The British Cinema Boom, 1906-1914. A commercial history

Notes:

Scholarly work which explores the boom in cinema building and investment in the years before 1914-18, identifying promoters and investors and analysing whether the boom was a bubble that burst. Makes 'systematic and pioneering use of surviving business and local government records'. Structured in six parts: 1] 'Introduction'; 2] 'Capital' - 'Companification' / 'In the kingdom of the blind' / 'Cinema and rinking' / 'One of the most interesting financial romances of this century' / 'The film industry's small investors'; 3] 'Constraints' - 'Stigginses and chadbands' / 'An act to make better provision for securing safety' / 'Beware of councillors who, knowing nothing of building construction, will discuss and condemn your plans' / 'Beware of ... committees who see evil in every picture' / 'Beware of ... cranks who prefer to see men in public houses, instead of the picture theatre on Sunday'; 4] 'Turnover' - 'Doom-mongery' / 'Company longevity' / 'Profits and losses' / 'Box-office trends'; 5] 'Suppliers – 'Awkward absences and slow revolutions' / 'The open market' / 'Capability, capacity and capital' / 'In the hands of Americans' / 'The rise of the exclusive' / 'New order'; 6]. 'Conclusion'