Cinema came early to Fort William, with the establishment of the ‘Picture House’ in the old town hall in April 1913, before WW1 broke out. In those days, films were typically short and an evening of cinema would often involve a variety of clips, ranging from newsreel to comedy, cartoons and travelogues of far away places – quite an eclectic mix! The Picture House was renamed ‘CB Pictures’ in 1919 and continued to operate in the Town Hall until 1926.
In 1929, the ‘Shalee’ opened on the High Street along from The Volunteer Arms, named after a Native American Indian tribe it seems. It brought the exciting new ‘Talkies’ to the town – movies synchronised with sound, such as the legendary film ‘The Jazz Singer’.
Within a year the Shalee was renamed as ’The Lochaber’ for a brief period, before a final name change to the ‘Playhouse’ in 1931, following considerable investment and refurbishment in the Art Deco style. The Playhouse had one screen and seating for a whopping 678 people! It ran for almost 50 years before becoming a bingo club. It was finally closed by the council in 1979 due to poor wiring, a leaking roof and no fire exit.
Many of you will remember what came next – ‘Studio Cinema’, built on the former site of the Town Hall in Cameron Square as a two screen theatre and tourist office. Run by Lady-Irene Archibald from its opening in 1986 and then John McDermott, Studio Cinema had the same chief projectionist as the Playhouse – Kevin Brooks. Since it closed in 2005, Fort William has been without a permanent cinema, leaving the local film loving community bereft of the big screen experience.
Until now! We’re very pleased that your new, purpose built Highland Cinema and café / bar is now open!
If you have interesting memories or photos of previous cinema and film experiences in Fort William, we’d love to hear from you. Any corrections to this brief history are also welcome.
