[1] Before the advent of "talkies", the Scala had a resident female cinema pianist,[8] and the conductor Sir John Barbirolli once played the piano to accompany the silent films.

[11] During the Manchester Blitz of World War II, a small bomb fell onto Wilmslow Road in front of the cinema on the night of 1 October 1940.

The cinema (which at the time was screening The Housekeeper's Daughter and 5th Ave Girl) survived with minor damage, although it had to close for a few weeks while repairs were completed.

In his autobiographical work, Poland's Daughter: How I Met Basia, Hitchhiked to Italy, and Learned About Love, War, and Exile, Ford describes sitting in the smoke-filled auditorium watching films starring Dirk Bogarde, Jack Hawkins and Alec Guinness.

[citation needed] Early in his career, film writer Mark Kermode visited Cine City, and in his book, The Good, the Bad and the Multiplex, he reminisces about seeing Jaws 3-D there.

[18] The application was denied due to the moratorium on new food and drink licences in Withington, part of the town's unitary development plan.

[22] As of 2005, the building still retained a number of original features, including its gold brocade seats, wall friezes, cornices, and ceiling roses.

[3][20] A revised design turned the mezzanine floor into an area that could be used as an arts venue, cinema, music auditorium or conference room for 120 to 150 people.

[20] A second design consisted of another six-storey building with a large ground-floor shop, a first-storey car park, and four floors of flats.

[26] After 15 years a development scheme was approved to construct a block of flats called the Scala Apartments, named after the original picture house.

[27] Urban speleological reports on the derelict cinema building: Archive photographs of the Scala Picture House: