the city, many of which have enjoyed international release. To find the magic of Hollywood look no further than Glasgow, the Cinema City.
Glasgow’s love affair with film commenced with the birth of the moving image in 1896 when entrepreneurs in the city promptly imported the latest entertainment revolution and displayed it in circuses, ice rinks, churches and warehouses. One cinema created inside a city-centre department store issued a challenge to its customers: ‘If you have not seen the Kinematograph, you are behind the age.’
Glaswegians rose to the bait and arrived in droves to experience the new phenomenon.
It was not until 1910 however that the city’s first custom-built, 454-seater cinema opened on Sauchiehall Street – the Charing Cross Electric Theatre and advertised as the ‘new wonder of the day.’ Within 30 years, around 130 cinemas were established in Glasgow - including one with seating for more than 4,000!
Attendance at Glasgow cinemas was immense and it wasn’t just stars like Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable and Mary Pickford who were responsible for the Picture Palaces themselves boasted stunning architectural exteriors and luxurious interiors.
During The Depression especially they reinforced a belief that visiting the cinema was something out of the ordinary. Their facades were international and forward-thinking such as the European Modernist-inspired Cosmo on Rose Street (now the Glasgow Film Theatre); the ultramodern, towering Paramount on Renfield Street (now the Odeon); or the Art-Deco-influenced suburban ‘super-cinema’ The Ascot in Anniesland (now luxury apartments).
Inside Glasgow’s cinemas could typically be found mosaic floors, chandeliers, monumental staircases, even a decorative Turkish mosque and a Spanish scene as in the ‘atmospheric’ Kelvin on Argyle Street (now an Indian restaurant)!
Such architectural splendour provided the Glasgow filmgoer with nothing short of a great escape.
The dawn of television led to the demise of the silver screen with many of the city’s cinemas either being demolished or converted into bingo halls, shops, restaurants or housing. With only a fraction left today, however, the city’s relationship with film has changed significantly. It is home to Scotland’s largest screen (the IMAX at Glasgow Science Centre), the world’s tallest cinema (the 203 feet-high UGC on Renfrew Street) and Britain’s most successful arthouse cinema (the GFT). More than this, it is home to a film industry worth over £20 million to the local economy.
Today, despite only around 10 cinemas existing to quench Glaswegians’ thirst for movie magic, the city’s claim to the title is stronger than ever. Whether watching it or making it, Glasgow’s passion for film is unrelenting.
In 2003, 1.8 million people visited the UGC making it the busiest cinema in Britain; the city continues to spawn increasingly bankable stars; and, in the last two years, over 20 films have been produced in the city, many of which have enjoyed international release. To find the magic of Hollywood look no further than Glasgow, the Cinema City.
Glasgow’s love affair with film commenced with the birth of the moving image in 1896 when entrepreneurs in the city promptly imported the latest entertainment revolution and displayed it in circuses, ice rinks, churches and warehouses. One cinema created inside a city-centre department store issued a challenge to its customers: ‘If you have not seen the Kinematograph, you are behind the age.’
Glaswegians rose to the bait and arrived in droves to experience the new phenomenon.
It was not until 1910 however that the city’s first custom-built, 454-seater cinema opened on Sauchiehall Street – the Charing Cross Electric Theatre and advertised as the ‘new wonder of the day.’ Within 30 years, around 130 cinemas were established in Glasgow - including one with seating for more than 4,000!
Attendance at Glasgow cinemas was immense and it wasn’t just stars like Charlie Chaplin, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable and Mary Pickford who were responsible for the Picture Palaces themselves boasted stunning architectural exteriors and luxurious interiors.
During The Depression especially they reinforced a belief that visiting the cinema was something out of the ordinary. Their facades were international and forward-thinking such as the European Modernist-inspired Cosmo on Rose Street (now the Glasgow Film Theatre); the ultramodern, towering Paramount on Renfield Street (now the Odeon); or the Art-Deco-influenced suburban ‘super-cinema’ The Ascot in Anniesland (now luxury apartments).
Inside Glasgow’s cinemas could typically be found mosaic floors, chandeliers, monumental staircases, even a decorative Turkish mosque and a Spanish scene as in the ‘atmospheric’ Kelvin on Argyle Street (now an Indian restaurant)!
Such architectural splendour provided the Glasgow filmgoer with nothing short of a great escape.
The dawn of television led to the demise of the silver screen with many of the city’s cinemas either being demolished or converted into bingo halls, shops, restaurants or housing. With only a fraction left today, however, the city’s relationship with film has changed significantly. It is home to Scotland’s largest screen (the IMAX at Glasgow Science Centre), the world’s tallest cinema (the 203 feet-high UGC on Renfrew Street) and Britain’s most successful arthouse cinema (the GFT). More than this, it is home to a film industry worth over £20 million to the local economy.
Filmmaking in Glasgow dates as far back as the first decade of the 20th century when George Green, head of the Green Cinema family business, showed his short films of local life at his cinemas. By 1930, five films had been shot in and around Glasgow. Today the number is over 100.
Contributing to this dramatic increase in productions in recent years is the presence of the Glasgow Film Office and Scottish Screen in the heart of the city. Dedicated to promoting and assisting filmmaking in Glasgow and beyond, these publicly funded organisations support a multitude of projects by independent and studio-based filmmakers. Recent titles include Young Adam, the BAFTA-winning Sweet Sixteen, BAFTA-nominated House of Mirth, and Oscar-nominated Trainspotting.
Glasgow is certainly no stranger to producing ‘Hollywood talent.’ Members of the city’s ‘Hall of Fame’ include: Stan Laurel, who made his stage debut in 1906 at A.E. Pickard’s Panopticon on Trongate where Jack Buchanan and Cary Grant also trod the boards (the latter as a dancing stilt-walker); six-times Oscar-nominated Deborah Kerr, famous for her beach scene with Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity; and Alexander Mackendrick, who attended the School of Art, going on to direct classics like Sweet Smell of Success, The Ladykillers and Whisky Galore!
Much Glaswegian talent has also gilded Hollywood’s recent blockbusters. Namely, Robbie Coltrane as the larger-than-life Hagrid in the Harry Potter films; Robert Carlyle as Bond’s nemesis in The World is Not Enough; Billy Connolly as Tom Cruise’s Civil War companion in The Last Samurai; John Hannah as a hapless archaeologist in The Mummy films; Billy Boyd as the comedic Pippin in the Lord of the Rings trilogy; and Craig Armstrong, who scored Moulin Rouge’s soundtrack.
Glasgow is just as successful at importing Hollywood talent. Stars like Robert Duvall, Gillian Anderson, George Clooney, Charlie Sheen and Keira Knightley have all made movies in the city. None came close, however, to the budget of Morgan Freeman and Jet Li’s £28m film, Danny the Dog, which filmed at a host of Glasgow’s finest locations in 2003 including the 18th century Pollok House and Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s School of Art.
Described by one director as ‘a city of infinite possibilities,’ Glasgow’s contrasts of ancient and modern, rivers and green spaces, and motorways and back alleys make it a definite magnet for international filmmakers. In the last 20 years, Glasgow’s film guises have ranged from the familiar and foreign to the historic and futuristic. Several highlights include: the 19th century City Chambers which have represented period New York in The House of Mirth, the British Embassy in Russia in An Englishman Abroad, and, most amazingly, the Roman Vatican in Heavenly Pursuits.
The celebrated Glasgow School of Art starred in Small Faces while its magnificent library became Michael Keaton’s designer home in A Shot at Glory; the world-renowned Kelvingrove Art Gallery metamorphosed as New York’s Grand Central station in The House of Mirth; and a suburban quarry transformed itself into the war-torn Middle East for The Jacket.
Glasgow and Hollywood may initially seem unlikely ‘Twin Towns’, yet the strength of their relationship with cinema – both filmmaking and film-going - is highly promising. Cinema City is indeed alive and well in the 21st century.
Contributing to this dramatic increase in productions in recent years is the presence of the Glasgow Film Office and Scottish Screen in the heart of the city. Dedicated to promoting and assisting filmmaking in Glasgow and beyond, these publicly funded organisations support a multitude of projects by independent and studio-based filmmakers. Recent titles include Young Adam, the BAFTA-winning Sweet Sixteen, BAFTA-nominated House of Mirth, and Oscar-nominated Trainspotting.
Glasgow is certainly no stranger to producing ‘Hollywood talent.’ Members of the city’s ‘Hall of Fame’ include: Stan Laurel, who made his stage debut in 1906 at A.E. Pickard’s Panopticon on Trongate where Jack Buchanan and Cary Grant also trod the boards (the latter as a dancing stilt-walker); six-times Oscar-nominated Deborah Kerr, famous for her beach scene with Burt Lancaster in From Here to Eternity; and Alexander Mackendrick, who attended the School of Art, going on to direct classics like Sweet Smell of Success, The Ladykillers and Whisky Galore!
Much Glaswegian talent has also gilded Hollywood’s recent blockbusters. Namely, Robbie Coltrane as the larger-than-life Hagrid in the Harry Potter films; Robert Carlyle as Bond’s nemesis in The World is Not Enough; Billy Connolly as Tom Cruise’s Civil War companion in The Last Samurai; John Hannah as a hapless archaeologist in The Mummy films; Billy Boyd as the comedic Pippin in the Lord of the Rings trilogy; and Craig Armstrong, who scored Moulin Rouge’s soundtrack.
Glasgow is just as successful at importing Hollywood talent. Stars like Robert Duvall, Gillian Anderson, George Clooney, Charlie Sheen and Keira Knightley have all made movies in the city. None came close, however, to the budget of Morgan Freeman and Jet Li’s £28m film, Danny the Dog, which filmed at a host of Glasgow’s finest locations in 2003 including the 18th century Pollok House and Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s School of Art.
Described by one director as ‘a city of infinite possibilities,’ Glasgow’s contrasts of ancient and modern, rivers and green spaces, and motorways and back alleys make it a definite magnet for international filmmakers. In the last 20 years, Glasgow’s film guises have ranged from the familiar and foreign to the historic and futuristic. Several highlights include: the 19th century City Chambers which have represented period New York in The House of Mirth, the British Embassy in Russia in An Englishman Abroad, and, most amazingly, the Roman Vatican in Heavenly Pursuits.
The celebrated Glasgow School of Art starred in Small Faces while its magnificent library became Michael Keaton’s designer home in A Shot at Glory; the world-renowned Kelvingrove Art Gallery metamorphosed as New York’s Grand Central station in The House of Mirth; and a suburban quarry transformed itself into the war-torn Middle East for The Jacket.
Glasgow and Hollywood may initially seem unlikely ‘Twin Towns’, yet the strength of their relationship with cinema – both filmmaking and film-going - is highly promising. Cinema City is indeed alive and well in the 21st century.