The Kings Theatre, Kilmarnock

Facade and main entrance on Titchfield Street

Photograph: 18th February, 2010.
Photographer; ©Mike Bailey

From 1916 until 1929, the theatre was owned by R C Buchanan, who presented a variety of shows and, on occasions, cinema presentations.  In 1929 the building was acquired by ABC (Associated British Cinemas) added the venue to their expanding theatre circuit.  In 1934 the building was converted to a cinema.

ABC Cinemas was established in 1927 by solicitor John Maxwell by merging three smaller Scottish cinema circuits. It became a wholly-owned cinema subsidiary of British International Pictures when it was merged with Maxwell’s British National Studios production arm.

During the thirties the company grew rapidly by acquisitions and an ambitious building programme under the direction of chief architect W.R.Glen who maintained a distinct house style. Existing cinemas which could not be re-modelled were usually operated as separate circuits. In 1937, the parent company, BIP was renamed Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC).

After Maxwell's death in 1940, his widow sold a large number of shares to Warner Brothers, who eventually became the largest shareholders and able to exercise control. By 1945 it operated over 400 cinemas (usually called the Savoy or Regal) and was second only to Rank's Odeon chain.

Television led to a sharp decline in cinema patronage after the war although the ABPC expanded into the new medium with the creation of Associated British Cinemas (Television) Limited, which as ABC Weekend Television won the Independent Television contracts for the North of England and Midlands at the weekend (and would eventually become Thames Television).

As a result of the decline many suburban theatres closed. Most of those remaining lost their individual names and were simply ABCs. In 1967, Seven Arts, the new owners of Warner, decided to dispose of its holdings in ABPC and it was subsequently bought by EMI, who later sold the chain in 1986 to the Golan & Globus "Cannon Cinemas" Group, having retained the ABPC's lucrative television interests.

In the early 1990s, on the verge of bankruptcy, Cannon was taken over by Pathe Communications, a holding company which subsequently bought MGM.