Cinemas and Cinemagoing in Wartime Britain, 1939–45 : The Utility Dream Palace

The utility dream palace is a cultural history of cinemagoing and the cinema exhibition industry in Britain during the Second World War, a period of massive audiences in which vast swathes of the British population went to the pictures on a regular basis. Yet for all that wartime films have received a great deal of academic attention, and have been discussed in terms of the escapist pleasures they offered, the experiential pleasures offered by the cinemas in which such films were watched were inextricably connected to the places and times in which they operated. British cinemas – and the people who worked in, owned and visited them – were acutely sensitive to their spatial and temporal locations, unable to escape the war and intimately bound up in and contributing to the public’s experience of it. Combining oral history, extensive archival research, and a wealth of material gathered from contemporary trade papers, fan magazines and newspapers, this book is the first to provide a comprehensive analysis of both the cinema’s position in wartime society, and the impact that the war had on the cinema as a social practice. Dealing with subjects as diverse as the blackout, the blitz, evacuation, advertising, staffing and conscription, Entertainments Tax, showmanship and clothes rationing, The utility dream palace asserts that the cinema was, for many people, a central feature of wartime life, and argues that the history of British cinemas and cinemagoing between 1939 and 1945 is, in many ways, the history of wartime Britain. 'In Britain, the cinema was never more popular - or more important - than it was during the Second World War. This comprehensive and innovative study provides a social and cultural history of cinemas and cinemagoing in Britain between 1939 and 1945, and explores the widespread impact that the war had on the places in which the British watched films. Although promising escape from the hardships and occasional terrors of wartime life, the cinema was so intimately woven into the fabric of British society that it could not itself escape the war. Drawing on a wide range of contemporary sources, as well as the memories of wartime cinemagoers, 'Cinemas and cinemagoing in wartime Britain, 1939-45' is the first book to offer an in-depth exploration of the ways in which phenomena such as the blackout, the blitz, food rationing, evacuation and conscription on the exhibition industry and popular experiences of the cinema. A landmark in the field of film history, this ground-breaking and accessible book shows that in order to understand the position and significance of the cinema in wartime, attention needs to be paid not only to the films that were watched, but also to the places in which they were screened and the ways in which they were consumed. It is an essential resource for scholars, students and anyone wanting to comprehend the intersection of culture, leisure, economics and politics in wartime Britain' --Back cover Front matter Series introduction Dedication Contents List of illustrations List of tables General editor’s foreword Acknowledgements List of abbreviations Note on sources Introduction Dark houses: cinemagoing in the early months of the war The Cinematograph Exhibitors’ Association and the government Forlorn and bedraggled spectacles: cinemagoing in the blitz On the appearance and disappearance of staff Showmanship in wartime Cinemagoing in wartime Conclusion Bibliography Index During the Second World War, the popularity and importance of the cinema in Britain was at its peak. Richard Farmer provides a social and cultural history of cinemas and cinemagoing in Britain between 1939 and 1945, and explores the impact that the war had on the places in which British people watched films In this groundbreaking book, Richard Farmer provides a social and cultural history of cinemas and cinemagoing in Britain between 1939 and 1945, and explores the impact that the war had on the places in which British people watched films.