Aberdeen Cinemas 

This came up in my feed and I'm originally from Aberdeen. Remember the Queens Cinema fondly. It used to show a lot of Disney films and in the late 60s/70s my friends and I often used to go there. The projector was always breaking down and when it started again there was a huge cheer went up. The Grand Central (aka The Grandie) tended to show more X rated films in the 70s. In the late 80s/early 90s I was a First Aider with the Red Cross and we often got duties in the Capitol as they had live acts. I've been on duty when the late Tammy Wynette performed there, also Englebert, Charley Pride, Daniel O'Donnell, Foster & Allen and The Chippendales (never any shortage of volunteers for them). I remember my parents talking about the cinemas they went to, including The Starry. Thank you for the trip down memory lane.

I was a Saturday-afternoon-at-the-movies kid in Aberdeen, so there cinemas were magic to me, and I'm so glad that the magic works for the kind people who have taken the trouble to post comments.

Thrilled that someone has taken the time and effort to pay homage to these great cinema houses. In these days when folk watch movies on cell phones, its nice to be reminded what a pleasure movie-going once used to be...

Fantastic look into history.

I remember the Gaumont saturday mornings in the 50's ..think you got in free on your birth day..used to go to the uptown baths in Holburn st in the afternoon , then walk back to Garthdee..amazing days!!!

Thanks for posting this tribute to cinemas now long gone.I have so much great memories of my times working in some of them as a projectionist over the years. Wonderful !

I have found memories of the Capitol! I worked there at the age of 15 for the Donald's. As an usherett and in the bar selling food.

All I can say is, thank you,thank you,thank you.I am an old person but can even remember the pictures I saw way back then,and even the persons I saw them with. A little note about the Capitol cinema, I lived in Rose street just after the war and saw the very first neon sign to be lit up in Aberdeen,it was the Capitol sign.

I didn't know them all, but I do remember a few of them. Thanks for uploading this.

Apologies for not crediting those wonderful organists on the soundtrack. "Cock o' the North is indeed George Blackmore at the Astoria Organ on 30 November 1955. The rest is Brian Rodwell at the Capitol in 1989, hence the considerably better sound.

Thank you very much indeed for this fine presentation, which I found via the arthurlloyd.co.uk website, well worth a visit if you are interested in Aberdeen's theatres. Over many years, my dad and I spent our summer holidays in Aberdeen, with visits to the Capitol and Astoria always on our list of 'things to do'. The films didn't matter - we just wanted to hear the organs. At that time the two names I remember were George Blackmore and Rowland Tims. Watching your slide show, I must confess to feeling somewhat emotional, thinking back to those happy times. I see the Capitol Compton organ, in extremely poor condition, was saved in 2013 by the Aberdeen Theatre Organ Trust (address below). On a visit to the city last year, I was devastated to learn that only the Capitol facade is being retained, everything else, including the magnificent foyer, staircase and restaurant, have gone. This is vandalism of the highest degree. Will city councils NEVER learn? The Astoria organ was moved to nearby Powis Academy and later destroyed by an arson attack, thanks to an obviously tone-deaf pupil. www.organfax.co.uk/clubs/aberdeentot/

I have a recollection that some of the smaller independent cinemas were owned by the Donald family in the 50's.

A Disney star who won an Oscar was born in Aberdeen . He probably viewed his films in these cinemas . V

Excellent presentation. Why O why was the Capitol's interior destroyed when it had survived as late as the 90s - and why can't the Compton be removed from its "tomb" and installed somewhere where it can be played???

I spent my youth in these cinemas. Some showed three features per week.

I'm afraid I don't have any Timms recordings. There are whispers of someone who's interested in saving the organ and, equally importantly, knows exactly what that would involve. To store the console and the contents of the organ chamber would take something more than your average lockup! Better news about the Tivoli; planning applications are in for work to make it wind and watertight once more.

I remember many of these. However my mum would have remember many of them as she came from Fittie. I remember the Gaunmont became the ABC. My favourite as a kid was the saturday morning theatre for under 10's.

0:01 0:09 This Music Is Funky. Thanks Mate. X

Saw "Rollerball" zt the old Cosmo circa 1975........saw an Oliver Reed movie at the Queen's Cinema one wet Monday afternoon when there were no more than 5 or 6 people there. It's not till they're gone that you realise what a loss these cinemas are to the city. Never went into the Grand Central, mind you. That was for a "certain" clientele!

Looking for info on torry cinema, my great grandfather played the organ (1921-1926) going by some of the info I've found. Looking for pictures of him /the band.

I took a lot of these pictures myself just before the cinemas closed. These and more info can be found at: Scottish Cinemas.org Also there's an excellent book on Aberdeen's cinemas, now out of print but often available in the Oxfam Bookshop, "The Silver Screen in the Silver City", by Michael Thomson. I hope this is of some help to you

@metman48 Perhaps it best if the organ was removed, restored and installed into another appropriate venue where it would be heard and used?

Hi, magical, all I wanted. I am doing some research on Aberdeen's theatres to create the wikipedia page: Aberdeen_Theatres_and_Concert_halls. Could you let me know your sources for that much informations? (for example, I never heard about the Alhambra Theatre). Well done!

Brilliant! Does anyone know who the organists are?

Mine Is Cineworld Theatre Glasgow

@starrman22 Thanks a lot, that's really helpful.

Things aren't looking good for the Capitol itself, as there is a planning application in to demolish the auditorium and build a nine-storey hotel, while restoring the front of house area "to its former splendour" as they say. A stunning foyer to nowhere. Great. Well... better than nothing! I heard there is a party interested in salvaging the organ, so all may not be lost.

Any ideas as to whats happening to the Capitol Compton? I read that the Capitol is to be made into a hotel.