251 Langlands Road, Govan

Opened: July 4th 1938
Closed: December 30th 1961

Designed by: James McKisack

Number of screens: 1
Number of seats: 2500

It was opened by Lord Provost Sir John Stewart on Monday July 4th at 2.30 and the first film was Varsity Show with Dick Powell and Ted Healy, prices ranged from fourpence for the stalls in the afternoon to a shilling for the front balcony in the evening.

Unusually for the time given the relatively low level of car ownership, The Vogue made a point of featuring their free car park in their advertising.

By the early 60s bingo was becoming popular in Britain and, seeing the potential The Vogue decided to make the transition and screened its final films in December 1961, highlights that month included Springfield Rifles and a double bill of Pal Joey twinned with the Ian Carmichael comedy Private's Progress, the Richard Todd version of Robin Hood and Disney's Treasure Island was the final programme on December 30th.

The conversion to bingo lasted 24 years but in 1985 a property developer bought the site and The Vogue was demolished.

May 1938, and at Bellahouston Park The Empire Exhibition, a celebration of the British Empire and to art deco style opens to the public, eventually attracting 13 million visitors during its six month run.

Against this background of excitement, creativity and optimism, two miles along the road in Govan George Singleton opens his Vogue Cinema at the junction of Langlands Road and Crossloan Road, the first of two luxury cinemas opening in Govan in 1938, with The Lyceum opening in December of that year.

The Vogue Govan was designed by well-known cinema architect James McKissack, already responsible for the Vogue Rutherglen and who the following year would create the Singleton's Glasgow flagship, The Cosmo.

The Vogue was the favourite of owner George Singleton, it dominated its location and featured so much neon, more than any other suburban cinema, that it was visible from planes approaching the then Abbotsinch airfield, as George Singleton recalled, "I flew up from London in 1939...I was so proud to see my cinema glowing down below."