The Cameo, Edinburgh

Coordinates: 55°56′34″N 3°12′15″W / 55.94284°N 3.20421°W / 55.94284; -3.20421
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Cameo in September 2010

The Cameo is a cinema in Tollcross, Edinburgh, Scotland, originally named the King's Cinema. It opened on 8 January 1914, making it one of the oldest cinemas in Scotland still in use. Since becoming the Cameo in 1949 it has had a tradition of showing art house films, becoming an important venue for the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Since 1992 it has had three screens. The Cameo was independent until 2003, when it was bought by Cineworld's Picturehouse chain.[1]

History

Behind a modern shopfront, much of the cinema's original architectural character remains. The entrance lobby has a terrazzo floor and one of the original pair of ticket kiosks. An inner foyer leads to the main cinema built within the 'back green' or 'back court' (courtyard) of a tenement block.[2] Cinemas were once built like this elsewhere in Scotland, the biggest being the Rosevale in Partick, but the Cameo is the only one still operating.

The original screen was mirrored, the first mirrored screen in Scotland. There were 673 seats in an auditorium showing silent films with orchestral accompaniment, supplied at one time by Madam Egger's Ladies' Costume Orchestra. In 1930 the cinema was fitted for sound and started showing talkies. The space has been left largely unchanged structurally, but the audience now have better sightlines and more comfort, with less than half the original number of seats. There is an abundance of ornamental plasterwork: columns, cornices, decorative mouldings on walls and ceilings.

The cinema, and the full tenement it is part of, was awarded

Category B listed status by Historic Scotland in 2006.[3]

Jim Poole

In 1949 the cinema was renamed the Cameo by the new owner, Jim Poole (1911–1998), a member of the Poole family, known for their touring

Myriorama shows and who ran cinemas in Scotland and England. He had been in charge of two of the family's cinemas in Aberdeen
before the Second World War, and after a posting as army entertainments officer in the Middle East, wanted to open a venue in Edinburgh where he could show foreign films.

The Cameo included art house and

(1977) were among Poole's successes in attracting good audiences for films not being shown by the big chains.

Poole had begun by rescuing a decaying building with a leaky roof. Later he was able to take over an adjacent shop which, in December 1963, became the first cinema bar in the city licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, despite neighbours' objections. When Poole retired in 1982 the Cameo shut, until 1986.

After 1986

Cameo Cinema entrance, 2012

Once the

council decision-making. In September 2006 Historic Scotland upgraded the conservation status of the cinema to a B listing, protecting the interior from future alteration. The Cinema Theatre Association had campaigned for this after the owners, Picturehouse, put the Cameo up for sale. They took it off the market, drew up new refurbishment plans, and invited contributions from sponsors.[5]

A rare surviving print of

La symphonie pastorale
, the first film shown after the King's Cinema became the Cameo in March 1949, was shown in March 2009 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Cameo.

The cinema was named as one of the 10 best Independent Cinemas in the Guardian in January 2010.

Famous visitors

Pulp Fiction opened in 1994 and Irvine Welsh was at the Cameo for the World première of Trainspotting
in February 1996.

Other famous visitors throughout the years include

.

In popular culture

The cinema appears in Sylvain Chomet's film The Illusionist. While hiding from the young couple, the main character, Tatischeff, accidentally enters the cinema, where Jacques Tati's Mon Oncle is playing. This is an in-joke as Tatischeff is largely based on Tati, the film itself having been adapted from a script of his.[6] Other films with scenes filmed inside the Cameo include Helena Bonham Carter's Women Talking Dirty and Richard Jobson's A Woman in Winter.

Sources

References

  1. ^ Scotsman, 2012. https://www.scotsman.com/business/companies/media-leisure/cineworld-buys-cameo-owner-picturehouse-for-47-3m-1-2677441
  2. ^ Picture of auditorium exterior
  3. ^ Scotsman Newspaper. 2006. B-listing will act to protect Cameo. Scotsman.com, 21 September 2006. http://www.scotsman.com/news/b-listing-will-act-to-protect-cameo-1-999500
  4. ^ Scotsman 19 August 1949
  5. ^ Edinburgh Evening News 21 September 2006
  6. ^ "The Illusionist". Picture Houses. Retrieved 20 August 2010.

External links

55°56′34″N 3°12′15″W / 55.94284°N 3.20421°W / 55.94284; -3.20421