Community leaders want to bring back the magic of the movies to Monifieth after almost 60 years.
In the heyday of cinemas in Angus, Arbroath boasted three, there were two each in Forfar, Brechin, Montrose and Carnoustie and one in Kirriemuir and one in Monifieth.
The rise of television led to widespread closures.
The Alhambra Cinema in Monifieth, which was opened in 1936, closed in 1960.
Monifieth Local History Society (MLHS) now wants to bring back the classic movies which would have been enjoyed by cinemagoers in the past.
The group has agreed to sign the lease of the former police office in the High Street to secure its future and president Margaret Copland said the film reels could be ready to roll again in the town.
“The Alhambra was not the first picture house in Monifieth but the replacement of one sited in Tay Street which burned down in the 1930s,” she said.
“The cinema was housed in a corrugated iron building which had added sound effects as those children who did not have the entry fee would run a stick along the outside iron ridged walls creating a ‘noise nuisance’.
“The Alhambra was opened in 1936 and operational until 1960, then becoming the Alhambra Garage, and is now the site of the High Street Car Wash which was formerly a fuel filling station.
“Cinema is making a comeback and one popular proposal for MLHS members and others is that we have classic film sessions on a regular basis within the relocated House of Memories Community Heritage Centre.
“This is one of many ideas to bring people of all ages together, including the disabled. and those facing isolation with no social interaction.
“The possibilities are endless of the uses for 81 High Street once the lease is signed and we get entry. It’s exciting times for Monifieth and the community.”
An archive of 9,000 pictures will also be used in regularly changing displays including images of the Alhambra Cinema.
The Monifieth collection includes thousands of photographs and artefacts relating to local life, built up over more than a decade and a half.
Mrs Copland said her own memories of Angus cinema were sitting in the “cheap seats” right down at the front where viewing “was similar to lying with your head back for a dental inspection”.
She said: “The only time the auditorium vibrated was when the film broke down.
“Hundreds of pairs of feet stamped in unison to chants of ‘get a penny in the meter’.
“Emergencies and similar riots were quelled by the two matronly usherettes, who spotlighted the troublemakers with a beam from their powerful torchlights, while uttering ‘I’ll see your mother and tell her how you behave’.”
A mix of community-based and commercially-operated groups are now working to bring back cinema across Tayside.
Chalmers in Arbroath also began to show movies in its filmhouse with great success and Brechin Community Cinema has brought showings back to its city hall.
The £3.2 million Montrose Playhouse is also due to open next year, with an adaptable three screen cinema; education and exhibition spaces; retail space; and café bar.
