Cinemas and Cinema-Going in the United Kingdom

Cinema-going was the most popularcommercial leisure activity in the first half of the twentieth century. UKcinema attendance grew significantly in the Second World War and peaked in 1946with 1.6 billion recorded admissions. Though `going to the pictures' remained apopular pastime for the remainder of the forties, the transition from war topeacetime altered citizens' leisure habits. During the fifties, a range offactors including increased affluence, the growth of television ownership,population shifts and the diversification of leisure activities led to rapiddeclines in attendance. By 1965, admissions had plummeted to 327 million andthe cinema held a far more marginal existence in the nation's leisure habits.Cinema attendances fell in all regions, but the speed, nature and extent ofthis decline varied widely across the United Kingdom. By linking broad nationaldevelopments to detailed case studies of two similarly-sized industrial cities,Belfast and Sheffield, this book adds nuance and detail to our understanding ofregional variations in film exhibition, audience habits and cinema-goingexperiences during a period of profound social and cultural change. The use ofa wide range of quantitative and qualitative sources, such as oral testimony,box-office data, newspapers and trade journals, conveys the diverse nature ofthe cinema industry and the importance of place as a determinant of cinema attendance.SamManning is a postdoctoral researcher on the AHRC European Cinema Audiencesproject. He has recently published articles in Cultural and Social History andMedia History.