快播视频

In Spring 1995 Cinema Culture in 1930s Britain contacted Bentley Day Centre in the London suburb of Harrow, seeking participants in the project; and two interviews were conducted there later that year. On 7 July, four of the Centre鈥檚 clients took part in a group interview; and on 21 July one of the four, Lynn Chalk, was interviewed on her own as one of Harrow鈥檚 eighteen core informants. Mrs Chalk was born in Fulham in 1911; her father was a house painter and her mother a housewife. She left school at fourteen and was employed as a cashier for most of her working life. She moved to Harrow in 1934.

The group interview opens with a brief discussion of participants鈥� earliest cinemagoing, which took place before they moved to Harrow from other parts of London. Prompted by photographs of stars and local cinemas, all agree that while all the thirties stars were 鈥渘ice鈥� none really stand out in recollection. All recall going to the pictures once or twice a week in the 1930s, and Mrs Chalk remembers weekly visits to the Embassy cinema in Harrow with her mother. There is general agreement that cinema and films were altogether 鈥渁 better thing in those days鈥�. The conversation turns to extra attractions鈥攐rchestras, cinema organs--available in some cinemas; to other leisure pursuits, dancing in particular; and thence to the role of dancing and picturegoing in courtship. The interview concludes with remarks on how much Harrow鈥攕till a largely rural area in the 1930s鈥攈as changed over the decades.

In her solo interview Mrs Chalk elaborates on cinema visits with her husband early in her marriage, recalling that their favourite venue in Harrow was the Dominion. Her eyesight is poor, but with the interviewer鈥檚 assistance she is able to refer to a 1930s film annual throughout the interview. Discussion of around forty film personalities ensues, with their ageing鈥攏ot on the whole graceful鈥攂eing a recurrent theme. Most of the stars that she names are male, and she maintains that she had no particular favourites among them: 鈥淲e liked them all. You know?鈥� Reverting to memories of going to the pictures with her late husband, she remembers enjoyable trips into London鈥檚 West End (鈥渦p town鈥�): strolling around, seeing a film, and perhaps calling in at a Lyons Corner House for refreshment. Once again she recollects cinema visits in Harrow with her mother, noting that her cinemagoing days came to an end when her sight began to deteriorate.

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