The Rise and Fall of the Dream Palace

10 Jan 1993
25m

A look at the history of the grand 'picture-palace' cinemas of the 20th century - from the 'gin palaces' in the 1830s through to the rise of popular theatre and music halls.

The glamorous cinemas of the 1930s with their uniformed ushers and incredible luxury were places for audience-goers to escape to where the thick carpets and the plush seats were as much an attraction as what was on the screen. Contributors include Denis Norden, who before achieving fame as a comedy writer and long-serving host of It'll Be Alright on the Night was manager of a cinema in Watford during the interwar years. Norden captures the era of the super cinema perfectly when he describes the audience as 'cinemagoers' rather than 'filmgoers'.

Using archive footage, reconstructions and specially composed music, this programme looks at the long history of theatrical entertainment that led to the building of these 'cathedrals' of the movies, drawing a line from the theatre and music halls of the past to the 4000-seater Art Deco Gaumont State Cinema in Kilburn.

As the 20th century progressed, though, cinema lost its standing as "the last word in luxurious entertainment" and the culture moved on, with picture palaces like the Gaumont State being carved up and ceding ground to ballrooms, smaller screens and, eventually, bingo halls.

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From the collection

Silver Screens: A Century of Cinemagoing

From the picture palaces of the past to modern multiplexes...

The cinema has always been so much more than just a place to watch films. At the heights of its powers, the silver screen stood for spectacle, sophistication, electricity and elegance as well as entertainment, and the very venues themselves were star attractions. These architectural marvels stood proud in cities and towns up and down the country, enthralling audiences in their thousands in the days when "going to the pictures" was a national pastime.

For over a century, cinema has endured, and cinemas have changed with the times. The rise of television, video and home cinemas may have splintered the cultural dominance of the movies while bringing films to smaller and more convenient screens, but the thrill of the communal experience remains - as do many of the monumental structures themselves, whether they have been converted into bingo halls, renovated into plush modern picture houses, or left to loom over the high street.

This collection celebrates the cinema as both a cultural icon and a haven for generations of starry-eyed dreamers, and documents the changing face of filmgoing from the bygone bioscopes and the lavish picture palaces of yesteryear to the sticky-floored multiplexes of today. So dim the lights, grab your popcorn, and lose yourself in the magic of the silver screen.