Riddrie / Vogue
726 Cumbernauld Road, Riddrie
Now the flagship hall for NB Bingo, the former Riddrie cinema is one of
the best preserved 1930s suburban super-cinemas in Scotland. It was listed Category B by Historic Scotland in 2008.
Designed
by prolific cinema architect James McKissack (also responsible for the Kingsway and La
Scala ,
amongst many others), it opened in March 1938.
This was one of
McKissack's best designs, and it seems no expense was spared in its
construction for George Smith and James Welsh.
The rounded, flowing curves of the exterior are edged in black, and the
white faience tiles broken up with tall windows above the central
entrance canopy. The white foyer block is in contrast to the darker,
roughcast auditorium, also edged
in black curving tiles , somewhat
reminiscent of the cloud-shaped exterior at his Raith cinema,
Kirkcaldy, and a motif that is reproduced in several places inside the
building.
The entrance doors
originally incorporated a revolving door, although
this was soon rebuilt as an additional ticket booth. The Automaticket
machine is still in the booth today, and its revolving origins are
still obvious!
The
high-ceilinged, spacious foyer originally ran the full width of the
building,…
Riddrie / Vogue
726 Cumbernauld Road, Riddrie
Now the flagship hall for NB Bingo, the former Riddrie cinema is one of
the best preserved 1930s suburban super-cinemas in Scotland. It was listed Category B by Historic Scotland in 2008.
Designed
by prolific cinema architect James McKissack (also responsible for the Kingsway and La
Scala ,
amongst many others), it opened in March 1938.
This was one of
McKissack's best designs, and it seems no expense was spared in its
construction for George Smith and James Welsh.
The rounded, flowing curves of the exterior are edged in black, and the
white faience tiles broken up with tall windows above the central
entrance canopy. The white foyer block is in contrast to the darker,
roughcast auditorium, also edged
in black curving tiles , somewhat
reminiscent of the cloud-shaped exterior at his Raith cinema,
Kirkcaldy, and a motif that is reproduced in several places inside the
building.
The entrance doors
originally incorporated a revolving door, although
this was soon rebuilt as an additional ticket booth. The Automaticket
machine is still in the booth today, and its revolving origins are
still obvious!
The
high-ceilinged, spacious foyer originally ran the full width of the
building, but has since been divided into three sections, the
right-most of which was used as a bar until recently. While the
original light-fittings have been replaced, the original radiator
covers and much of the terrazzo
flooring is still intact.
The money that was spent on the building is obvious in that even the
projection room
- an area the public would never see - was smartly
decorated with white and
green tiles . It is also unusually large and
spacious for a cinema of this type, and must have offered comparatively
pleasant working conditions compared to most other cinemas of the day.
The alterations in the 1,780 seater auditorium for bingo use - such as
the addition of bars and cash desks etc .
- have been done in a
sympathetic style to the original decoration, with sweeping curves
incorporated into the design. While the balcony and stalls rakes have
been flattened out, and the cinema seating replaced with bingo tables,
otherwise the auditorium still very much retains its original cinematic
feel.
On
either side of the proscenium, columns run the full height
of the
auditorium, flanking the side exits, above which are set patterned
recesses, with an oblong
clock (still keeping the correct time!)
above
the left side exit.
The light-coloured ribbing around the proscenium ,
almost identical to that in McKissack's earlier Kingsway cinema, was
originally illuminated by a Holophane lighting scheme, the remains of
which can still be seen in the line of bulbs still present behind
the
nearest pillar to the screen. Curved coloured lines step down from the
front of the balcony towards the side exits.
The ceiling features a very
unusual ceiling lighting design - a large
cylindrical central
light fitting sits just in front of the proscenium,
projecting downward from the roof. The red decorated glass in
these
would originally have been illuminated from above by a series of bulbs
that could be accessed from
above via crawlways in
the roofspace . Further
deep
set oblong light fittings
protrude from the ceiling above the balcony.
Some of the smaller original ceiling
lights also survive intact under
the balcony.
A
large basement underneath the cinema still contains souvenirs of
earlier days, such as parts from the projectors and some of the
original cinema seats .
In January 1950, the Riddrie was sold to the Singleton circuit of
cinemas, and renamed the Vogue (the Singletons also owned the
McKissack-designed Cosmo - now the GFT - and numerous other cinemas in western
Scotland).
The Vogue continued showing films until April 1968, since when it has
been a successful bingo hall, most recently cared for and run by NB.
It has continued a bingo hall
to the present day, except for a brief period in 1990 when it featured
as a super cinema once more in the film Silent Scream , featuring Robert
Carlyle.
A comprehensive gallery of
over 70 photos, covering the building from top to bottom, can be found here .
A gallery of exterior photos from 2007 can be seen here .
Many thanks to Robert Kelly and
the staff of NB Bingo for their time
and enthusiasm while showing us around the building.
A 1980 exterior can be seen
here, courtesy Chris Doak.
