The Cameo, Edinburgh

The Cameo is a cinema in Tollcross, Edinburgh, Scotland, known for showing special kinds of films called art house movies. It is very important for the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The Cameo opened its doors on January 8, 1914, making it one of the oldest cinemas in Scotland that is still used today. It showed silent films until 1930 and still has many of its original design features. In 2006, it was given special protection as a Category B listed building by Historic Scotland. Since 1992, the Cameo has had three screens to show films, and in 2003, it became part of a bigger cinema chain.

History

The Cameo cinema in Edinburgh, Scotland, opened on 8 January 1914 as the King's Cinema. It was one of the oldest cinemas in Scotland and showed silent films with live music. In 1930, it started showing films with sound, called "talkies".

In 1947, Jim Poole bought the cinema and renamed it the Cameo. He showed special and foreign films and helped start the Edinburgh Film Festival in 1949. Famous films like Monsieur Hulot's Holiday and Annie Hall were shown there. In 1963, it became the first cinema in the city to have a bar.

After Jim Poole retired in 1982, the cinema changed owners many times. In 2006, it was protected as an important building. Today, it is part of the Picturehouse chain and continues to show special films.

Architecture

Behind a modern shopfront, the Cameo cinema still has much of its original design. The entrance has a special floor made of terrazzo and one of the original ticket booths. Inside, there is a hallway that leads to the main cinema room, which is located in the back courtyard of a building where many homes are close together. While other cinemas in Scotland were built this way in the past, the Cameo is the only one still open today.

Famous visitors

Many well-known people have visited the Cameo cinema during different times. Famous actors like Lillian Gish, Orson Welles, Melina Mercouri, and Cary Grant have all been there during film festival seasons. Sean Connery, who was born nearby, even opened the cinema's bar in 1963.

More recently, famous filmmakers and actors such as Quentin Tarantino and Irvine Welsh have also enjoyed the Cameo. Over the years, many other notable people from the world of film and entertainment have visited this historic cinema.

In popular culture

The Cameo cinema in Edinburgh appears in the film The Illusionist by Sylvain Chomet. In the movie, the main character, Tatischeff, accidentally walks into the cinema while hiding from a young couple and sees the film Mon Oncle by Jacques Tati playing. This is a fun reference because Tatischeff is inspired by Tati.

The Cameo also inspired a fictional cinema called Paradise Cinema in the novel Children of Paradise by Camilla Grudova. Grudova worked at the Cameo after moving to Scotland, and it influenced her writing. Other movies like Women Talking Dirty starring Helena Bonham Carter and A Woman in Winter by Richard Jobson also include scenes filmed inside the Cameo.