Early Cinema in Scotland

by John Caughie (Editor), Trevor Griffiths (Editor), María A. Vélez-Serna (Editor)

Overview

The popularity of cinema and cinema—going in Scotland was exceptional. By 1929 Glasgow had 127 cinemas, and by 1939 it claimed more cinema seats per capita than any other city in the world. Focusing on the social experience of cinema and cinema—going, this collection of essays provides a detailed context for the history of early cinema in Scotland, from its inception in 1896 until the arrival of sound in the early 1930s. Tracing the movement from travelling fairground shows to the establishment of permanent cinemas in major cities and small towns across the country, the book examines the attempts to establish a sustainable feature film production sector and the significance of an imaginary version of Scotland in international cinema.
With case studies of key productions like Rob Roy (1911), early cinema in small towns like Bo’ness, Lerwick and Oban, as well as of the employment patterns in Scottish cinemas, the collection also includes the most complete account of Scottish—themed films produced in Scotland, England, Europe and the USA from 1896 to 1927.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781474420341
Publisher:	Edinburgh University Press
Publication date:	02/16/2018
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

About the Author

John Caughie is Emeritus Professor at Glasgow Universityand Honorary Research Professor in Film & Television Studies. He was Principal Investigator on the three—year AHRC research project, ‘Early Scottish Cinema, 1896—1927’, was a member of the editorial group of Screen until 2014, and is a member of the HoMER Network. He served on the Council of the Arts and Humanities Research Council, 2005—2010, and was Chair of its Research Committee.

Trevor Griffiths is Reader in Economic and Social History at the University of Edinburgh. Educated at the University of Oxford, he has carried out research on working—class society in Britain in the early twentieth century, before turning more recently to examine aspects of popular culture. He was Co—Investigator on the three—year AHRC research project, ‘Early Scottish Cinema, 1896—1927’.

Maria A. Velez—Serna is a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Stirling, working on pop—up cinema exhibition. She was the Postdoctoral Researcher on the Early Cinema in Scotland project, after completing her PhD at the University of Glasgow. She has also published on Colombian cinema history and is a member of the HoMER Network (History of Moviegoing, Exhibition and Reception).

Table of Contents

1: Introduction2: Travelling bioscopes and borrowed spaces, María A. Vélez—Serna3: Fixed—site cinemas and the first film renters, María A. Vélez Serna4: Cinema and cinema—going in small towns, John Caughie5: Making a living at the cinema: Scottish cinema staff in the silent era, Trevor Griffiths6: Early Municipal Cinema, Julia Bohlmann7: Rob Roy: Britain’s first feature film, Caroline Merz8: Local films for local people: ‘Have you been Cinematographed Yet?’, John Caughie and Janet McBain9: Depicting Scotland: Scotland in early films, John Caughie10: The Talkies Triumphant: Scottish Cinema and the Coming of Sound, Trevor Griffiths11: Filmography, John CaughieBibliography

What People are Saying About This

Professor Robert C. Allen

Early Cinema in Scotland represents an important benchmark in what has come to be called the "new cinema history." The fruit of three years of dogged research by a talented team of cinema historians, it situates the emergence of cinema within the complex political, social, and cultural contexts of "place." In do so it productively complicates notions of the local, the national, urban and rural; modernity and tradition. It is revealing in its account of the particularities of "Scotland" and "Scottishness," while, at the same time, establishing a framework for comparative analysis. John Caughie and his colleagues have set a new standard for cinema historiography.

Editorial Reviews

Early Cinema in Scotland represents an important benchmark in what has come to be called the "new cinema history." The fruit of three years of dogged research by a talented team of cinema historians, it situates the emergence of cinema within the complex political, social, and cultural contexts of "place." In do so it productively complicates notions of the local, the national, urban and rural; modernity and tradition. It is revealing in its account of the particularities of "Scotland" and "Scottishness," while, at the same time, establishing a framework for comparative analysis. John Caughie and his colleagues have set a new standard for cinema historiography.

Professor Robert C. Allen

This collection makes incisive interdisciplinary contributions to the discussion of Scotland’s formative cinema years before and during the transition to sound. Scotland’s intertwined film and cinema histories are set against historical details of geography, culture, politics and economics, and invite readers to question the interplay of variables, both local and from beyond national borders, that helped to make these narratives simultaneously distinctive and aligned with trends elsewhere…intellectually rewarding and highly enjoyable.

SCREEN - Heather Norris Nicholson

"This collection makes incisive interdisciplinary contributions to the discussion of Scotland's formative cinema years before and during the transition to sound...intellectually rewarding and highly enjoyable." — Heather Norris Nicholson, SCREEN

From the Publisher