Series Histories - Detail
Ideal Sound Cinemagazine
- Dates:
- 1931 - 1932
History
Ideal Cinemagazine was first trade shown on 15th January 1926, at the New Gallery Kinema, Regent Street. Thirteen issues were advertised at first and the series was originally limited to 26 single reels, to be released fortnightly. The series was launched as part of Ideals Laughter Festival, and immediately established a motto, 'Learn a Little, Laugh a Lot'. Thus it is obvious that Ideal Cinemagazine was very different from the other films in this genre. Ideal was the only company to publicly define the term 'cinemagazine', saying, 'It's an arresting series of one-reel pictures devoted to everyday things, viewed from strange and unconventional angles'. This wide variety of subjects were arranged around a title, frequently a pun (for example, issue 2, 'New Vamps for Old') which often surprised the critics in its unusual nature. Despite this unconventional beginning, by January 1927, the content of Ideal Cinemagazine was much more recognizable as cinemagazine fare. The programme then provided sport, through bought-in Grantland Rice Sportlights footage; music, in the guise of Ideal's own ìSingsongî series (from no.14 onwards, noted in Kinematograph Weekly, 6th January 1927, p.76), travel from Hodge Podge series; and, of course, a cartoon.
In common with Eve and Everybody's Film Review and Gaumont Mirror, Ideal Cinemagazine also attempted to attract a female audience, in their case, through the inclusion of an illustrated household hint. It was at this point, 1927, that Ideal Cinemagazine began to be advertised as 'The Champagne of Shorts', though Ideal was careful to maintain that it contained 'something to attract, amuse and enchant every class of patron' (Kinematograph Weekly, 24th February 1927). By May 1927, Ideal Cinemagazine was released twice a week, though still only one reel in length.
Ideal embraced sound cinemagazine production in August 1931, producing the Ideal Sound Cinemagazine with Sound on Film technology, provided by Peerless Pictures Ltd., released weekly. In July of that year, they boasted that it was already booked in 550 theatres according to the Bioscope on 15th July 1931, p.6-7. It was also around this time that Ideal began to advertise the fact that the series was edited by Andrew Buchanan (although he had, in fact, been editor from the beginning). In 1932, he moved production to Gainsborough Studios, presumably to facilitate sound recording to a greater degree. At this point they also changed their slogan to 'Cinemagazine - the ìPunchî of the Screen' - like other cinemagazines, drawing a direct comparison with print media.
Many of the short pieces from Ideal Cinemagazine became series in their own right. The last issue that we have record of is Ideal Sound Cinemagazine No.297, released on 9th May 1932, and entitled ìBath of a Nationî.
Provenance
This database is an attempt to reconstruct the output of Ideal Cinemagazine from details published in contemporary trade journals, particularly the KinematographWeekly and The Bioscope.
Other Information:
See also IDEAL CINEMAGAZINE.
Where to see the film:
- BFI National Archive
