Picture House
3 Dee Street,
Banchory,
AB31 5ST
3 Dee Street,
Banchory,
AB31 5ST
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Additional Info
Functions: Restaurant
Previous Names: Banchory Cinema
Nearby Theaters
No theaters found within 30 miles
In the town of Banchory, to the west of Aberdeen, little is known about the former Picture House that has been transformed in recent years into a Chinese restaurant.
The town does not appear at all in the 1914, 1931 and 1940 Kinematograph Year Books, then the Glen Cinema appears in the 1947 edition. No address is given; the owner was Glen Cinemas, and a 20ft wide proscenium was noted.
In the 1954 edition, the Glen Cinema is again the only entry, this time with just the cinema’s name and equipped with a Guest sound system, but no further details. However, 1954 was the year the Picture House opened.
A photograph, sourced from the internet, taken on 10th March 1964, shows a close up of the entrance of the Picture House, with that name clearly displayed. The recessed entrance matches that on a photograph (also herewith) showing the building after closure as a cinema but before the extensive restaurant alterations to the frontage (with the addition of a large glass-enclosed space) took place.
A caption to the 1964 photograph also calls it the Picture House, and says it closed that year.
So the indications are that the Picture House and the Glen Cinema were two separate cinemas. The local library (in December 2015) has gone some way to confirming this. So far as my contact is concerned, the Picture House has always been that cinema’s name. No one had any recollection of the name Glen Cinema, but some members of staff did recall a cinema that had been set up in the Town Hall. So there was a second cinema at some time, and that could well have been the Glen Cinema.
All of which means the Picture House completely evaded the Kinematograph Year Books. This would be unusual, but it is not unknown. Perhaps another contributor will be able to shed further light on this in due course.
Contributed by
David Simpson
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
The very helpful lady at the library in Banchory has provided some further information – having spoken to a local lady whose brother was an assistant projectionist at the Glen! That cinema was, as suspected, situated in the Town Hall. It started in the 1940s, which ties in with my information in the Overview.
It also turns out that the Picture House didn’t open until 1954 – hence its non-appearance in the earlier Kinematograph Year Books! The Glen appears to have carried on for a while after the Picture House opened, operating under the name The Banchory Cinema for a while.
Banchory isn’t listed in the 1944 KYB at all, with just the Picture House listed in the 1966 KYB. The ‘66 KYB has the proprietor as Robert Martin Cay, 458, Holborn Street, Aberdeen, 398 seats, screen 24 ft. by 10 ft. 6 in., CinemaScope, proscenium width of 28 feet.