The Cinema and Cinema-Going in Scotland, 1896-1950

What did our Scottish grandparents and great grandparents see at the cinema? What thrilled them on the silver screen?

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This is the first scholarly work to document the cinema habits of early twentieth-century Scots, exploring the growth of early cinema-going and integrating the study of cinema into wider debates in social and economic history. The author draws extensively on archival resources concerning the cinema as a business, on documentation kept by cinema managers, and on the diaries and recollections of cinema-goers. He considers patterns of cinema-going and attendance levels, as well as changes in audience preferences for different genres, stars or national origins of films.

The thematic chapters broaden out the discussion of cinema-going to consider the wider social and cultural impact of this early form of mass leisure. Trevor Griffiths’ book is a major contribution to the growing body of work on the history and significance of British film.

Key Features

• First major study of early Scottish film
• New archives and research
• Fascinating diary entries
• Early cinema as business
• Important addition to Scottish film studies

Key words: cinema, Scotland, history, cinema-going, society, films, Scottish