I wrote about The Cinema Museum after a visit in 2013 and I have been back a few times. Every time I go there I discover something new or get talking to someone who inspires me.
Last year, in January 2023, I was lucky to be able to sit and chat for a while with its founder Ronald Grant, who set up the archive – an engaging man with lots of stories to tell. I then spent ages perusing all the books and magazines on their extensive shelves (good job I had a carrier bag in my pocket – I came home laden with inspiration).
The museum's corridors are slathered marvellous exhibits and, of course, with my Art Deco walking tours hat on, I reached for my camera phone. Realising I was about to get snap-happy, I decided to I limited myself to a few shots of the fabulous 'Art Deco' era display boards. These were created by artisan workmen (and women?) using lengths of wooden mouldings sawn and arranged into geometrical patterns, then gilded or hand-painted for better effect. The film posters and info could then be attached/inserted within the decorative frames. Gorgeous:
The next pic below illustrates some hand-painted letterform where the lower case Ts are truncated and 'in' is italicised at a quirky angle with a lovely flick on right leg. Note that the sign writer here is not copying a typeface (or using a font!) – he would, no doubt, have been inspired by type styles of the day, but has implemented his own style and adjustments. The end result is wonderfully human and possibly unique to the artist and/or this venue. Note also, the oddly stretched letters (compare those two As!), hints of kicks/serifs on some letters and the slightly off-kilter centred alignment.
There are also mechanical elements on display such as sliding sections to indicate which seats were available, see above right. Such a simple process. These days we'd be standing there checking an app.
I visited the museum again in June 2024. After Martin's presentation about the fascinating story of the archive and the museum, we were treated a wonderful showreel of old movie clips, silent movies and cartoons, ranging from slapstick to pathos, from romance to daredevil stunts. It included some early Tom and Jerry cartoons and it was amazing to revisit the extreme hurt that Fred Quimby's cat and mouse inflicted on each other, something that I am sure is not allowed today, even within animations. T&J were teatime viewing when I was a child – dastardly deeds and vicious feuds between the protagonists, such as burned body parts, stepping on garden rakes, tails caught in machinery, electric shocks, etc, and back then I thought this was simply amusing, or dull. This time I laughed and shrieked with a mix shock and awe. I'm sure if we were to play these cartoons to the under-10s of today they'd be horrified, and their mothers would be writing complaints on social media.
The next pics are the ones I took this year. The first pic shows a collection of four panels that were used to insert stills of the movies being shown. On close inspection, I noticed that the board at the top left had a maker's label on it showing it was made by Classic Displays of 3 Islington High Street (recently converted to The Peacock pub). This link shows that in 1947 the company specialised in decorative and modern window treatments and, in particular, their Tessor Pelmet (an example here). Their ad on p45 of the 1945 Kinematic Yearbook offers "The Publicity Service Display that is Effective, Economical, Descriptive and Artistic"
And here are some pics of lovely lettering and brushwork within some of the old cinema display boards:
Some of the panels display photos of the stars of the day. Someone in the retouching department appears to have been rather heavy-handed with Gary Cooper. Check out his overly-enhanced eyebrows and lashes, his sculpted features and what looks like new set of ill-fitting overly-white veneers! All of these bizarre 'enhancements' are popular today. Perhaps the retoucher was extremely forward-thinking?!
I urge you to visit this museum – Some Saturdays are drop-ins, and your ticket includes tea and biscuits (a bar is also available) a talk and a a short collection of movies – more info here where you'll find out about the crowd funding drive to keep this marvelous asset alive.
