A news cinema or newsreel theatre is a cinema specialising in short films, shown in a continuous manner. However, despite its name, a news cinema does not necessarily show only cinematographical news.[1]
History
editThe first official news cinema, The Daily Bioscope,[2] opened in London on 23 May 1909.[3]
"...at the corner of Bishopsgate and New Street (opposite the side entrance to Liverpool Street Railway Station). The Daily Bioscope was opened in a converted shop on 23rd May 1906 with Lubin Manufacturing Company's “The San Francisco Disaster”,[4][5] Pathé Frères' “The Olympic Games at Athens” (Jeux Olympiques d'Athènes)[6] and two short comedies. It had 100-seats and was operated by G.F. Silas on behalf of the Gaumont Company."[7]
In 1929, the United States first dedicated news cinema was the Embassy Theatre on Broadway, New York City, which opened in 1925 as a first-run theater, before Loew's Inc. converted it into a news theater on 2 November 1929.[8] However, because of competition with television news, it reverted into a first-run theater in 1949.[9][8]
In 1933, Jack Diamond's Capitol and Provincial News Theatres (later renamed as Classic Cinemas) opened a News Theatre in London Victoria Station then, a News Theatre in London Waterloo station, in 1934, showing a continuous programme for travellers.[10][11] Waterloo Station News Theatre was later a cartoon cinema, as Cartoon Cinema, later screening double bills of old "classic" films, as Classic Cinema Waterloo.[12][13] Victoria Station News Theatre was later a cartoon cinema, as Cartoon Cinema.[14] Victoria Station News Theatre, Waterloo Station News Theatre,[15] and Cameo News Theatre Victoria[16][17] were designed by Alister MacDonald, son of Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald.[18] Victoria Station News Theatre was in operation from 1933 until being demolished in 1981.[19]
In England in 1951, however, when Seebohm Rowntree published his study on English Life and Leisure, he counted "approximately 20 news cinemas in London", and "very few [...] in the provinces, probably not more than a dozen in all". According to Rowntree, a population of at least 300,000 was needed in a town for a news cinema to be sustainable.[1]
Shows
editThe original programmes of news cinemas featured mainly of newsreels, possibly with a short subject or travelogue. Afterward, newsreels came to occupy a shorter length of the programme, replaced by other, more entertaining elements. Programs typically lasted one hour, and were shown continuously, without any interval between performances.[1][20]
Actor Peter O'Toole, who grew up in Leeds in the 1930s, reported in an interview with Roger Ebert that his father often took him to a nearby news cinema. When he was six, in 1938, he saw in that news cinema a program including the Three Stooges, Donald Duck, the Ritz Brothers, and news footage, including footage of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.[20]
Seebohm Rowntree, in 1951, similarly reports that "the news films occupy only a comparatively small part of the programme, largely because public interest in news films has declined". According to him, they have been replaced with cartoons, travelogues, or films on such general subjects as sports, fashion, or domestic economy.[1]
See also
editNotes and references
edit- ^ a b c d Rowntree, Seebohm; Lavers, G. R. (1951). English Life and Leisure. Read Books. ISBN 9781406702156.
- ^ "Daily Bioscope". The London Project. Arts and Humanities Research Council Centre for British Film and Television Studies. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ Popple, Simon; Kember, Joe (2004). Early cinema: from factory gate to dream factory. London: Wallflower Press. ISBN 9781903364581.
- ^ Lubin Manufacturing Company (1906-04-09). "The San Francisco disaster". Library of Congress. Washington, D.C. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
Copyright: S. Lubin; 9May1906; H77058.
- ^ "Production as the Nickelodeon Era Begins: 1905–1907". www.encyclopedia.com | Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
...Siegmund Lubin...Lubin Manufacturing Company
- ^ "'Olympische Spiele in Athen' 1906". The German Early Cinema Database 1895-1920. Data Center for the Humanities, University of Cologne. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ "(The Daily Bioscope) Bishopsgate Picture Palace in London, GB". www.cinematreasures.org - Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 22 October 2024.
- ^ a b Fischer, Lucy, ed. (2009). American cinema of the 1920s: themes and variations. Rutgers. ISBN 9780813544854.
- ^ "Embassy Theater - New York City". www.nycago.org.
- ^ Scudamore, Nick (28 November 2022). Reel Life Behind the Screen: A Cinema Manager Remembers: A memoir. Troubador Publishing Ltd. p. 143. ISBN 978-1-80313-364-5.
- ^ Reed, Jeremy (29 June 2016). Dilly: A History of Piccadilly Rent Boys. Peter Owen Publishers. p. 71. ISBN 978-0-7206-1598-2. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ Lordan, Robert (14 June 2014). "Waterloo Station: Part 7". black cab london .net. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ "Classic Waterloo in London, GB". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ "Victoria Station Cartoon Cinema in London, GB". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 3 July 2024.
- ^ "News Theatre. Waterloo Station London". Architects of Greater Manchester. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ "Classic Victoria in London, GB". Cinema Treasures. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ "(Cameo) News Theatre 152 Victoria Street London SW1". Architects of Greater Manchester. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ "Alister Gladstone MacDonald". Architects of Greater Manchester. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ "Newsreel Theatre. Victoria Station London". Architects of Greater Manchester. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
- ^ a b Ebert, Roger (2000) [1999]. Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2004. Andrews McMeel Publishing. ISBN 9780740738340.
External links
edit- Newsreel Theatre November 18, 1929 time.com