# Lyceum Cinema, Govan - Nov. 2010



## BenCooper (Nov 16, 2010)

Govan's Lyceum Cinema dates from 1938 - at the time it was a stunning modernist cinema with a curved backlit wall of glass, and seated 2,600. Bought by County in 1974, it was split in two, with bingo in the stalls and a 480-seat cinema in what was the balcony - the beautiful circular entrance was partitioned.





The cinema side continued until 1981, with the original circular paybox pulled to one side - it's still there:





County were bought by Gala in 2006, who closed the bingo side - the cinema has been unused since then, and getting pretty derelict, but the new owner has plans to redevelop it - reopening the cinema side, and using the stalls as a performance space. This was a by-invitation visit to take pictures to help with bids for funding.

First, the cinema side - to one side of the entrance are some rooms with old film posters, including a 3D Ben Hur one! That didn't photograph well:









The stairs up to the cinema are very elegant:









Then the upper foyer and toilets - I never usually bother photographing the cludgies, but these were pretty:













Into the cinema itself:









With some very cool '30s lights:





Up to the projection booth - no projectors, but I found them under the cinema floor.





In the power room next to the projection booth were a couple of mercury vapour rectifiers:





A quick look into the roof space:





There were some bits and pieces of film lying about - mostly "Coming Soon" snippets, but I did find a Kia-Ora advert 





Back stairs:



 



The other side of the stairs to the balcony, with original gilt mouldings:





Next, into the bingo side, and the other half of the circular entrance:





Bingo book sales desk:





The stalls, with the amazing original screen area:









Down to the basement for a quick look at the boilers:





And finally back to the stalls:









More, as usual, in my Flickr set...


----------



## ceejam (Nov 16, 2010)

Nice stuff, love the varying colours, 
What was the last film showing there ? Pink Floyds The Wall by any chance.


----------



## klempner69 (Nov 16, 2010)

Love the first shot very much..some seriously lush wide shots of the bingo callers area too.


----------



## BenCooper (Nov 16, 2010)

Cheers 

No idea what the last film was - what was out in 1981?


----------



## klempner69 (Nov 16, 2010)

Some of these,you may have heard of,some not:



An American Werewolf in London (1981), 97 minutes, D: John Landis

Arthur (1981), 117 minutes, D: Steve Gordon

Atlantic City (1981), 104 minutes, D: Louis Malle

Blow Out (1981), 107 minutes, D: Brian De Palma 

Body Heat (1981), 113 minutes, D: Lawrence Kasdan

Chariots of Fire (1981, UK), 123 minutes, D: Hugh Hudson

Das Boot (1981, W. Germ.), 145 minutes, D: Wolfgang Petersen 

Escape From New York (1981), 99 minutes, D: John Carpenter 

The Evil Dead (1981), 85 minutes, D: Sam Raimi 

Excalibur (1981), 140 minutes, D: John Boorman

The French Lieutenant's Woman (1981, UK), 127 minutes, D: Karel Reisz

Gallipoli (1981, Aust.), 110 minutes, D: Peter Weir

Mad Max 2 (1981, Aust.) (aka The Road Warrior), 94 minutes, D: George Miller 

My Dinner with Andre (1981), 110 minutes, D: Louis Malle

On Golden Pond (1981), 109 minutes, D: Mark Rydell

Ragtime (1981), 155 minutes, D: Milos Forman

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), 115 minutes, D: Steven Spielberg

Reds (1981), 200 minutes, D: Warren Beatty


----------



## ceejam (Nov 17, 2010)

Sorry, it was pic 12 that made me think it may have been " The Wall"


----------



## sYnc_below (Nov 17, 2010)

Impressive angles, what lense did you use?


----------



## BenCooper (Nov 17, 2010)

It's a Sigma 12-24mm...


----------



## RichardH (Nov 17, 2010)

Worth it for the mercury vapour rectifiers alone. They always make me think of daleks in the nude, for some reason. My head is a strange place.


----------



## KooK. (Nov 18, 2010)

This is great, love it. And some very nice pics, I like the little old signs.


----------



## Em_Ux (Nov 18, 2010)

Fantastic photos & what a building!

Thankyou for sharing with us


----------



## EastOfDesolation (Nov 18, 2010)

That's some impressive stuff there Ben. Well done!


----------



## BenCooper (Nov 21, 2010)

Thanks all


----------

