At last, it seems that life is returning to normal, and it’s a good thing too as in February I celebrated 25 years since I started campaigning, fundraising and awareness raising for our beloved little music hall. It is no secret that it was love at first sight when I first managed to sneak a peek above a false ceiling (now long gone) to gaze into the balcony which was completely intact, though covered with pigeon poo. Since then, a lot has changed, the false ceiling is gone, the roof was repaired, the façade and west elevation restored, and the stage brought back into working condition. I felt that we were just starting to get somewhere, when suddenly Covid-19 happened, and we had to close the old music hall again. We have been closed for so long, I was worried we wouldn’t be able to afford to open again, and I can’t say that we are out of the woods yet. Visitor numbers are still low and attendance to our shows is not yet what it was pre-pandemic, so if you do have a pound to spare, please donate it to our Go-Fund-Me campaign.

But I am so pleased to announce that we are back open for shows and as a visitor attraction. It seems such a long time since we were able to open for our full program and we are excited to see our audiences slowly coming back in. We have just finished the Glasgow International Comedy Festival which included the return of Silent films with resident live band, Gladstone’s Bag, lead by our very own Chairman of the board, Lawrence Dunn. It was a glorious sunny day and many of our supporters left the sunshine to join us for Buster Keaton’s incredible classic “The General”. Lawrence and Gladstone’s Bag will return on May 4th with Fritz Lang’s immortal science fiction classic “Metropolis”. May the 4th be with you!

Laurel and Hardy fans returned last night for the first screening in two and a half years of Laurel and Hardy films. Laughter rang through the music hall as fans from four Tents* of the Sons of the Desert joined us and there were a few new faces in the audience too! And a member of the James Finlayson society. If you missed it, don’t worry, the “Sons” will be back in June with another hilarious collection of films from the two and only, Laurel and Hardy.
*The Sons of the Desert are the official Laurel and Hardy fan club, and each club is called a Tent.

The Panopticon was showing films right from 25th August 1896. As cinema became more popular than music hall, A. E. Pickard, the owner from 1906, sold the building in May 1919 to the newly formed company “Britannia Pictures”. In December of that year it is being referred to as the Panopticon Theatre with lectures, and a new pianist, J. F. Macarthur, is announced. On 18th April 1920, another lecture “The Children's Red Day” is advertised at the Panopticon Theatre, The Glasgow Post Office Directory of 1920-1921 gives the building's name as Britannia Pictures Ltd. The Bioscope of 17th August 1921 reports that the Panopticon was at that time undergoing “extensive alterations”.

The Bioscope of Thursday 22nd September 1921 refers to Harry Boyle as "the new manager of the Tron Cinema". The most popular films shown there seem to have been the boxing films. There are adverts in the Daily Record for "Bob Beckett vs Boy McCormick" 19th September 1921, "Johnny Basham vs Kid Lewis" 17th October 1921 and "Kid Lewis vs Boy McCormick" 28th November 1921 . The film of the Beckett/McCormick match is called by the Pall Mall Gazette of 17th September 1921 “without doubt the best fighting film we have seen”.

The film of the Lewis/McCormick fight is available on Youtube - 17th November 1921 at the Royal Albert Hall. In June 1922 it was damaged by fire; evidence of this can still be seen at the side of the stage. In March 1923 a new manager took over; Johnny Hamilton. In September 1924 Britannia Pictures went into liquidation, but that month Kinematograph Weekly speaks about “the opening date” of the Panopticon. This may mean that it ceased to be called the Tron Cinema, and reverted to the name Panopticon; there do not seem to be any more references to the Tron Cinema after September 1924, other than the Glasgow Post Office Directory of 1926/27 . A ledger from 1924 currently on display in the auditorium gives the attendance at another boxing film " Tommy Milligan vs Kid Lewis" 26th November 1924. There seem to have been two houses on Friday 28th November (attendance – 1931), and Saturday 29th November (attendance 3419) . The attendance figures are far higher than in the rest of the ledger. Other films mentioned in the ledger are “Skid Proof” (Saturday18th October – attendance 1222) and “The Gunfighter” (Monday 13th October – attendance 956) In February 1925 Britannia Pictures (in voluntary liquidation) paid the Final Dividend to shareholders