Going To The Pictures

Memories are made of this… Project overview

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.

Cinema Heritage Interactive Map

Explore this map of 21 local cinemas within a 3 mile radius of the Plaza, from 1930 to 1960.

Female stars of the screen through the decades

Some of the females stars through the decades who drew in the crowds at the cinema

The Gainsborough Knowsley Road Bootle

The Gainsborough, opened in 1922 and was named after the famous painter Thomas Gainsborough. It was built almost directly opposite The Picture House of Bootle and helped bring about its closure.

To be continued…The Serial at the cinema

Cinemas would show episodes of a serial each week which would be left on a cliff hanger, this was a way of having regular cinema patrons return each week

Visit to the North West Sound Archive

The memories of Going to the Pictures we have recorded for the project will be stored within the North West Sound Archive so that part of our local cinema heritage is preserved for future generations

Souvenir Film Brochures (2)

A further selection of souvenir film brochures that were available to buy in cinemas

J. Arthur Rank and Children’s Entertainment Films

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.