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| − | | + | #REDIRECT[[Electric Theatres]] |
| − | In 1911 a theatre called the [[Electric Cinema]] opened in Portobello Road as one of the first repertory cinemas in England, eventually resurrected as a luxury cinema.
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| − | The pioneering and influential Electric Theatres (1908) Ltd, which created
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| − | London’s first true cinema circuit, based its whole policy on the continuous show
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| − | located within London’s populous districts.9
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| − | In 1910, at least fifty per cent of the
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| − | cinemas in the Greater London area operated with a continuous show policy. The
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| − | There were a number of well-established cinema circuits in London by 1914.
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| − | Particularly prominent, with sixteen cinemas in Greater London by 1910, was
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| − | Electric Theatres (1908) Ltd. This company was in the vanguard of cinema
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| − | creation in Britain, and helped fix the name ‘electric theatre’ as a generic term for
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| − | cinema and the continuous show as the dominant form of exhibition. It was
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| − | established towards the end of 1907 with £10,000 capital, becoming a public
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| − | company on 16 September 1908 with capital of £50,000. It was founded by Joseph Jay Bamberger, a New York City stockbroker who had financed
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| − | nickelodeon construction in that city through the Electric Theatre Company,
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| − | before noticing on a London business trip that there were no such theatres in a
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| − | city of eight millions, whereas the far less populous New York City had, so he
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| − | claimed, 629 (the real figure was probably around 400). The clear intention of the
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| − | company was ‘to open and operate cinematograph theatres in populous districts’.
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| − | It instituted a policy of continuous programmes throughout the afternoon and
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| − | evening, changed twice-weekly, at a uniformly low cost of 3d for adults and 2d
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| − | for children (later raised to 6d and 3d).20
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| − | The name ‘electric theatre’ was brought over from the States by Bamberger.
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| − | Electric Theatres (1908) Ltd, in common with most of the London cinema circuits,
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| − | did not restrict itself to the capital. By 1914, it managed three cinemas in
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| − | Birmingham, and one each in Southend, Gloucester, Brighton, Norwich and
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| − | Plymouth. It had established a subsidiary company, Provincial Electric Theatres,
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| − | by the end of 1908, and the following year expanded overseas by initiating the
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| − | establishment of permanent cinemas in South Africa through Natal Electric
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| − | Theatres Ltd. 23
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| − | One of the original directors of Electric Theatres
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| − | (1908) Ltd was variety theatre impresario, [[Frederick Mouillot]], who ran a South African theatre chain.
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| − | The first Electric Theatre opened in South Africa in Durban on 29 July 1909. The company had at least
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| − | five cinemas in South Africa, including a Theatre de Luxe in Cape Town, and a cinema in Durban for
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| − | ‘Coloured People Only’ (primarily Indians). Short-term policies including the importing of films worn
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| − | out through use on the English circuit led to the company’s demise by 1911.
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| − | ''Not to be confused with a number of other companies known by this name, e.g. The Electric Theatre [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Theatre], founded in an abandoned electricity works building in Guildford, Surrey, England, in 1997 or the Electric Theatre Company[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Theatre_Company], a non-profit, regional, Equity theatre company located in Scranton, Pennsylvania.''
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| − | https://lukemckernan.com/wp-content/uploads/unequal_pleasures.pdf
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| − | https://londonist.com/2011/02/cinefile-electric-cinemas-centenary
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| − | [[Thelma Gutsche]], 1972. ''The History and Social Significance of Motion Pictures in South Africa 1895-1940''. Cape Town: Howard Timmins: pp. 95-97.
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