Cinema and Society in the British Empire, 1895-1940 (Britain and the World)

By 1940 going to the movies was the most popular form of public leisure in Britain's empire. This book explores the social and cultural impact of the movies in colonial societies in the early cinema age. This is the first study of the social history of the movies in Britain's tropical empire. Drawing on a wide array of sources, it reconstructs the emergence of movie-going as a form of public leisure in British territories from Singapore to Guiana. The book demonstrates that, by the eve of the Second World War, movies had become woven into the fabric of urban life, and were infiltrating into the most remote corners of the countryside. As the movies grew in prominence, their popularity sparked debates about empire and identity that resonated across the globe Introduction -- The birth of the cinema age -- Silents in the empire -- Uplifting the empire: colonial cinema and the educational film-movement, 1913-1940 -- The era of the talkies -- Conclusion