Remembering former city cinema's magical Fairyland
He was the weaver of dreams, the man who made Christmas a colourful fantasy for parents and children alike.
The year that’s ebbing away is the 120th anniversary of the birth of Jimmy Nairn, who began working life in a shipyard in Govan before becoming a cinema projectionist.
Next year will be the 80th anniversary of his appointment as manager at the Playhouse Cinema, which stood in Academy Street next to what is now the Filling Station restaurant.
The Playhouse opened in 1929 as the burgh’s “luxury” cinema and Jimmy Nairn added a new and exciting dimension, turning the balcony foyer which had become a café into the place he named Fairyland.
Parents and children alike gazed in fascination at the cartoon and fairy tale characters expertly painted on the walls by Jimmy himself, a chore he only found enjoyable.
Each Christmas patrons would express their delight – and the manager grew determined to come up with better and better artistic confections.
He also managed to fit in items with moving parts including a snowman with spinning eyes, a toy soldier banging a drum, a fountain and windmills.
There was also a postbox where children could drop in their letters to Santa, which Jimmy would write suitable replies to.
Fairyland’s pièce de résistance was Mouse Village, a glass tank of white mice running about their own miniature community, up the church tower or in and out the houses.
Children were fascinated with this show – and even more enthralled when Jimmy Nairn would produce a couple of mice from his trouser pocket!
Santa was a regular visitor, asking children if their father supported Clach, Caley or Thistle.
Sadly in March 1972, while the Steve McQueen film ‘Le Mans’ was being screened, the Playhouse burned down. Jimmy was convinced the blaze was deliberate, and so it proved, with a 22-year-old man who had worked as a projectionist in more than one Inverness cinema being found guilty of arson and sentenced to four years imprisonment.
Jimmy Nairn was more than just a creator of a festive spectacular, although so warmly remembered as such.
He was a showman and a cinema pioneer who would go on to invent a special spotlight attached to the cine projector, which he patented in the United States, France and Germany. Royalties rolled in until the talkies arrived, with projectors containing integral lights.
His handheld camera became his obsession and in 1931 he claimed to be the first amateur filmmaker to produce a talkie. He was invited to film the Royal Family at Balmoral in 1941.
“The Playhouse Presents” was a series of short films Jimmy filmed and directed which remain as a lasting glimpse into a bygone era. Jimmy also pioneered commercial cinema advertising by gaining payment from local shopkeepers for their shopfront appearing in one of his movies.
His films from 1933 to 1960 ranged from Lord Lovat’s funeral and Royal visits to the Camanachd Cup final, the Remembrance Day Parade, Royal Academy sports day and Gala Queen Parade.
When his cinema burned down, Jimmy created a new version of Fairyland in his own home and he and his wife Mary would welcome in hordes of local children every Christmas until his death in 1982.
In many Inverness memories, Fairyland still shines bright this Yuletide – and so do the achievements of the remarkable Jimmy Nairn.
n Sponsored by Ness Castle Lodges.