Designed by W B Whitie for Henry Meikeljohn, the Grand Central Picture House opened in Jamaica Street in 1915. This early programme lists eight features for the first half of the week and seven for the second, a mixture of comedy, drama and newsreels. An orchestra supplied the background music.
Popular in its early days, the Grand Central saw its audiences decline in the face of competition from larger, more modern cinemas. In the 1950s it claimed to have become a specialist "art" cinema but in reality most of the films shown came into the categories of erotica and horror.
The Grand Central closed in 1966 but was resurrected in 1973 by its new owners Classic Cinemas under the name Classic-Grand. It became the Cannon-Grand in 1985 but it was no more successful and closed in 1992.
Reference: Mitchell Library, Theatre Collection
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Libraries and Archives
Keywords:
Cannon-Grand, cinemas, Classic-Grand, films, Grand Central, orchestras