5. Film exhibition in post-war Sheffield

In 1954, H. E. Browning and A. A. Sorrell presented their findings on cinemas and cinema-going in Great Britain to the Royal Statistical Society. Their wide-ranging paper brought Simon Rowson’s 1934 findings up to date, covering topics such as admissions, box-office revenue, venues, programming and audiences. Their statistical survey also provides a snapshot of cinema exhibition in cities across England, Scotland and Wales, including Sheffield. In 1951, its fifty cinemas held seating for 51,000 patrons and yielded £1,277,000 from the sale of 20.07 million recorded admissions. Sheffield’s thirty-nine admissions per person was higher than the figure of twenty-eight for Great Britain as a whole and was similar to industrial cities such as Bradford (forty-one), Salford (thirty-nine) and Stoke-on-Trent (thirty-eight). It was just under the figure of forty for Yorkshire towns with a population of over 100,000.¹ These generalized findings, however, tell us little about the programming and audiences of individual cinemas.² Despite the large number of venues in operation across the UK, the records that survive are fragmented and vary in scope, chronology and detail. Cinema historians have creatively used programming listings and attendance figures to assess cinema-going habits and film preferences in a variety of locations across the United Kingdom. Sheldon Hall’s detailed analysis of booking policies and audience tastes at the Sheffield Gaumont from 1947 to 1958 combined quantitative data provided by attendance figures and box-office takings with qualitative information on audience reaction provided by the cinema manager.³ Here, close scrutiny of two Sheffield cinemas, the Rex and the Cartoon (later the Classic), alongside the free film screenings organized by Sheffield libraries, builds on Hall’s study by enabling us to assess major changes in cinema exhibition in close detail across the period from 1945 to 1965. Though the use of quantitative data does not provide watertight evidence of audience tastes, it is important for cinema historians to find imaginative ways to analyse cinema listings and box-office figures. As Sue Harper has recently suggested, a ‘set of popularity figures, if carefully interpreted, can give us unparalleled access to the audience’s mindscape’.⁴

The Rex Cinema, 1945–65

The 1,350-seat Rex Cinema opened in July 1939. It was a large suburban cinema located three miles south-east of Sheffield city centre, adjacent to two recent housing developments (see Figures 5.1 and 5.2). One report stated that it was built to meet the ‘entertainment needs of the people of Intake and for the rapidly developing areas in the vicinity, such as Frecheville, Richmond and Gleadless’.⁵ It was the last pre-war suburban cinema in Sheffield to close, surviving until December 1982.⁶ In 1945, evening ticket prices ranged from 10d in the front stalls to 1s 9d in the circle and, by 1965, prices had increased to 2s 9d and 3s 6d respectively.⁷ The Rex normally changed its programme on Monday and Thursday, though a small minority of programmes were kept for an entire week. Matinee performances of the normal programme were held on Monday and Thursday, and in September 1958, the cinema introduced a 6d Saturday morning family matinee. It was in a minority of Sheffield cinemas that closed on Sundays in the period under review. The records of the Rex Cinema cover the entire period of its existence, though this chapter focuses on the period from 1945 to 1965, assessing box-office revenue, ancillary income and expenditure on tax and film hire.⁸ It then looks at patterns of attendance and examines box-office successes and failures at the Rex. The absence of admissions figures, alongside variations in taxation and admission prices, makes it difficult to assess the relative popularity of films in the period under review. However, it is possible to provide a detailed analysis of the box-office success of particular films by combining these records with cinema listings published in The Star.

Across the UK, significant increases in ticket prices meant that the decline in box-office revenue was less drastic than the fall in admissions. In 1946, the sale of 1.635 billion admissions yielded £121 million in gross box-office revenue.⁹ In 1950, these figures declined to 1.395 billion and £105.2 million respectively.¹⁰ As Table 5.1 shows, in 1946 the Rex yielded £34,795 in gross box-office revenue and this amount fell by 7 per cent to £32,361 in the following year. In the next two years, gross box-office revenue remained relatively stable and then increased to £34,947 in 1950. In July 1951, Sheffield CEA members voted in favour of price increases and, from 5 August, the Rex changed its prices to 1s, 1s 6d and 1s 9d.¹¹ The fact that 1951–2 was the peak year for gross box-office revenue is attributable partly to these price changes. In Great Britain, gross box-office revenue fell precipitously from £104.2 million in 1956 to £61.7 million in 1965.¹² The Rex followed similar trends and revenue fell from £34,018 in 1956 to £12,975 in 1965. It witnessed its most significant decline from 1957 to 1958 and revenue fell by 20.67 per cent from £30,089 to £23,870. At the 1958 annual general meeting, chairman T. W. Ward stated that average weekly attendances had dropped by 3,000 in the year and added that, while reduced rates of Entertainment Tax provided some relief, there was still a significant fall in net profit. The decline in attendance was exacerbated further by the fact that its nearest rival, the Manor, was taken over by the Star circuit.¹³

Figure 5.1. Rex Cinema (centre) and surrounding area, Intake, Sheffield, 1951 (Ordnance Survey, National Grid 1:2500. © Crown Copyright and Landmark Information Group Limited 2016. All rights reserved. 1951).

Figure 5.2. Rex Cinema, Sheffield, c. 1943–5 (Picture Sheffield, Sheffield City Council Archives and Local Studies Service).

As a private limited company, the net profit and the dividends paid to the Rex’s shareholders at the end of each financial year provide an indication of the company’s success or failure. Net profit fell from its peak of £3,626 in 1948 to £430 in 1963 and in the same period the shareholder dividend fell from 45 per cent to just 5 per cent. Despite the decline in gross box-office revenue and net profit, the Rex still performed better than many other Sheffield cinemas. From 1957 to 1964, twenty-six cinemas closed down, which were most commonly older and smaller cinemas located in inner-city working-class areas. The Rex’s relative youth and upmarket status meant that it was well placed to deal with the changes in the cinema exhibition industry. The Manor, meanwhile, closed in 1963 and reopened as the Manor Casino. The cinema started showing films on a part-time basis in November and closed finally in 1964. This reduced competition is the likely cause of the sudden increase in revenue at the Rex from £12,423 in 1963 to £15,656 in 1964.

Table 5.1. Selected revenue and expenditure at the Rex Cinema, Sheffield, 1945–64.

The consumption of food and drink was a central part of the cinema-going experience, and for exhibitors provided an important source of ancillary income. The Rex sold chocolate, cigarettes and ice cream, and the growth in sales of these items reflects greater amounts of disposable income and the shift towards a more consumer-oriented society. Figure 5.3 shows that in 1946, the Rex generated only £106 in net profit from the sale of £692 worth of chocolate and cigarettes. In the Second World War, food rationing and price controls led to a ban on luxury foods, and ice cream was absent from cinemas between September 1942 and March 1945.¹⁴ When ice cream returned at the Rex, it soon generated greater amounts of revenue than chocolate. By 1951, The Economist claimed that British output of ice cream was three to four times higher than before the war, claiming that only the lack of household refrigerators prevented further consumption.¹⁵ The introduction of sweets rationing in July 1942 limited the sale of chocolate and these restrictions lasted until February 1953. Kine Weekly reported that with the end of sweets rationing, exhibitors stood to lose thousands of pounds due to confectionary’s much lower profit margin than ice cream.¹⁶ In 1954, the estimated profit margins of ice cream, sweets and tobacco were 50 per cent, 30 per cent and 9 per cent respectively.¹⁷ The end of rationing had an immediate impact and from January to March 1953, the Rex’s chocolate sales increased from £324 to £596. Annual sales increased by 67 per cent from £2,826 in 1952 to £4,714 in 1953 and reached their peak in 1954. From 1955, chocolate sales decreased and sales of ice cream fared much better, which may have been a result of better promotion and marketing.¹⁸

Combined sales of chocolate, ice cream and cigarettes peaked in 1955–6 when the Rex made £3,079 in net profit from them. Although cigarettes were never rationed, sales increased dramatically from £930 in 1951–2 to £2,456 in 1952–3. From 1956 onwards, the concurrent decline in sales of all items and box-office revenue indicates that the Rex was attracting fewer patrons. As attendances fell, these ancillary sales were key to the profitability of cinemas. In 1957, The Economist reported that while Britain’s cinema earned a profit of £2.5 million from the exhibition of films, they earned £7.5 million from showing advertisements and selling ice-cream.¹⁹ Sales of ancillary items declined faster than box-office revenue. From 1956 to 1962, net box-office revenue fell by 50 per cent from £24,263 to £12,117. The decline in sales of ancillary items was more precipitous and in the same period net profits fell by 61 per cent from £3,069 to £1,192. While this may suggest that they were less important to the cinema’s profitability, this depends on the extent that expenses are attributed to film exhibition or to the cinema as a whole.

Figure 5.3. Gross revenue of ancillary items at the Rex Cinema, Sheffield, 1945–65

Source: Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/5/1, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, receipts ledger.

In the previous chapter, the records of Entertainments Duty provided no indication of further expenditure for cinemas in Northern Ireland. The Rex’s payments register, however, provides a detailed account of expenditure such as Entertainment Tax, film hire, wages, advertising, utility bills and repairs. Entertainment Tax was the greatest form of expenditure at the Rex. In 1950–1, fifty Sheffield cinemas paid £127,000 (33 per cent) of their £421,000 gross takings in the form of Entertainment Tax. In the same year, the Rex paid 29 per cent of its revenue in the form of Entertainment Tax, lower than the UK average. In 1951, the average price of admission in Sheffield was 15.3d and tickets at the Rex cost 12d, 18d and 21d.²⁰ In August 1950, The Star reported that cinemas seats were cheaper in Yorkshire than in other regions and argued that one reason for lower ticket prices was that single-feature programmes were more common in the north than they were in London. It claimed that:

Payments in Entertainment Tax fell from their peak of £11,052 to £7,685 in 1957. In 1958, significant concessions were made to Entertainment Tax and payments at the Rex fell to £1,068 in 1958–9. Despite the abolition of Entertainment Tax in April 1960, the cinema recorded tax on the sale of cinema tickets until April 1962.

The Rex’s profitability was also hit by the introduction of the British Film Production Fund (also known as the Eady Levy) in 1950, whereby cinemas voluntarily contributed ¼d of every ticket sold in exchange for changes in the rate of Entertainment Tax. In 1951, the levy increased to ¾d for tickets priced above 1s and the rate changed at various times throughout the 1950s. The 1957 Cinematograph Films Act established the British Film Fund Agency and introduced a statutory levy. The Rex first paid into the fund in September 1951 and payments fell from £1,305 in 1951–2 to £701 in 1962–3.

After the payment of Entertainment Tax film hire was the greatest form of expenditure. Second features and newsreels were generally hired at a flat rate. For first features, the exhibitor paid an agreed percentage of his net box-office receipts to the distributor. This percentage was agreed on a sliding scale and the cinema paid a greater proportion of its box-office revenue for well-attended films.²² From 1946 to 1956, the Rex’s expenditure on film hire remained relatively stable and ranged from £8,185 in 1948–9 to £9,894 in 1951–2. Significant reductions in box-office revenue correspond to lower expenditure on film hire and payments decreased from £7,514 in 1957 to £4,638 in 1962. The Rex consistently spent a greater proportion of its revenue on film hire than the national average. After the abolition of Entertainment Tax, this proportion increased at the Rex, but decreased across British cinemas as a whole.

In 1950–1, when Browning and Sorrell calculated that Sheffield cinemas paid 36 per cent of their net takings on film hire, the Rex paid 41 per cent of its net takings on this form of expenditure. This was the highest proportion in the period under review.²³ The fact that the Rex was an independently owned cinema meant that it paid more on film hire than cinemas in large circuits such as ABC, Gaumont and Odeon. In 1950, W. C. Harte, booking manager at the Rotherham Hippodrome countered claims that films were ‘sold to the highest bidder as soon as they leave the hands of the producer’.²⁴ He explained that:

Film hire payments were a consistent source of concern for Sheffield exhibitors. In July 1953, Sheffield CEA ‘reiterated a previous minute that 50 per cent. should be the maximum film-hire rate’ and Harold Gent suggested that distributors had used the increased rates for 3D film House of Wax (US, 1953) and Technicolor epic Quo Vadis (US, 1951) as an opportunity to increase film rentals in general. L. Clegg added that ‘[o]nce renters got in the thin end of the wedge exhibitors would be fighting a hopeless battle’.²⁶ The introduction of CinemaScope in March 1955 explains the sharp increase in film hire payments from 1954 to 1955.

Wage payments formed a significant part of the UK cinema owners’ expenditure and, in 1950, the average cinema employed nineteen staff.²⁷ Browning and Sorrell calculated that in the first quarter of 1952, cinemas in Great Britain paid £4,188,000 in wages and that cinemas with between 1,251 and 1,500 seats paid an average of £1 in wages per seat.²⁸ In the same period, the Rex spent £1,068 in wages, which means that it paid 15s 10d in wages per seat. Browning and Sorrell added that there was wide regional diversity and the northern region displayed the lowest wage levels. Wage payments increased dramatically from £1,873 in 1946 to £3,918 in 1957. As attendances declined, expenditure on wages remained relatively stable and declined slightly from £4,127 in 1958 to £3,961 in 1964. The records do not show the wages of individual staff, though board minutes reveal that that cinema manager Tony Ward’s weekly wage increased from £12 10s in May 1954 to £14 in July 1956.²⁹ The cinema ledgers also reveal the range of expenses required to successfully run a cinema. In 1956, for example, the Rex spent £833 on rates, £412 on billposting and posters, £259 on advertising, £315 on electricity and gas, £350 on coke, and £325 on repairs and renewals. There were also significant one-off investments, such as the £1,550 paid for the installation of a new CinemaScope screen in 1955.

The day of the week was a key determinant of attendance at the Rex. From August 1945 to July 1960, Saturday screenings were collectively the greatest revenue generators and provided 21 per cent of gross box-office revenue. The highest grossing Saturday was 2 February 1957, when British drama A Town Like Alice (UK, 1956) yielded £198. Monday and Thursday – the days when new programmes were shown – were the next most profitable days at the Rex contributing 19 per cent and 18 per cent of gross box-office revenue respectively. Despite the popularity of Saturday screenings, the forty highest grossing days from 1945 to 1960 were on either Monday (twenty-seven) or Thursday (thirteen). Monday 6 August 1951 was the highest grossing single day at the Rex, when Father’s Little Dividend (US, 1951) generated £288. The extra matinee screenings on Monday and Thursday helped the Rex to generate extra revenue, and if these are excluded, thirty-three of the forty highest grossing days were Saturdays. The highest box-office revenue for a matinee performance was recorded on Monday 6 August 1956 when the screening of River of No Return (US, 1954) generated £98.

Patterns of attendance varied and there were distinct changes in the way that patrons used their leisure time. In 1946, Monday screenings were the greatest revenue generators and yielded 21 per cent of box-office revenue. Combined takings from Friday and Saturday screenings comprised 35 per cent of box-office revenue. Wednesday was consistently the worst performing day and the proportion of box-office revenue varied only between 12 per cent in 1950 and 10 per cent in 1953. From 1947 to 1957, Monday was the second most profitable day at the cinema. From 1957 to 1960, when gross box-office revenue fell by 47 per cent, Monday takings suffered more than any other day of the week and fell by 55 per cent. By 1960, Monday was only the fourth most profitable day. These statistics help to identify changing social habits, showing that by the late 1950s, the day on which a film was released was less important to overall box-office revenue, and there was an increased preference for Friday and Saturday screenings. By 1952, they contributed 38 per cent of box-office revenue, and by 1960, this figure increased to 43 per cent. In 1958, Friday and Saturday screenings generated £4,730 and £4,735 respectively. In the following year, Friday revenue fell to £3,564, yet the introduction of a Saturday morning family matinee in September 1958 led Saturday revenue to decline only slightly to £4,532. In 1959, the Rex generated £910 from its Saturday morning screenings. During his research from 1959 to 1960, M. P. Carter found that ‘Friday night was the night for the cinema come rain, come shine, irrespective of the film, on the same day and at the same time these children went to the cinema, usually to the same place’.³⁰ The increased importance of Friday screenings suggests a younger audience in the late 1950s, who perhaps spent their other nights participating in alternative leisure pursuits.

Cinema attendance at the Rex was seasonal and the periods from March to May and from August to October were the most profitable. While these records do not reveal intergenerational differences in cinema attendance, Carter found that the ‘[a]ttendance of some children was affected by the time of the year – some who went every week in the winter seldom or never went in the summer’. He added, however, that ‘changes of interest, “getting fed up” with going or with not going, and changes of friends were as important as seasonal changes’ accounting for fluctuations in attendance.³¹ Adverse weather also interrupted patterns of attendance. The Rex’s receipts suggest that unusually cold weather had a detrimental impact and the notoriously harsh winter of 1946–7 caused attendances to decline.

The Rex often generated greater amounts of box-office revenue on public holidays, such as Whitsuntide. In 1946, for instance, Whit Monday was the second highest grossing day via the screening of The Road to Utopia (US, 1946). While the Rex closed on Christmas Day, screenings in the proceeding days were popular. In the three days beginning 27 December 1945, the Rex screened Hollywood Canteen (US, 1944). It generated £448 in box-office revenue and was the fifth highest grossing film of 1945–6. New Year’s Day and Easter Monday were both popular days for cinema attendance. In 1950–1, the Rex screened The Blue Lamp (UK, 1950) from 1–3 January. It was the most successful film of the year and New Year’s Day was the highest grossing day in 1950–1. The second highest was the Easter Monday exhibition of Top Hat (US, 1935). In 1952–3, the New Year’s Day exhibition of Singin’ in the Rain (US, 1952) was the second highest grossing day and was beaten only by the Easter Monday exhibition of The Desert Hawk (US, 1950).

The Rex changed its programme on Monday and Thursday. It retained a small number of films for an entire week and no programme was exhibited for longer than six days. In 1953–4, only two programmes were retained for a week and these were the highest grossing features: Hans Christian Anderson (£794) and Rob Roy (£728). In the same period, however, the highest grossing week yielded £967 and this demonstrates the benefits to the Rex of continuously changing its programme. Table 5.2 shows that between 1945 and 1960, the second highest grossing film was Elizabeth is Queen (UK, 1953), which offers further evidence of the popularity of coronation films across Sheffield. Extra matinee performances were held on Tuesday and Wednesday and it generated £794 during its six-day exhibition. Father’s Little Dividend (US, 1951) was the most successful film screened over a three-day period and generated £636 in box-office revenue. It was the sequel to Father of the Bride (US, 1950), which was the eighth most profitable film in 1950–1, and the success of the former may have encouraged patrons to attend the latter. Its box-office success is also attributable to the fact that it was screened in August, which was generally the Rex’s most profitable month. These figures also ignore the fact that many successful films were brought back for further exhibition. The Dam Busters (UK, 1956), for instance, was exhibited for a second time from 2 July 1956 and generated £359. Its total revenue from six days of exhibition was £938, far greater than that of Hans Christian Anderson. In this instance, the tastes of the Rex’s patrons for British war films matched the national trend as in 1955, The Dam Busters was the highest grossing film in Britain.³² Even though most films screened at the Rex were American productions, five of the ten highest grossing films were British and one was a US/UK co-production. Table 5.3 shows the most successful programmes at the Rex in each year from 1945–6 to 1959–60. In 1948, Sheffield exhibitor H. S. Watson stated that ‘most British films were not wanted by the public and the box-office showed the fact’.³³ In 1948–9, however, Holiday Camp (UK, 1947) was the most popular film of the year and four of the ten highest grossing films were UK productions. From 1955–6 to 1958–9 the most successful films were either British comedies or war films.

The Rex’s programming was affected by national legislation and the policies of the British government. In 1948, following the abolition of the ad valorem film duty, the Board of Trade applied a 45 per cent quota on exhibition of British films. In July 1948, Sheffield CEA members agreed to write to the Board of Trade and contact their local MPs to protest against its implementation. One exhibitor stated that ‘we must bombard the Board of Trade from every conceivable angle so as to let them know we mean business’.³⁴ On 13 July 1948, the company secretary told the Rex’s board members that the cinema had applied to the Board of Trade for relaxation of the quota and had also sent a letter to two MPs.³⁵ In August, the CEA secretary wrote to Harold Wilson, the president of the Board of Trade, to ask for quota concessions and stated that:

Table 5.2. Ten highest-grossing main features at the Rex Cinema, August 1945–July 1960.

Table 5.3. Most successful programmes at the Rex Cinema by year (August to July), 1945–6 to 1959–60.

Quota relief was granted on the basis of local competition and, in October, it was reported that the Rex’s quota had been fixed at a reduced rate of 20 per cent in the year ending September 1949.³⁷ In Great Britain, the Rex was one of 1,327 cinemas granted partial relief from the quota. A further 305 were fully exempted and 800 applications were rejected.³⁸ The Rex was more fortunate than many other Sheffield exhibitors and, in November, the claims of fifteen cinemas were rejected and several exhibitors received no reply from the Board of Trade.³⁹ However, Harper and Porter stated than even when cinemas failed to fulfil their quota requirements prosecutions were few and far between. The quota worked largely by consent and the Board of Trade were unable to force the hands of exhibitors.⁴⁰

In 1949, the national quota decreased to 40 per cent and the Rex’s quota increased to 27 per cent in the year ending September 1950.⁴¹ In 1950, the national quota was reduced to 30 per cent. The Rex’s quota returned to 20 per cent for the year ending 30 September 1951 and remained at that level until September 1959.⁴² In October 1959, the Board of Trade stated that no relief could be given for the upcoming year.⁴³ The cinema received relief the following year and the quota for the year ending September 1961 was fixed at 22.5 per cent.⁴⁴ The fact that the Rex continually applied for a reduction in its quota indicates that it preferred to screen a greater number of American features. From 1945–6 to 1948–9, the number of British first features that the cinema exhibited increased from fifteen to twenty-seven. The US film boycott had little impact at the Rex and there was no significant increase in the number of British films exhibited in 1948. The high number of films in 1949 and 1950 is most likely attributable to the 27 per cent quota imposed in the year ending September 1950.

British comedies were popular with patrons at the Rex and the Doctor series, starring Dirk Bogarde, did particularly well. In 2005, the British Film Institute estimated that Doctor in the House was the thirty-sixth best attended film in UK history, with 12.2 million admissions.⁴⁵ In 1954, Kine Weekly’s annual survey suggested it was the most popular film of the year. This success was matched at the Rex and, in August 1954, it yielded £603. In October, it generated a further £528 and its total gross box-office revenue of £1,130 was far higher than any other individual film. Its sequels were also popular at the Rex and, in March 1956, Doctor at Sea (UK, 1955) generated £426 from its three-day exhibition. It was also the third-highest grossing film in Britain in 1955 with Dirk Bogarde the highest grossing star.⁴⁶ In June 1957, Doctor at Large (UK, 1957) generated £580 from six days exhibition, and in April 1960, returned as a supporting feature to Man of the Moment (UK, 1955). In 1960, Easter Monday fell on 18 April and this comedy double feature was the sixth most popular programme at the Rex. The Doctor films were also popular at the Gaumont and in 1954 and 1957, Doctor in the House and Doctor at Large were its most its most popular films respectively.⁴⁷ The popularity of the Doctor films provides some indication of the kinds of patrons that the Rex attracted. Harper and Porter observed that these films appealed to both occasional cinema-goers and regular patrons, stating that

Other British comedies were popular at the Rex, particularly those starring Norman Wisdom. In June 1954, Trouble in Store (UK, 1953) generated £538 in box-office revenue and was the year’s fourth highest grossing film. In November, it was exhibited again and generated a further £298. In 1955, Motion Picture Herald claimed that Norman Wisdom was the ‘sensation’ of its end of year poll of British exhibitors. After only one film he was the third-highest grossing British star and the ‘fact that he’s been a television personality for several years was no detriment’.⁴⁹ This was reinforced in the oral history interviews. Mike Higginbottom recalled that ‘I remember Norman Wisdom, which we thought was hysterical. I mean we thought he was an absolute hoot, couldn’t get enough. Which I think was the popular view, he was big bucks in the British film industry in the fifties’.⁵⁰ From 1956 to 1958, the Rex also screened Man of the Moment (UK, 1955), Up in the World (UK, 1956) and Just my Luck (UK, 1957). In 1958–9, The Square Peg was the most successful film at the Rex and was brought back for a second time.

In Belfast, films with a local connection, such as Odd Man Out, Jacqueline and A Night to Remember, were particularly popular. At the Rex, the evidence that films with a local connection generated increased revenue is mixed. There were very few films that represented aspects of Sheffield, though when there was, the cinema exploited it in their advertising. In November 1949, the Rex screened The Case of Charles Peace (UK, 1949), the story of the Victorian Sheffield criminal hanged for murder. It was the tenth highest grossing film of that year and generated £453. Other films, however, do not show a direct correlation between a local connection and increased box-office success. In July 1951, the cinema screened When You Come Home (UK, 1947) and advertised it as ‘good clean Yorkshire fun’ starring Frank Randle. The film generated only £282 in box-office revenue, well below the average of £327 per film in 1951. In February 1959, it exhibited Tread Softly Stranger (UK, 1958). Harper and Porter described the film as a clumsy melodrama, yet claim that it performed well at the box office.⁵¹ In their advertisement for the film, the Rex boasted that it was ‘Sheffield and district’s own film taken against the fiery background of Steel’.⁵² Despite this, the film generated only £165, well below the average of £184 per film in 1959. This points to a segregation of tastes within Sheffield. Perhaps the Rex’s patrons, located on the edge of the city were trying to get away from Sheffield. At the city centre Gaumont, Sheldon Hall observed that local factors drew audiences to the cinema who, for instance, were attracted by the topic of Steel Town (US, 1952).⁵³

Cartoon/Classic Cinema, 1961–4

In 1945, the Electra Palace closed for alterations and reopened as the Sheffield News Theatre, screening a variety of ‘news, documentary, travel and educational films’.⁵⁴ In 1947, the cinema held a capacity of 491 and screened continuous programmes throughout the week with prices ranging from 10d to 1s 6d. It was operated by Capital and Provincial News Theatres, who in 1946 ran six news theatres: four in London, one in Liverpool and one in Sheffield.⁵⁵ These specialized cinemas were relatively rare outside of London and, in 1951, Rowntree and Lavers observed that while news items used to constitute the majority of the programme, ‘animated cartoons, travel films, and films on matters of general interest such as sports, fashions, and domestic economy, make up the balance’.⁵⁶ The fact that the News Theatre changed its names to the Cartoon Cinema in 1959 reflects these developments.⁵⁷ In 1961, The Economist adopted a patronizing tone, stating that news and cartoon cinemas ‘serve a well-defined demand: to while away the idle hours which beset unintellectual people in large cities, whether waiting for trains, avoiding the rush hour or simply lonely in their lunch-breaks’.⁵⁸ Figure 5.4 suggests the importance of the itinerant audience, showing the cinema’s location next to a major tram terminus. The oral history testimony also shows it was attended by city centre workers. ‘Occasionally on a wet day at lunchtime, we’d pop down to the News Theatre and see that for an hour with a sticky bun or a sandwich’, recalled David Ludlam.⁵⁹

The Cartoon Cinema’s admissions fell steeply during the second half of 1961, from 30,677 in August to 20,850 in December. In January 1962, the cinema was renovated (see Figure 5.5), the seating capacity reduced to 484 and reopened as the Classic Cinema, replacing the variety programme with screenings of older feature films.⁶⁰ This trend occurred across the county and by 1963, Capital and Provincial Theatres operated eighteen of their twenty-eight cinemas under the Classic moniker.⁶¹ The day book of the Cartoon Cinema runs from April 1961 to January 1962 and contains information on programming, weather, admissions (subdivided by price category), daily returns and weekly Levy payments. A separate day book for the Classic contains information on programming, daily admissions, daily gross revenue, weekly Levy payments and net profit until November 1964. The fact that both day books contain daily weather reports indicate its importance to exhibitors and its impact on cinema attendance. In 1961, The Economist noted that the audience in news and cartoon cinemas was ‘drawn indiscriminately from the amorphous crowds outside. A shower of rain will bring in coatless hundreds, a fog will fill them for the whole twelve hours of their daily opening, [and] winter winds will drive the most respectable to a taste for this slightly disreputable … entertainment’.⁶²

Figure 5.4. Cartoon Cinema, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield, c. 1959–60 (Picture Sheffield, Sheffield City Council Archives and Local Studies Service).

From April 1961 to January 1962, the Cartoon Cinema changed its programme on Sunday and Thursday, which included a range of items including news, pictorials, cartoons, short comedy features, sports footage and serials. In the week beginning 23 April, for instance, it screened Loopy De Loop, Donald Duck, Sylvester, Dutch Flowers, Look at Life, Tom and Jerry and Royal Review. Although the Cartoon Cinema released new programmes on Sunday, Figure 5.6 shows that it was the least popular day for attendance. Mondays were more popular and attendances then declined on Tuesday and Wednesday. The release of a new programme led to increased attendances on Thursday and admissions increased further on Friday and Saturday. Saturday was by far the most popular day with 26 per cent of admissions. From January to July 1962 the Classic exhibited single feature programmes and in August switched to a two-feature programme. It changed its programme weekly and had no separate Sunday programme. Following the conversion, Saturday remained the most popular day for attendance, though admissions were distributed more evenly during the rest of the week. Sundays were far more popular at the Classic than they were at the Cartoon Cinema. The highest grossing day at the Classic was for the screening of Wuthering Heights (US, 1939) on Saturday 10 February 1962, when it generated £270 from the sale of 1,528 admissions. It is possible that the success of this pre-war film had something to do with its mythologized Yorkshire setting. Seven of the ten highest grossing days were Saturdays and the three highest grossing Saturdays were all in January and February 1962.

Figure 5.5. Classic Cinema, Fitzalan Square, Sheffield, 1963 (Picture Sheffield, Sheffield City Council Archives and Local Studies Service).

Figure 5.6. Percentage of total admissions sold by day of week at the Cartoon Cinema, April 1961–January 1962 and the Classic Cinema, January 1962–November 1964

Source: Cinema Theatre Association Archive, day book of the Sheffield Cartoon Cinema and Classic Cinema.

Fixed programmes and greater admission prices at the Classic meant that it was able to generate far greater amounts of revenue than the Cartoon Cinema. From 23 April 1961 to 13 January 1962, the average ticket price at the Cartoon Cinema was 1s 7d and it generated £15,635 (202,147 admissions). In its final week of operation it yielded £419 in gross box-office revenue (5,351 admissions). In the Classic’s first week of operation, it yielded £1,030 (6,013 admissions). From 15 January to 31 December 1962, the average ticket price at the Classic was 3s 6d and it generated £40,211 (235,102 admissions). Table 5.4 displays admissions and revenue during six-monthly intervals from July 1961 to June 1964. From April 1961 to January 1962, the Cartoon Cinema yielded a daily average of £59 (763 admissions). In contrast, from 15 January 1962 to 14 November 1964, the Classic yielded a daily average of £110 (645 admissions). This demonstrates that, by charging increased prices for extended programmes, the cinema was able to generate exponentially greater revenue despite the fact that attendance declined significantly. In May 1962, The Star reported that:

Table 5.4. Gross box-office revenue and admissions at the Sheffield Cartoon/Classic Cinema, 1961–4.

Source: Cinema Theatre Association Archive, day book of the Sheffield Cartoon/Classic Cinema, Sheffield.

The Cartoon’s average weekly attendance was 5,320 with admissions ranging from 3,146 in the week beginning 25 June 1961 to 7,828 in the week beginning 21 May 1961. The fact that the latter was Whitsuntide week led admissions to increase by 74 per cent from the previous programme. New Year was also a motivator for attendance and in the week beginning 31 December the Cartoon cinema sold the fifth highest number of admissions. The correlation between public holidays and increased cinema attendance lasted well into the 1960s. In 1964, Easter Sunday fell on 29 March and in this week the Classic sold 8,290 admissions to King Solomon’s Mines (US, 1950), making it the best attended week in the period under review (see Table 5.5). This film was as big an attraction as it was in 1951, when it was the third-highest grossing film at the British box-office.⁶⁴ The programme was clearly a key determinant of attendance and Table 5.5 shows the ten highest weekly attendances at the Classic. King Solomon’s Mines (US, 1950), The Dam Busters (UK, 1955) and Doctor at Large (UK, 1957) were popular in their original screenings at the Rex and Fancy Pants (US, 1950) was the third highest grossing film at the Gaumont in 1950.

Sheffield Library Theatre and branch libraries, 1947–62

A significant minority of Sheffield cinema-goers complained at the lack of screening of films produced outside either America or Britain. In 1948, one Star reader complained that ‘while mediocre American and British films are regularly shown on the screens of Sheffield cinemas, no space can apparently be found for the masterpieces produced by French and Italian studios’.⁶⁵ Groups such as the Sheffield Film Society and the City Films Kine Society, provided a forum for the exhibition of foreign language films. In 1959, student newspaper Darts claimed that these ‘save the city from being a cinematic desert’.⁶⁶ The membership of Sheffield Film Society increased from 358 in 1954 to 550 in 1958 and society secretary B. D. Laitner commented that while the society had ‘quite a good cross section of the community – school teachers, business and professional people and students’, they wished to attract more young members.⁶⁷ In June 1950, the Sheffield University Film Unit began screenings in Graves Hall and Darts reported that its purpose was ‘to present in an atmosphere totally different from the bustle and push of the ordinary commercial cinema, film classics that would otherwise not receive a showing in this benighted city’.⁶⁸ By 1962, the screenings were so popular that 2s tickets for Hiroshima Mon Amour (France/Japan, 1959) were reportedly sold on the black market for 7s 6d.⁶⁹

Table 5.5. Ten highest weekly attendances, Classic Cinema, January 1962–November 1964.

Another forum for the dissemination of foreign language and alternative films was the screenings held at the Library Theatre. The published minutes of Sheffield City Council detail the film shows arranged by the Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums Committee between 1947 and 1962, and record programme and attendance of film screenings (see Figure 5.7). They complement the records of commercial cinemas such as the Rex and the Cartoon/Classic by showing the nature of alternative film exhibition in Sheffield and demonstrating that there was a demand for foreign language films and programmes aimed at younger audiences. The Library Theatre is located in the basement of Sheffield City Library and first held film screenings in November 1936.⁷⁰ In 1951, Kelly’s Directory of Sheffield and Rotherham recorded that the 390-seat Library Theatre (see Figure 5.8) ‘is equipped by Arc cinema projectors and the libraries provide each winter a series of film weeks showing adult feature films, foreign films and documentaries. Saturday feature films for children are also shown. Total attendances reach 22,000 yearly’.⁷¹ In April 1961, the Libraries Committee submitted plans for alterations to the Library Theatre. After renovations costing £10,000, it reopened in December with a reduced capacity of 268.⁷² Film screenings were held from December to March 1962, though, following further renovations, film exhibition was stopped as a cost-saving measure.⁷³ From 1948, film screenings were also held in various branch libraries, such as Park, Hillsborough and Walkley.

In September 1947, ‘the City Librarian submitted a proposal that free displays of films of an educational nature should be held one evening per month in the Library Theatre’. In his proposal, ‘he stated that suitable films were available through the Central Film Library, and that the services of the Central Office of Information were available in connection with Exhibition of this nature’.⁷⁴ The purpose of these shows was ‘to impart knowledge and stimulate interest in various subjects by documentaries; to arouse interest in literature through films based on good novels and plays; and to raise the general standard of taste by films of outstanding merit, including some of the best foreign films’.⁷⁵ On Wednesday 12 November 1947, 376 patrons attended a series of documentary screenings on the subject of commonwealth and empire.⁷⁶ From November 1947 to April 1948, the Library Theatre hosted a further seven midweek documentary screenings and 2,629 citizens watched films on themes such as ‘Industrial Britain’, ‘Educating the Young’ and ‘Secrets of Nature’. In May 1948, ‘the City Librarian was directed to arrange a draft programme for fortnightly shows to be held during next winter including, if possible, a number of films in foreign languages’.⁷⁷ From October 1948, screenings were held fortnightly and there were two showings of each programme. Separate screenings were organized for adults and children. Attendance normally declined in the second screening and, for instance, a programme titled ‘Fur and Feather’ attracted 400 patrons in its first showing and only 242 in its second. In the week beginning 7 March 1949, the library held separate screenings for adults and grammar school children of its first foreign language feature film, Une Femme Disparaît (Switzerland, 1944).

In 1950, the library introduced ‘film weeks’ and Clifford Shaw explained that ‘[o]n Mondays and Tuesdays there were programmes of documentary shorts; on Wednesdays and Thursdays there was a foreign language feature, while on Fridays and Saturdays there was an English speaking film based on a literary work … in addition to the performances on Friday and Saturday evening there was a Saturday matinee’.⁷⁸ In June 1950, the city librarian explained that while the film shows at the Library Theatre were devoted to feature films ‘to be shown three times (one morning, two afternoons) on six Saturdays during the Winter’, screenings at branch libraries consisted of six ‘monthly showings of documentaries with a cartoon where one can be obtained’. They added further that tickets were to ‘be issued through the Children’s Libraries and Children’s Corners to children using the libraries and that no adults [were] to be admitted to these performances’.⁷⁹ On 25 September 1950, it was confirmed that the film programme for both children and adults ‘was submitted and approved’ and that instructions ‘were given for a copy of the programme to be forwarded to each member of the Council’.⁸⁰ In October 1950, the Library Theatre screened three films for adults: This Modern Age (UK, 1946–50), Monsieur Vincent (France, 1947) and Henry V (UK, 1944). This Modern Age was the least popular of these and 690 admissions were recorded at five screenings. Henry V attracted the most patrons and 1,096 admissions were recorded for three screenings. This film was also successful at the Regent, when manager Frank Bradley arranged viewings for 12,000 schoolchildren.⁸¹

Figure 5.7. Annual attendance of film screenings at the Library Theatre, Sheffield

Source: Sheffield Local Studies Library, minutes of Sheffield City Council Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums Committee, 1947–62.

Figure 5.8. Film screening at the Library Theatre, Sheffield, November 1950 (Picture Sheffield, Sheffield City Council Archives and Local Studies Service).

Monsieur Vincent was screened only twice and attracted 778 patrons. However, its average attendance of 389 was higher than that of 365 for Henry V. In October, the screening of Treasure Island (US/UK, 1950) was almost as popular and 1,093 admissions for three screenings were recorded. During the 1950–51 season, 13,060 admissions were recorded for fifty-nine adult screenings of eighteen separate programmes. For children, 5,211 admissions were recorded for eighteen screenings of six separate programmes. While the Central Library offered a broader service for adults, the service for children was better attended in terms of individual screenings. In 1949–50, the library produced a 3d printed programme. For the 1951–52 season of films, they printed 2,500 printed programmes, including 500 complimentary copies. On 3 October 1951, the chairman reported that, from 11 to 27 September it sold 803 copies. He stated that the previous year ‘3,500 copies were printed and 2,959 sold. Receipts from sales covered approximately half the printing costs’. ⁸² As the service expanded, its operating costs increased. In 1949–50, the library paid only £40 on film hire, £10 in projectionist’s fees and £15 in steward’s fees. By 1955–6, it paid £293 on film hire and £123 on operations.⁸³

In 1948, screenings were introduced at Hillsborough, Firth Park, Walkley and Woodhouse. In October 1949, The Star reported that:

Screenings at Attercliffe, Southey and Upperthorpe were introduced in October 1950. In October 1958, screenings were introduced at Broomhill, and in November 1959, at Manor and Highfield. The largest recorded attendance at any of the branch libraries was 133, at the November 1959 screening of Hamlet (UK, 1948) at Firth Park.

As the service expanded, attendances increased significantly. In 1947–8, 2,629 were recorded at eight screenings. The following year, this increased to 10,215 admissions at fifty-seven screenings, and in 1949–50, 14,173 were recorded at seventy-seven screenings. 1950–1 was the peak year for attendance and 24,314 admissions were recorded at 131 screenings. Even at their most popular, library screenings drew much smaller audiences than their commercial counterparts due to the library theatres’ small seating capacity, the nature of the films screened, and the infrequent nature of exhibition.

In 1950–51, the average attendances for adult and children’s screenings were 221 and 290 respectively. Screenings for children at nine branch libraries contributed a further 4,666 admissions. Of the 22,937 admissions recorded during the 1950–51 season of film screenings, 9,877 (43 per cent) were for children, and 13,060 (57 per cent) were for adult screenings. In each month, the three separate adult programmes were normally a series of documentaries, a foreign language film and a feature film adaptation of a novel. In December 1950, the Library Theatre screened The Blue Angel (Germany, 1930), David Lean’s adaptation of Great Expectations (UK, 1946) and a series of documentaries on the theme of ‘inventions and discoveries’. While feature films were screened either two or three times, documentaries were screened five times and tended to have smaller numbers in attendance. In 1950–1, while the average attendance at individual documentary screenings was 131, the equivalent figure for feature films was 315. Of these, the twelve screenings of foreign language films attracted 3,786 patrons at an average attendance of 316 per screening. The foreign language films were proportionally as popular as the literary adaptations and the latter attracted 5,347 to seventeen separate screenings, with an average attendance of 315. During 1950–1, adult documentaries were attended by 3,927 people, foreign films were attended by 3,786 people, feature films were attended by 5,347 people and children’s films were attended by 5,211 people.

In 1951, the format for adult screenings remained and an extra documentary screening for children was introduced. This format remained largely intact for the duration of the free film screenings the library offered until 1962. In August 1954, the Library Committee altered the age limits ‘in respect of the admission of children to Film Shows at Branch Libraries and at the Central Library’. For children’s film shows the minimum age of admission was lowered from nine to seven years. For documentary film shows, they proposed changing the current rule – no children under fourteen to be admitted unless accompanied by an adult – to no restrictions except those applied by the BBFC. Many screenings, however, were unaffected as they noted that the ‘present minimum age limit of 16 years in respect of the admission of children to foreign and feature films at the Central Library Theatre will continue to apply’.⁸⁵ The latter changed in July 1959 when the Libraries Sub-Committee decided ‘that the present regulations governing the admission of children to Film Shows at the Central Library Theatre be varied to provide for the admission to foreign and feature films carrying “U” or “A” Certificates, of children aged 11 to 16 years accompanied by adults’.⁸⁶

Though the Library Theatre ceased film exhibition in 1962, the library service continued branch library screenings during the period under review. Other cinemas filled the vacuum left by the library screenings and from 1964 the Abbeydale cinema hosted the Sheffield Film Society. The group’s secretary stated that the society was set up to show outstanding films, believing that ‘some cinemas in Sheffield underestimate the taste of their customers’. ⁸⁷ In February 1964, it screened The Pelicans (Romania, 1962, original title: Printre Pelicani), Just for Fun (USA, 1963) and Knife in the Water (Poland, 1962, original title: Noz w Wodzie).⁸⁸ In 1965, the British Film Institute’s John Huntley praised the strength of alternative film exhibition in Sheffield. He claimed that the city was left out of plans for a national film theatre as ‘[w]ith a Classic Cinema, a university film society and a good city film society you are better off at this level than many cities’.⁸⁹

Conclusion

One key feature of recent scholarship in new cinema history has been the desire to integrate quantitative and qualitative methods. The detailed analysis of three venues presented here helps to narrow this gap by connecting the social experience of cinema-going discussed in previous chapters to box-office data and audience figures that show the constraints placed upon exhibitors and the ways they adapted to cater for their patrons. These findings magnify changes in cinema-going behaviour that are often written about in more generalized ways and throw the trends they refer to into sharp relief. The Rex was defined by its status as an independent upmarket suburban cinema. The post-war slump in cinema audiences affected its profitability, but it fared better than many of its local rivals, managing to negotiate the challenges of increased expenditure without significantly altering its exhibition model. The Cartoon Cinema, meanwhile, found that upgrading its premises and replacing its variety programme with screenings of reissues and classic films led to far greater revenue. The screenings organized at the Library Theatre and other branch libraries show the benefits of looking beyond conventional cinemas to assess films with little commercial potential. Children’s screenings also show there were alternatives to the westerns and serials of Saturday matinees. It is significant that attendances at the Library Theatre for its explicitly didactic programme remained stable at a time when cinema attendance was in freefall.

Films with a local angle appear to have been less of a draw than in Belfast, but there were intra-city variations and this altered significantly between venues. The success or failure of individual films also depended on a range of external factors such as the weather or the time and date of exhibition. The amorphous and unpredictable nature of audiences meant that cinemas often found it difficult to predict the success of any particular film. In 1962, journalist Anthony Tweedale cited the example of King of Kings (US, 1961), ‘which arrived in the West End in the shadow of “Ben Hur,” amid great ballyhoo, did fairly well there, flopped a bit in the provinces – but did wonders in Sheffield?’⁹⁰ But by bringing the records of several venues together it is possible for historians to provide reasons for film popularity in post-war Sheffield and perhaps to begin to enter the audience’s mindscape.

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¹ H. E. Browning and A. A. Sorrell, ‘Cinemas and cinema-going in Great Britain’, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, cvxii, no. 2 (1954), 133–70, at p. 138.

² See Appendix 2 for further details of all Sheffield cinema open in the period under review.

³ S. Hall, ‘Going to the Gaumont’, Picture House, xlii (2018), 50–67.

⁴ S. Harper, ‘“It is time we went out to meet them”: empathy and historical distance’, Participations, xvi (2019), 687–97, at p. 692.

⁵ Sheffield Daily Telegraph, 24 July 1939.

⁶ C. Shaw and C. Stacey, ‘A century of cinema’, in Aspects of Sheffield 2: Discovering Local History, ed. M. Jones (Barnsley, 1999), pp. 182–200, at p. 199.

⁷ Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/2/2, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, minute books, 8 Feb. 1961; Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/2/2, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, minute books, 14 Dec. 1965.

⁸ The records are largely financial and contain profit and loss accounts, financial reports, payments and receipts ledgers that detail the cinemas’ revenue and expenditure. These are supplemented by the minutes of monthly shareholder meetings, which provide qualitative information on the cinema’s operation.

⁹ P. Swann, The Hollywood Feature Film in Postwar Britain (London, 1987), p. 36.

¹⁰ Central Statistical Office, Annual abstract of statistics 1954, no. 91 (London, 1954), p. 73.

¹¹ Kinematograph Weekly, 12 July 1951; Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/2/1, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited minute books, 25 July 1951.

¹² Central Statistical Office, Annual Abstract of Statistics 1966, no. 103 (London, 1966), p. 81.

¹³ Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/2/2, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, minute books, 26 Nov. 1958.

¹⁴ R. Farmer, Cinemas and Cinema-Going in Wartime Britain: the Utility Dream Palace (Manchester, 2016), p. 71.

¹⁵ The Economist, 6 Jan. 1951.

¹⁶ Kinematograph Weekly, 29 Jan. 1953.

¹⁷ The Economist, 6 Feb. 1954.

¹⁸ Kinematograph Weekly, 17 Dec. 1953.

¹⁹ The Economist, 16 Feb. 1957.

²⁰ Browning and Sorrell, ‘Cinemas and cinema-going in Great Britain’, p. 138.

²¹ The Star, 18 Aug. 1950.

²² Browning and Sorrell, ‘Cinemas and cinema-going in Great Britain’, pp. 156–7; Political and Economic Planning, The British Film Industry (London, 1952), pp. 209–10.

²³ Browning and Sorrell, ‘Cinemas and cinema-going in Great Britain’, p. 138.

²⁴ The Star, 14 Jan. 1950.

²⁵ The Star, 17 Jan. 1950.

²⁶ Kinematograph Weekly, 30 July 1953.

²⁷ Political and Economic Planning, The British Film Industry (London, 1952), pp. 217–18.

²⁸ Browning and Sorrell, ‘Cinemas and cinema-going in Great Britain’, pp. 159–60.

²⁹ Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/2/2, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Minute Books, 12 May 1954; 16 July 1956.

³⁰ M. P. Carter, Home, School and Work: a Study of the Education and Employment of Young People in Britain (Oxford, 1962), p. 297.

³¹ Carter, Home, School and Work, pp. 296–7.

³² Motion Picture Herald, 7 Jan. 1956.

³³ Kinematograph Weekly, 8 July 1948.

³⁴ Kinematograph Weekly, 8 July 1948.

³⁵ Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/2/1, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, minute books 13 July 1948.

³⁶ Kinematograph Weekly, 5 Aug. 1948.

³⁷ Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/2/1, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, minute books, 13 Oct. 1948.

³⁸ M. Dickinson and S. Street, Cinema and State: the Film Industry and the British Government 1927–84 (London, 1985), p. 197.

³⁹ Kinematograph Weeky, 4 Nov. 1948.

⁴⁰ S. Harper and V. Porter, British Cinema of the 1950s: the Decline of Deference (Oxford, 2003), p. 6–7.

⁴¹ Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/2/1, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, minute books, 9 Nov. 1949.

⁴² Sheffield CityArchives, MD7333/2/1, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, minute books, 12 July 1950, 25 July 1951, 23 July 1952, 19 Aug. 1953; MD7333/2/2, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, minute books, 14 July 1954, 27 July 1955, 22 Aug. 1956, 14 Aug. 1957.

⁴³ Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/2/2, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, minute books, 14 Oct. 1959.

⁴⁴ Sheffield City Archives, MD7333/2/2, Rex Cinema (Sheffield) Limited, minute books, 12 Sept. 1960.

⁴⁵ The Ultimate Film: the UK’s 100 Most Popular Films (London, 2005), ed. R. Gilbey, pp. 138–9.

⁴⁶ Motion Picture Herald, 7 Jan. 1956.

⁴⁷ A. Eyles, Gaumont British Cinemas (London, 1996), p. 193.

⁴⁸ Harper and Porter, British Cinema of the 1950s, p. 256.

⁴⁹ Motion Picture Herald, 1 Jan. 1955.

⁵⁰ Interview with Mike Higginbottom, Sheffield, 20 Aug. 2015.

⁵¹ Harper and Porter, British Cinema of the 1950s, p. 164.

⁵² The Star, 19 Feb. 1959.

⁵³ Hall, ‘Going to the Gaumont’, pp. 65.

⁵⁴ R. Ward, In Memory of Sheffield’s Cinemas (Sheffield, 1988), p. 47; The Star, 14 June 1945.

⁵⁵ Kinematograph Year Book 1946 (London, 1946), p. 365.

⁵⁶ S. Rowntree and G. R. Lavers, English Life and Leisure: a Social Study (London, 1951), pp. 251–2.

⁵⁷ Kinematograph Year Book 1959 (London, 1959), p. 330.

⁵⁸ The Economist, 24 June 1961.

⁵⁹ Interview with David Ludlam, Sheffield, 25 June 2014.

⁶⁰ P. Tuffrey, South Yorkshire’s Cinemas and Theatres (Stroud, 2011), p. 94.

⁶¹ Kinematograph and Television Year Book 1963 (London, 1963), p. 222.

⁶² The Economist, 24 June 1961.

⁶³ Sheffield Telegraph, 23 May 1962.

⁶⁴ The 1952–3 Motion Picture and Television Almanac (New York, 1952), p. 924.

⁶⁵ The Star, 15 Sept. 1948.

⁶⁶ Darts, 5 March 1959.

⁶⁷ The Star, 29 Sept. 1954; 20 Jan. 1956; 19 Sept. 1957; 9 Sept. 1958.

⁶⁸ Darts, 11 Nov. 1950.

⁶⁹ The Star, 17 March 1961.

⁷⁰ R. Harman and J. Minnis, Pevsner Architectural Guides: Sheffield (London, 2003), p. 101.

⁷¹ Kelly’s Directory of Sheffield and Rotherham and Suburbs, 1951 (Sheffield, 1951), p. lxxiv.

⁷² The Star, 8 Dec. 1961.

⁷³ Cinema Theatre Association Archive, Clifford Shaw, The Library Theatre.

⁷⁴ Sheffield Local Studies Library, minutes of Sheffield City Council Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums Committee, Sept. 1947, p. 533.

⁷⁵ Sheffield City Archives, CA990/48, Sheffield City Council, Libraries, Archives and Information Files, correspondence and papers regarding Library Theatre.

⁷⁶ Sheffield Local Studies Library, minutes of Sheffield City Council Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums Committee, 15 Dec. 1947, p. 79.

⁷⁷ Sheffield Local Studies Library, minutes of Sheffield City Council Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums Committee, 24 May 1948, p. 358.

⁷⁸ Cinema Theatre Association Archive, Clifford Shaw, The Library Theatre.

⁷⁹ Sheffield Local Studies Library, minutes of Sheffield City Council Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums Committee, 19 June 1950, p. 88.

⁸⁰ Sheffield Local Studies Library, minutes of Sheffield City Council Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums Committee, 25 Sept. 1950, p. 232.

⁸¹ Motion Picture Herald, 31 Aug. 1946.

⁸² Sheffield Local Studies Library, Sheffield City Council Meeting, Chairman’s Notes – Libraries Committee, 3 Oct. 1951.

⁸³ Sheffield City Archives, CA990/48, Sheffield City Council, Libraries, Archives and Information Files, correspondence and papers regarding Library Theatre.

⁸⁴ The Star, 18 Oct. 1949.

⁸⁵ Sheffield Local Studies Library, minutes of Sheffield City Council Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums Committee, 16 Aug. 1954, p. 200.

⁸⁶ Sheffield Local Studies Library, minutes of Sheffield City Council Libraries, Art Galleries and Museums Committee, Libraries Sub-Committee, 14 July 1959, p. 264.

⁸⁷ The Star, 3 Oct. 1964.

⁸⁸ Programme of the Sheffield Film Society, Feb. 1964. Courtesy of Margaret O’Brien.

⁸⁹ The Star, 2 Apr. 1965.

⁹⁰ Sheffield Telegraph, 23 May 1962.