Edinburgh’s original Filmhouse

The graphic image above was the cover illustration for the Edinburgh Film Guild’s 1946-47 Cinema Season programme. It shows, what was then, the Guild’s new premises at 6-8 Hill Street EH2 3JZ, which was known as ‘Film House’.

The Guild relocated to a new Film House in 1958, at 3 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh EH3 7TJ.

The Guild would be one of the key partners in establishing Filmhouse in the late 1970s, alongside the Scottish Film Council, British Film Institute, and City of Edinburgh Council. As part of this, the Guild invested in purchasing and developing the property at 88 Lothian Road EH3 9BZ.

The Guild moved from Randolph Crescent into the new Lothian Road site in 1978 and the name Film House was recycled to become Filmhouse.

(Note: The Guild participated in an unsuccessful attempt to save the Filmhouse building after the Centre for the Moving Image (a charity established to run the Edinburgh International Film Festival, Filmhouse, and Belmont Filmhouse) went into administration in October 2022.)

Graphic representation of the ‘Film House’, 6-8 Hill Street in 1946. Photo: 6-8 Hill Street now.
Photos of the Guild’s ‘Film House’ at 3 Randolph Crescent, Edinburgh. Insert: Curt Jürgens and Gia Scala attended the Edinburgh International Film Festival for the Opening Gala of I Aim At The Stars in which they both starred. They are seen here in front of ‘Film House’ in 1960.