Maryhill Roxy
Words by Ruairi Hawthrone
Hello again, readers. While I took great pleasure in illuminating the excess and eccentricity of Mr Pickard last time, (a subject I may return to soon) for this article I have decided to return to one of my favourite subjects, the world of Cinema.
The subject of this piece, The Roxy Cinema, has quite a different story than my last subject, the Seamore Picture house, although both had the same objective: to capture the glitz and glamour of Hollywood and bring the wonder of the silver screen to the masses. This is best exemplified by its name, which was originally “The Picture House” which while functional, didn’t really bring that abstract pizzazz that would be needed to stand out from the rather crowded space of Glasgow cinema.
The Big Apple
The NY Roxy, Source: WikiCommons
If they were looking for pizzazz, they looked in the right place for inspiration: New York. The “Roxy theatre” opened in 1927 just outside off “Times Square”. It made its dazzling debut with a showing of Albert Parkers silent drama “The Love of Sunya”, and continued to enjoy great success as host of both motion pictures and stage shows until its closure in 1960, just before the advent of widely available colour television.
The titular Samuel L Rothafel, aka “Roxy”, was the basis for the theatres title. He was a theatre operator who was given a handsome salary and other benefits to bestow the theatre with its memorable moniker, as well as oversee its construction and operation. While it was named after Roxy it was the brainchild of Herbert Lubin, who intended it to be the first of six “Roxys” in the big apple, however things got off to a rather precarious start. From the beginning, Roxy wanted the theatre to be his greatest contribution to the world of the arts and spared no expense on its construction, hiring the architect Walter W. Ahlschlager and decorator Harold Rambusch to help with the buildings design. Ahlschlager was able to make good use of the limited space that they had to build on, prioritising seating capacity over everything else. This and many other last-minute decisions turned an already expensive venture into an astronomically over budget one. Unfortunately, this pushed Lubin into near bankruptcy, forcing him to sell his shares of the theatre to William Fox. This turn of events would shatter Lubins dream of owning a top of the line cinema chain, but this wasn't the end for the Roxy.
Roxy NY Weekly Review, Source WikiCommons
Despite the misfortune of the dreamer Lubin, the Roxy Midway Theatre (the only one of the planned six Roxy's to be built) flourished as a top class establishment. While Roxy's spare no expense mentality ended up being unfortunate for Lubin, it did pay off for its new owner, as it's luxurious facilities and extravagant design captivated visitors and allured staff. These facilities included a cafeteria, nap room, library, billiards room, gymnasium and showers to accommodate its staff. Meanwhile the performers enjoyed two stories of private dressing rooms, three floors of chorus dressing rooms, a rehearsal room, and a costume department. The staff did not have it easy however, as to keep up the standards of excellent manners and efficiency, the male ushers where subject to daily inspection's and drills by a retired marine officer. This combined with incredibly sharp film image and the inclusion of a 110 member symphony orchestra for certain showings enabled the Roxy to be the best of the best, just as its creator had envisioned.
However, the misfortune did not end with Lubin. Despite its many successes, the Fox Film Corporation, which was owned by the man who currently had majority ownership of the Roxy – William Fox – was in major financial trouble due to the advent of the great depression. This led to a number of crippling issues for the Roxy, including the fact that they could no longer afford to play A class movies, which was one of the major draws of the theatre. These issues where compounded by (and probably the reason for) the departure of the titular Roxy who left to pursue his own ventures and took most of the staff with him. Things where never quite the same without Roxy and while his successor, A.J Balaban, was able to keep the theatre afloat for another ten years by substituting high quality films with stage performer's, it never returned to its glory days.
As it turns out though, theatre runs in the family, as after Balabans departure he was replaced by Roxys true successor, his son Robert C. Rothafel. Unfortunately, despite the best efforts of both Blaban and Robert to once again turn the Roxy into a place of innovation and luxury as well as their genuine belief that "the theatre should be a veritable fairyland of novelty, comfort, beauty and convenience", the Roxy Theatre closed its doors the 29th of March 1960. Its final film showing was of the Ralph Thomas film “The Wind Cannot Read”, its use of sound and colour being the perfect illustrator of how far the Roxy (as well as film in general) had come since the theatres opening in 1927. It is still revered today for the philosophy’s of its various owners and its innovative use of music, live performers, and film. However, the story of Maryhill’s own Roxy is a very different tale.
Maryhill’s own Roxy
Maryhill Roxy Newspaper Clipping from the 12th of May 1945, at the end of WW2. Families could see loved one who were abroad at the theatre. Source British Newspaper Archive
Maryhill Roxy AD from February 1935, The Milngavie and Bearsden Herald. Source: British Newspaper Archive
Opened in 1932, Mayhills Roxy was a far cry from its American cousin, it based its name on the New York establishment’s and proved to be extremely popular – to this day holding a special place in the hearts of many Maryhill Denizens. Thanks to the efforts of architects Daniel Lennox and David McMath, the Roxy had a respectable 2,000 seats, a good percentage of them being occupied by soldiers from the nearby Maryhill Barracks. Not unlike its predecessor, the people in charge new that one of its main priorities should be bringing a wide variety of entertainment to the masses and making that entertainment much more affordable than the competition. To that end, they would host talent contests alongside their normal selection of films, broadening the scope of their audience considerably by creating an inclusive and welcoming environment. Many regulars have fond memories of going on dates, sneaking in through the women’s toilets, going to the nearby café (famous for its “so thick you can stand your spoon up in it” soup) and of course, being utterly absorbed in the world of cinema. One patron recalls being so enthralled by the exploits of Doctor Who that he let his ice cream melt down his trousers, while another recalls there envy of a frequent visitor who had a lengthy winning streak in the weekly signing contests. Even people who are too young to have visited The Roxy in its heyday have been regaled tales of heroic ushers and villainous visitors by parents and grandparents. Despite the many fond memories that the Roxy bore, it was closed and demolished in 1962, possibly for similar reasons to its New York counterpart.
The ever changing face of cinema
In the end, it seems that no picture house, regardless of size, staff or overall quality, is immune to the entropic force of colour television. While this innovation did not kill cinema by any means, it did spell the closure of swaths of picture houses worldwide, resulting in a landscape where only the strongest would survive. Now it's very difficult for small theatres like the Maryhill Roxy to survive and to attempt a venture as costly as the New York Roxy would be suicidal. Even the giants of the industry have resorted to a multitude of gimmicks to incentivise leaving the house and to justify ever inflating ticket prices, not unlike the NY Roxy in its later years.
These have included 3D (both in the 70s and its brief revival in the 2010s) 4D, D-Box Seats, increasingly sophisticated surround sound systems and strangest of all, the short-lived Smell-o-vision. These may seem like the last gasps of a dying industry, however the major chains like Cineworld and even independent theatres such as the GFT have continued to remain profitable, especially when they abandon short sighted gimmicks and focus on there respective strengths, the former bringing major releases to the masses in massive, comfortable screens and the latter bringing the obscure, low budget and foreign pictures to people who would otherwise be unable to see them. I see the aforementioned theatres as the modern successors of the two Roxy's, and I hope that they can continue to embody the bombastic, adventures spirit of Samuel and the subdued charm and underdog spirit of the beloved Maryhill Cinema for years to come.