External Site: Picture Palace: a History of Liverpool Cinemas[info]
The cinema as a place of popular mass entertainment towered over Liverpool in the first half of the last century. This left a rich legacy, not only of picture house buildings, but also of the pictures made for an insatiable and loyal audience. This site is devoted to collecting and preserving stories and images from the Golden Age of the Silver Screen in Liverpool: old black and white photographs, posters, handbills, programmes and lobby cards together with interviews and essays bear witness to the important role that cinema played in the lives of the working people of Liverpool. Some of the gems included are: an interview with filmmaker Alex Cox, who visits the Futuristic Cinema and recounts his memories of the first film he ever watched there; an interview with actor Ricky Tomlinson; and the oral histories from the projectionists, usherettes and organ players. The website is a ‘living archive’ which means that anyone with a story about cinemas in Liverpool is welcomed to share it.