The aim of the Going to the Pictures Project has been to help preserve a part of our local cinema heritage by collecting and recording memories from people who used and worked in the local picture houses from the 1930′s to the 1960′s.
Explore this map of 21 local cinemas within a 3 mile radius of the Plaza, from 1930 to 1960.
The Stella Cinema a 1920′s gem which accommodated seating for 1200 patrons
Gender roles portrayed in the cinema where sometimes untrue to life but helped to reinforce stereotypes
In 1933/34 I went to “The Pictures” for the first time, but I was not impressed. The black and white film was very old and scratched; it looked like driving rain to me. A few years later I went again and paid a penny to get in with a penny for ice cream in the interval.
Film cards, magazines and photographs of the stars became valuable prized possessions which were collected and exchanged by the cinema goers and would be a talking point in society.
The role of women portrayed on the screen often fell within the stereotypical roles amplified and made up by Hollywood
The Regal was built as a purpose built cinema and opened 1939. With a white frontage, the sail shape building was a very popular venue especially with courting couples who remember the double ‘Love Seats’
In the early days of cinema films for children would often be of American origin and sometimes just be adult films which had been edited until British films especially made for the child audience came along following concerns about the effects of film on the young audience.