In March 1932, AG Macdonald was chosen by the Elgin Picture House Ltd.
to design a cinema to be constructed on gardens behind the existing
City Inn on the High Street. This explains why the cinemas frontage was
low and undramatic; MacDonald had to insert an entrance into an
existing building. The entrance block was a low, two-storey building,
with a tiled roof. The cinema entrance itself was on the left of this
block, a wide opening announced only by a projecting canopy above,
which had neon lights underneath to draw people inside.
Perhaps
the modest façade allowed for a larger budget to be made available for
the interior, since with two existing older cinemas already in the town
(see below), the new cinema had to impress with its luxury and
experience; the auditorium could not afford to disappoint.
The
building opened on Thursday November 24th 1932, after a construction
period of just 15 weeks. A message from the Prime Minister wishing the
venture success was read out, and the opening bill featured Jack’s the
Lad’ and Mickey Mouse’. Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald visited his
son’s building in December of 1932. The new cinema was clearly a
success, as the…
In March 1932, AG Macdonald was chosen by the Elgin Picture House Ltd.
to design a cinema to be constructed on gardens behind the existing
City Inn on the High Street. This explains why the cinemas frontage was
low and undramatic; MacDonald had to insert an entrance into an
existing building. The entrance block was a low, two-storey building,
with a tiled roof. The cinema entrance itself was on the left of this
block, a wide opening announced only by a projecting canopy above,
which had neon lights underneath to draw people inside.
Perhaps
the modest façade allowed for a larger budget to be made available for
the interior, since with two existing older cinemas already in the town
(see below), the new cinema had to impress with its luxury and
experience; the auditorium could not afford to disappoint.
The
building opened on Thursday November 24th 1932, after a construction
period of just 15 weeks. A message from the Prime Minister wishing the
venture success was read out, and the opening bill featured Jack’s the
Lad’ and Mickey Mouse’. Prime Minister Ramsey MacDonald visited his
son’s building in December of 1932. The new cinema was clearly a
success, as the Picturedrome closed not long after the Playhouse
opened, and the Picture House had gone over to bingo by 1964, leaving
the Playhouse the sole survivor.
The auditorium once sat 1,522 in stalls and balcony – the largest
capacity of any cinema designed by MacDonald. The ceiling consisted of
a series of shallow steps, leading down towards the screen. Set into
each of the steps are a row of circular house lights, each surrounded
by a series of petals’. The proscenium consists of a series of two
vertical pillars on each side, supporting a single, horizontal arched
band, which was originally back-lit.
Original Entrance
Auditorium Side Wall
Auditorium Screen
[Images above courtesy of the Scottish Screen Archive at the National Library of Scotland]
The
side walls featured a dark wooden dado, with horizontal banding running
the full length of the stalls, up to door level. Above, a repeating
pattern, mirrored on both sides, consists of conical-shell lights
set between a series of illuminated vertical columns and decoration.
Playhouse Exterior
(original entrance)
Playhouse original interior
Rear of auditorium
The series of conical, shell-shaped lights emerge from a base of carved
foliage, consisting of a series of five set vertically, each emerging
from the next, reducing in size, until the sixth and final shell, set
slightly above and separate from the rest.
A series of three
vertical strips, outlined with thin bands, terminate in a central
concealed light, from which further carved foliage appears to be
growing. This is a trick MacDonald would use again in his later
cinemas; by building up otherwise plain surfaces with a series of thin
boards, the edges and joints between the boards would, when correctly
lit, create a series of shadows enhancing a 3D effect, creating the
illusion of depth cheaply yet effectively.
It is interesting to
compare elements of Elgin’s decorative scheme with the famous
Mermaid’s Palace’ interior style of the London New Victoria
(Trent & Lewis, 1930, Grade II*), with its stylised columns with
graduated shell-like patterning, containing concealed lighting. Elgin’s
side-wall decoration and lighting could be seen as being inspired by
this; certainly MacDonald was working in London at that time, and would
have been familiar with the building.
In 1986, the Playhouse
auditorium was twinned, and the entrance moved from the High Street to
the side of the auditorium. The cinema now seats 330 in Screen 1
(original front stalls), and 220 in Screen 2 in the original balcony.
The balcony side-wall decoration is currently covered by curtains,
though it is thought portions of the original design is hidden behind
these. The twinning has created Cinema 1 in the front stalls, retaining
much original decoration. A new projection box was constructed under
the balcony to service this. Screen 2 is the balcony, with a new screen
erected in front of it; this is serviced by the original projection
room.
Caledonian Associated Cinemas & AB King
The
only truly Scottish-controlled cinema chain, the CAC Company was formed
in 1935, with a registered address of Bank Chambers, Inverness, and the
telephone number Inverness 1’. It grew through merging of a number of
smaller circuits and individual cinema companies, until by 1947, it
controlled 51 cinemas across Scotland. One of its directors was Sir Alexander B King , who mainly handled the booking of films for them from his offices in Glasgow.
AB
King was also driving force behind his own circuit of over ninety
cinemas across the whole of Scotland at that time; meaning he
effectively controlled the booking for around 140 screens, allowing him
to negotiate better deals from the film distributors, and made
competing against the larger, well funded London-controlled chains such
as ABC and Gaumont/Odeon much easier.
In 2007, only two cinemas still show films under the CAC name: the Playhouse Perth and the Playhouse Elgin.
Architect: Alister G Macdonald
The
architect for the Playhouse was Alister G. MacDonald. It is the
earliest surviving purpose-built cinema by this important architect,
one of only a handful of his buildings to survive throughout the UK,
and, crucially, contains his best known surviving auditorium.
MacDonald
was the eldest son of Britain’s first-ever Labour Prime Minister,
Ramsey MacDonald. Alister’s first cinema job was probably as Clerk of
Works to Frank Verity for Paramount’s Plaza in London’s Regent Street
in 1925-6. After a spell studying skyscrapers and sound insulation
design in America, he went on to become the leading architect of
newsreel cinemas in Britain. The skills he learned in the USA were to
prove useful when it came to designing these small, compact news
cinemas in cramped, awkward sites, such as railway stations. His most
famous such designs were at Victoria and Waterloo Stations in London,
although sadly his plans for a cinema in Glasgow's Central Station were
unrealised. He also built numerous conventional cinemas, most notably
for the Caledonian Associated Cinemas group (CAC) in Scotland,
including the Playhouses in Peebles , Montrose [now demolished] and Elgin, the Broadway in Prestwick [due for demolition], as well as the Empire Cinema
and Peace Pavilion for the Empire Exhibition in Glasgow’s Bellahouston
Park in 1938 – portions of the cinema were later moved to Lochgilphead,
where they survive as a guesthouse, although the Peace Pavilion has
been completely lost.
With offices in both Edinburgh and London,
Alister Macdonald was well placed to take the latest cinema
architecture trends and apply them to his designs across the country.
His reputation and skills were clearly held in high regard – when the
Architects Journal published a special book on Modern Cinemas in 1936,
Macdonald was invited to contribute not just an examplar of his work on
a typical cinema’ (the Playhouse Montrose), but also an entire chapter
on the design on the complexities of designing newsreel cinemas.
References
Architect DSA Entry
Building DSA Entry
The Cinemas of Alistair G MacDonald – Richard Gray
Picture House (Journal of the Cinema Theatre Association), No. 19, p.30-34
Modern Cinemas - A Special Issue of the Architects Journal – Architectural Press, London, 1936.
Section 2: Planning a Newsreel Cinema – Alister G MacDonald (p.7-12)
Playhouse Montrose, Angus – Complete Scheme – Alister G MacDonald (p.32-33)
A Brief History of Caledonian Associated Cinemas Ltd. Hornsey, Fuschiaprint, Stamford, 2004 (ISBN: 1901425983)
Cinema Circuit Statistics
The Scotsman: Weds 16 March 1932 (p.7)
Premier's Son's Success As Architect
Mr
Alastair MacDonald, the Premier's son, is the successful architect for
a large new playhouse which is to be erected at Elgin by Elgin Picture
House Company. Mr MacDonald was in competition with leading English and
Scottish architects who specialise in picture houses, but at a meeting
of the directors which he attended yesterday his design, which
incorporated all the latest Continental ideas, was unanimously adopted.
The Scotsman: Fri 25 November 1932 (p.7)
New Cinema At Elgin
A
message from the Prime Minister, who was invited to the ceremony,
wishing the venture success was read at the opening yesterday by Lord
Provost Hamilton, of Elgin Playhouse, of which the Premier's son, Mr
Alastair MacDonald, was the architect. Five hundred school children and
a large number of unemployed, who were unable to obtain admission, were
entertained to a free performance in Elgin Picture House, which is
under the same management.
The Scotsman: Sat 31 December 1932 (p.8)
Mr MacDonald Visit to Playhouse Designed by His Son
After
the departure of Mr Lansbury, the Prime Minister motored to Elgin,
where he paid a first visit to the new Playhouse, of which his elder
son, Mr Alistair MacDonald, was architect.
He was accompanied by his
other son, Mr Malcolm, and by Miss Ishbel, Miss Sheila, and his private
secretary. At Elgin he was joined by Professor and Mrs Edgar Collis and
other friends.
The party were received by Dr Alexander, the
chairman of the directors, by whom they were shown over the building.
They afterwards saw the film "The Silent Voice" in which George Arliss
stars.
Many thanks to manager Martin Thomson for allowing access for photographs.
Playhouse cash desk with cashier Mrs. Bess McPherson, along with the
then manager, Mr.Jim Davidson, escorting Jessie Kesson who wrote
"Another Time another Place".
The Playhouse cafe, just off the 'Hall of Stars' on the way into the cinema.
It was open daily, Mon/Sat. from 9.30am until 9.30/10.00pm.
After it closed as a
cafe it was converted into a lounge bar.
