Cosmo Cinema Glasgow 1

12 Rose Street, City Centre

Opened: May 18th 1939

Screens: 2

Seats:
(1939): stalls 464, balcony 365 • TOTAL 829
(2006): screen 1, 404 screen 2, 144 • TOTAL 548

Special thanks to John Letham at GFT for all his help.

By 1938, the Singleton Circuit comprised six 'Vogue' cinemas in Govan, Riddrie, Possilpark, Cathcart, Cardonald and Knightswood.

George Singleton believed that Glasgow was capable of supporting a cinema devoted to the best of world cinema and together with academic and founder of the Glasgow Film Society, Charles Oakley, they created The Cosmo, the design based on the Curzon Mayfair and the programming based on The Academy cinema in London.

James McKissack had designed some of Glasgow's finest cinemas including the Vogues in Govan and Riddrie for the Singletons. By the time he came to design the Cosmo, his health was failing (he died in 1940) and the design was drawn up by his partner William J. Anderson.

The location was on a slope at the junction of Rose Street and Renfrew Street. The Cosmo was slightly hidden from view by being set back from the adjacent buildings, but compensated by having a neon-lit canopy, and a large cream and red back lit sign which was replaced in the mid-60s by the "globes of the world" sign, designed by Isi Metzstein.

The exterior was built of brown Ayrshire brick, finished with cream and amber detailing and crowned by a stepped tower above the entrance. The interior featured a globe above the stalls entrance and although this is long gone, Todd Garner's mosaic on the floor of the GFT foyer continues the theme.

The 850 seat Cosmo opened on Friday May 18th 1939 at 12.45 with 'Un Carnet de Bal', a French film from 1937 about a well-heeled widow, who sets off on a quest to discover what became of partners from an old dance card twenty years previously. Given that programmes in Glasgow cinemas that week included Room Service with The Marx Bros and Lucille Ball, or Marie Antoinette starring Norma Shearer and Tyrone Power, the impact on the cultural life of Glasgow must have been remarkable.

The opening also saw the first appearance of Mr Cosmo, the little bowler hatted manager who appeared in posters, ads and on screen and who, even now, is as instantly recognisable to generations of Glasgow filmgoers as the Odeon lettering or ABC triangle.