Kirkcaldy
Image ©2009 D.
Kirkbryde. All rights reserved.
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A look back at the
Kirkcaldy Cannon
by Robert Clark
click for larger images
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The cinema that was
the Cannon Cinema opened its doors in 1904 as the Kings theatre. A new
venture at the time, it was unsuccessful, and went into liquidation. It
reopened in 1908, as the Hippodrome, still showing a mix of live theatre and
films. It was in 1929 that it became a fully fledged cinema, and was renamed
the Opera House. Along with a renaming, it was also re-equipped, with the
then most sophisticated sound system, the Western Electric System. By 1937, the
Hippodrome became the Regal, and was one of three cinemas on Kirkcaldy High
Street, and 5 in the town itself. After the war years, cinemas boomed, and in
1960, the Regal was renamed the ABC, a name it would keep for another 28
years, the longest contious name it had. However, the boom time for cinemas
was over, with the advent and growth of television. Not only that, the two
other cinemas on Krkcaldy High Street both suffered fires, and were
demolished. The Mercat centre sits on both those sites now. In 1977, work was
completed to turn the ABC into a three screen cinema. Screen 1 was upstairs,
and was the largest. Screens 2 and 3 were downstairs, in the basements, with
screen 3 being the smallest. This move may have been a surprise to many, but
with this then being the only cinema in Kirkcaldy by this time, it was a worthwhile
move. The I was born in 1979,
and when I was five, as a birthday treat, my parents took me to the cinema
for the first time, to see In 1988, the cinema
was renamed Cannon, but during their ownership, no significant work was done
to the venue, but new entrance doors were installed. At this time, all seats
were £1, regardless of age. Those were the days! By 1995 the cinema became
an MGM cinema, then in 1998 was renamed the ABC once again, regaining the
name it lost 10 years before. By now, the ABC chain was in common ownership
with Odeon, who opened a new multipex in Odeon said that they
had tried to keep two venues, but the popularity of the Odeon at Closure took place on
The council owned
Adam Smith Centre, just north of the town centre, does, occasionally, show films,
but it's a theatre mainly, thus for the first time in over a century,
Kirkcaldy has no proper cinema. And, one last thought, there are two cinemas
in -Robert Clark March 2008 Kirkcaldy? You can find out more at www.fife.gov.uk and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirkcaldy
Top photo taken by and copyright ©2009
Donald Kirkbryde. All rights reserved. 2008 photos taken by and ©2009
Robert Clark. Cannon.org.uk gives a massive thank you
to Donald for the kind permission to use his photo and to Robert for his
article and photos.
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