Elephant Cinema

In the Shawlands district of on the South Side of Glasgow, the White Elephant Cinema was opened in 1927 by A. E. Pickard. The rather odd name of the cinema was the result of a competition to find a name for the whole complex, which also incorporated a dance hall, restaurant and car park. The eccentric Pickard (of the city centre Panopticon Theatre fame) had a bas-relief sculpture of an elephant mounted over the entrance at the top of the façade!

He also installed what he called ‘lovers’ neuks', double seats without a central armrest, telling reporters that he would prefer couples to do their courting in his cinema than in the local closes!

The auditorium was ‘back to front’, with patrons entering underneath the 30ft wide proscenium. The stage was 7ft deep and there were four dressing rooms. It was equipped with a Western Electric(WE) sound system.

In 1934 the cinema was sold to A. B. King. He promptly removed the double seats (Pickard claimed King’s wife “made a fuss about them”!) and renamed it the Elephant Cinema. A CinemaScope screen was installed in the mid-1954.

The Elephant Cinema closed in 1960 and was converted into shops. The elaborate frontage has regrettably been removed.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.