The Angus Cinema Company was a small circuit which operated the Regal and Pavilion Cinemas in Carnoustie, the Rio Newport on Tay and the Alhambra Monifieth ( acquired from Gaumont British). By the 1970s on the Pavilion Carnoustie was still operating as a cinema under the management of Tom Suttie, managing director of Angus Cinema Co. The Regal was disused at this time, Newport on Tay Rio was an antiques shop and Monifieth Alhambra had become a garage and service station. When Tom Suttie retired in the early ‘70s he sold the Pavilion to an enterprising ex projectionist from the Dominion Edinburgh who renamed it the Dominion. It has since closed and been demolished as has the former Monifieth cinema. Newport on Tay Rio survives in alternative use.
An unusual feature of the Olympia was that behind the rear of the balcony there was a vestibule or waiting area at the back of which the projection room was situated. The films were projected across this vestibule and then through an opening in the back wall of the balcony and then to the screen. The projectionists could only see the upper part of the screen from the box.
In 1959 J.B. Milne transferred ownership of the Ritz Crieff and Alhambra Dunfermline to Caledonian Associated Cinemas who in turn gave J.B. Milne the Playhouse Montrose and the Playhouse Peterhead thus ensuring neither circuit was competing in the same time. The deal gave Milne two excellent additions to his circuit while the Alhambra Dunfermline soon became an important bingo club for CAC who later disposed of the Ritz Crieff which was inferior to their Crieff Cinema.
The Picture House was the second cinema aquired by J B Milne as he built his circuit into what was eventually one of the largest privately owned cinema chains in the UK. It remained in his ownership up until his death in 1968. By that time The Picture House was open only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with one performance nightly. The projectors were Kalee 8 front shutter. Shortly after Mr Milne’s death the management of J B Milne Theatres Ltd closed the cinema which had been loss making for some time. The whole circuit was later put up for sale and eventually renamed Kingsway Entertainments by the new owners. There is an exterior night view and another of the auditorium in Bruce Peters book Scotland’s Cinemas. Both photos were taken when the cinema was open and thriving.
The ABC sign lozenges were actually attached to the cor ner end of the adjacent building and not to the cinema facade. The marks where they were mounted can still be seen today.
The name was changed from Norwood to Chrystal Palace at some point during the ‘30s or '40s presumably on account of the mirrors. It is listed under this name in the 1945 Kine Year Book.
I visited the Regal in 1968 when the manager, Dave Stewart, had just installed a festoon stage curtain which he had removed from the King’s, Montrose. It looked quite splendid in it’s new home. The projection room at the Regal was under the balcony at the rear of the stalls. The BTH projectors were angled slightly upwards rather than in the usual straight throw from a back stalls box. Up in the balcony there were chummy seats ( ie double seats with no central armrest ) which were much frequented by young couples. Outside on the front of the cinema the vertical Regal sign was in a style devised by J B Milne and which could be found at several of his cinemas including Auchterarder and Macduff.
The Royalty was still open in 1968 when I started working in the nearby Ritz, Morgan Street. The projection room which was at the back of the stalls was poorly ventilated and extremely hot during warm weather.
I recall the auditorium was very wide and from the front balcony the lower part of the screen was only just visible. The stage drapes were very attractive depicting an underwater motif with waves and fish.
The Royalty was a popular local cinema, I remember a packed house for Robin and the Seven Hoods and a Norman Wisdom revival. At night the Royalty sign, illuminated in blue neon, was a local landmark. Jim Ryan was the last manager when the cinema finally closed circa 1970/1.
The Regal was a cinema within the J. B. Milne Theatres circuit owned and operated by JBM until his death in 1968 when Kingsway Entertainments aquired the company. In 1959 JBM took over the Playhouse Peterhead from Caledonian Associated Cinemas and eventually the Regal switched to bingo while the Playhouse continued as a fulltime cinema.
During the late 1960s and early 70s I was an assistant manager with ABC. I undertook several relief management stints at the Ritz Edinburgh. Although the stalls had received the “luxury lounge” upgrade so popular at that time, the circle at the Ritz remained open. Indeed, it was usually more popular than the refurbished stalls, especially with young couples. I can also recall a Saturday morning ABC Minors matinee when the youngsters unscrewed the ashtrays from the backs of the seats in the “lounge” a sure sign that we were showing a boring CFF film.
The Picture House had a long foyer stretching below the Royal Hotel with period film advertising boards displaying coming attractions attached to the walls on either side. A small central paybox faced patrons entering the building. The stalls were accessed through doors to left and right at the far end of the foyer. A sales kiosk was located just to the left of the balcony staircase. It was always stocked with a superb selection of confectionery, ices, drinks and cigarettes.(Smoking in all parts of the house in those halcyon days!) The auditorium, located behind the hotel, was unusual in that it was entered at the screen end. Square and very plain with no decorative features,(in contrast to Arbroath’s other cinema, the Palace), the auditorium nonetheless exuded an atmosphere of comfort and luxury. One large centrally mounted deco style ceiling light provided illumination. The screen drape was a one piece gold satin vertically rising festoon lit during intervals from various coloured footlights. The stage was very high, at least six feet, causing neck ache (I speak from personal experience) to front stalls patrons. The sightlines from the balcony were superb. The Picture House, together with it’s sister cinema The Regal, Broughty Ferry, was maintained to a very high standard by Arbroath Cinema Company, which was the first exhibitor in the county of Angus to install CinemaScope with four track magnetic stereo sound in the 1950s. Though the cinema entrance was fairly small and unimposing due to it’s location below an hotel, at night it was a local landmark. The Picture House sign was lit in red neon with a surrounding green neon border. Illuminated torches flanked the sign on either side. Internally lit showcases with film star portraits, posters and stills completed the scene. In 1968 Arbroath Cinema Company was taken over by Scottish cinema magnate J. B. Milne, his last aquisition before his untimely death at the age of 66 later that same year. Kingsway Entertainments who took over his circuit closed the Picture House in the early 1970s. It lay empty for several years until Kingsway moved their bingo operation from the Palais, James Street, (not to be confused with the Palace) into the former Picture House. It continues as a bingo hall today. The manager of the Picture House from the 1950s until it’s closure was Hugh Cunningham under whose supervision it provided Arbroath cinemagoers with entertainment and service standards comparable to any city centre circuit house. The Picture House was one of the last Scottish cinemas to use local billboard advertising throughout the town.
The Regal switched to bingo in the 1970s. Owned by Arbroath Cinema Company Ltd, together with it’s sister cinema The Picture House, Arbroath, these were the last two cinemas aquired by Scottish cinema magnate J.B. Milne in 1968 shortly before his death later that year. I went to see films at the Regal several times during 1968/9. It was a delightful little cinema, possibly the nicest suburban house in Dundee. The manageress, Miss Humphries (whose sister managed the Cinema House, St Andrews) took immense pride in the Regal which was still well patronised in the late 1960s. Kingsway Entertainments, who took over the J. B. Milne circuit, switched the cinema to bingo. During the 1950s Arbroath Cinema Company, who maintained both their cinemas to very high standards, were the first exhibitors in the county of Angus to install CinemaScope.
Although the Moray Playhouse is currently operated by a company trading as Caledonian Cinemas, this is not CAC which disposed of all it’s cinema interests and is no longer involved in film exhibition.
The State didn’t close until 1968. I saw a couple of films there that year and was in the building just after closure.
Cole Porter’s song ‘You’re the Tops’ contains the line “ You’re the pants on a Roxy usher”.
Above should read “ by the 1970s ONLY the Pavilion Carnoustie was still operating as a cinema.”
The Angus Cinema Company was a small circuit which operated the Regal and Pavilion Cinemas in Carnoustie, the Rio Newport on Tay and the Alhambra Monifieth ( acquired from Gaumont British). By the 1970s on the Pavilion Carnoustie was still operating as a cinema under the management of Tom Suttie, managing director of Angus Cinema Co. The Regal was disused at this time, Newport on Tay Rio was an antiques shop and Monifieth Alhambra had become a garage and service station. When Tom Suttie retired in the early ‘70s he sold the Pavilion to an enterprising ex projectionist from the Dominion Edinburgh who renamed it the Dominion. It has since closed and been demolished as has the former Monifieth cinema. Newport on Tay Rio survives in alternative use.
An unusual feature of the Olympia was that behind the rear of the balcony there was a vestibule or waiting area at the back of which the projection room was situated. The films were projected across this vestibule and then through an opening in the back wall of the balcony and then to the screen. The projectionists could only see the upper part of the screen from the box.
It was still being listed in the 1967 Kine Year Book. The owners were Portsoy Cinema Co. of Cullen, Banffshire.
Above should read “neither circuit was competing in the same TOWN”.
In 1959 J.B. Milne transferred ownership of the Ritz Crieff and Alhambra Dunfermline to Caledonian Associated Cinemas who in turn gave J.B. Milne the Playhouse Montrose and the Playhouse Peterhead thus ensuring neither circuit was competing in the same time. The deal gave Milne two excellent additions to his circuit while the Alhambra Dunfermline soon became an important bingo club for CAC who later disposed of the Ritz Crieff which was inferior to their Crieff Cinema.
The Picture House was the second cinema aquired by J B Milne as he built his circuit into what was eventually one of the largest privately owned cinema chains in the UK. It remained in his ownership up until his death in 1968. By that time The Picture House was open only on Friday, Saturday and Sunday with one performance nightly. The projectors were Kalee 8 front shutter. Shortly after Mr Milne’s death the management of J B Milne Theatres Ltd closed the cinema which had been loss making for some time. The whole circuit was later put up for sale and eventually renamed Kingsway Entertainments by the new owners. There is an exterior night view and another of the auditorium in Bruce Peters book Scotland’s Cinemas. Both photos were taken when the cinema was open and thriving.
The ABC sign lozenges were actually attached to the cor ner end of the adjacent building and not to the cinema facade. The marks where they were mounted can still be seen today.
The name was changed from Norwood to Chrystal Palace at some point during the ‘30s or '40s presumably on account of the mirrors. It is listed under this name in the 1945 Kine Year Book.
I visited the Regal in 1968 when the manager, Dave Stewart, had just installed a festoon stage curtain which he had removed from the King’s, Montrose. It looked quite splendid in it’s new home. The projection room at the Regal was under the balcony at the rear of the stalls. The BTH projectors were angled slightly upwards rather than in the usual straight throw from a back stalls box. Up in the balcony there were chummy seats ( ie double seats with no central armrest ) which were much frequented by young couples. Outside on the front of the cinema the vertical Regal sign was in a style devised by J B Milne and which could be found at several of his cinemas including Auchterarder and Macduff.
The Royalty was still open in 1968 when I started working in the nearby Ritz, Morgan Street. The projection room which was at the back of the stalls was poorly ventilated and extremely hot during warm weather. I recall the auditorium was very wide and from the front balcony the lower part of the screen was only just visible. The stage drapes were very attractive depicting an underwater motif with waves and fish. The Royalty was a popular local cinema, I remember a packed house for Robin and the Seven Hoods and a Norman Wisdom revival. At night the Royalty sign, illuminated in blue neon, was a local landmark. Jim Ryan was the last manager when the cinema finally closed circa 1970/1.
The Regal was a cinema within the J. B. Milne Theatres circuit owned and operated by JBM until his death in 1968 when Kingsway Entertainments aquired the company. In 1959 JBM took over the Playhouse Peterhead from Caledonian Associated Cinemas and eventually the Regal switched to bingo while the Playhouse continued as a fulltime cinema.
During the late 1960s and early 70s I was an assistant manager with ABC. I undertook several relief management stints at the Ritz Edinburgh. Although the stalls had received the “luxury lounge” upgrade so popular at that time, the circle at the Ritz remained open. Indeed, it was usually more popular than the refurbished stalls, especially with young couples. I can also recall a Saturday morning ABC Minors matinee when the youngsters unscrewed the ashtrays from the backs of the seats in the “lounge” a sure sign that we were showing a boring CFF film.
The Picture House had a long foyer stretching below the Royal Hotel with period film advertising boards displaying coming attractions attached to the walls on either side. A small central paybox faced patrons entering the building. The stalls were accessed through doors to left and right at the far end of the foyer. A sales kiosk was located just to the left of the balcony staircase. It was always stocked with a superb selection of confectionery, ices, drinks and cigarettes.(Smoking in all parts of the house in those halcyon days!) The auditorium, located behind the hotel, was unusual in that it was entered at the screen end. Square and very plain with no decorative features,(in contrast to Arbroath’s other cinema, the Palace), the auditorium nonetheless exuded an atmosphere of comfort and luxury. One large centrally mounted deco style ceiling light provided illumination. The screen drape was a one piece gold satin vertically rising festoon lit during intervals from various coloured footlights. The stage was very high, at least six feet, causing neck ache (I speak from personal experience) to front stalls patrons. The sightlines from the balcony were superb. The Picture House, together with it’s sister cinema The Regal, Broughty Ferry, was maintained to a very high standard by Arbroath Cinema Company, which was the first exhibitor in the county of Angus to install CinemaScope with four track magnetic stereo sound in the 1950s. Though the cinema entrance was fairly small and unimposing due to it’s location below an hotel, at night it was a local landmark. The Picture House sign was lit in red neon with a surrounding green neon border. Illuminated torches flanked the sign on either side. Internally lit showcases with film star portraits, posters and stills completed the scene. In 1968 Arbroath Cinema Company was taken over by Scottish cinema magnate J. B. Milne, his last aquisition before his untimely death at the age of 66 later that same year. Kingsway Entertainments who took over his circuit closed the Picture House in the early 1970s. It lay empty for several years until Kingsway moved their bingo operation from the Palais, James Street, (not to be confused with the Palace) into the former Picture House. It continues as a bingo hall today. The manager of the Picture House from the 1950s until it’s closure was Hugh Cunningham under whose supervision it provided Arbroath cinemagoers with entertainment and service standards comparable to any city centre circuit house. The Picture House was one of the last Scottish cinemas to use local billboard advertising throughout the town.
The Regal switched to bingo in the 1970s. Owned by Arbroath Cinema Company Ltd, together with it’s sister cinema The Picture House, Arbroath, these were the last two cinemas aquired by Scottish cinema magnate J.B. Milne in 1968 shortly before his death later that year. I went to see films at the Regal several times during 1968/9. It was a delightful little cinema, possibly the nicest suburban house in Dundee. The manageress, Miss Humphries (whose sister managed the Cinema House, St Andrews) took immense pride in the Regal which was still well patronised in the late 1960s. Kingsway Entertainments, who took over the J. B. Milne circuit, switched the cinema to bingo. During the 1950s Arbroath Cinema Company, who maintained both their cinemas to very high standards, were the first exhibitors in the county of Angus to install CinemaScope.
Although the Moray Playhouse is currently operated by a company trading as Caledonian Cinemas, this is not CAC which disposed of all it’s cinema interests and is no longer involved in film exhibition.