A Social History of the Cinema in Wales, 1918-1951: Pulpits, Coalpits and Fleapits

(Paperback)

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A Social History of the Cinema in Wales offers a unique perspective on the place of cinema in Welsh popular culture. The 'golden age' of cinema entertainment is now half a century behind us, yet it continues to linger in popular memory. The leading Hollywood stars of the 1930s and 1940s continue to attract the interest of biographers - and the films of the period are now widely available in video format. This book focuses on the culture of film-going that existed during the cinema's heydey. The long queues outside the picture houses, the reputation of the local fleapit, the relative opulence of the town centre 'super cinemas', and the value of cinemas as places where courting couples could meet were all things that film-goers of the 1930s and 1940s remember as vividly as the films themselves. This aspect of popular experience, however, is less often written about, and has never been comprehensively examined in Wales. This book, therefore, seeks to explain why people went to the cinemas in the numbers they did, what type of cinemas they went to, what sort of experience they received when they got there and how Welsh society more generally responded to the remarkable popularity of this largely American form of entertainment.

Reviews

"...admirably readable book...Miskell has undoubtedly provided a fascinating account that is founded upon painstaking empirical research. This book should not just be of interest to students of Welsh culture and history, but to all those that seek to make sense of the subtle patterns of difference within fractured nation states that are so relevant in an era dominated both by globalization and resurgent nationalism." Steve Blandford, Planet, Issue 181 "This is an important volume in the growing number of published studies on film and media in Wales." "...attractive volume." "This is a significant study which will no doubt be extremely useful for media researchers in Wales and beyond. It provides new and fascinating insights into cinema as an industry in Wales." "Miskell's study undoubtedly enhances our knowledge of this extremely popular pastime and industry in Wales." Gwenno Ffrancon, Swansea University, New Welsh Review, No. 75A"This is a topic of no small historical significance and Miskell has crafted a thoughtful, detailed and enjoyable book.A"Martin Johnes, Urban History, Volume 34/3

Author Bio

Peter M. Miskell is Lecturer in Business History at the University of Reading. He has published widely on the social history of cinema, particularly in Wales, as well as on British cinema in general. His Ph.D., on which this book is based, was completed at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth.