The Cinema Museum

Here's a suitably vintage festive short produced for ABC (British cinema chain) in 1946. This looks very much like a George Pal Puppetoon animation, and the lovely unfaded colour is dye transfer Technicolor. We will reopen (COVID permitting) for screenings January 8th, so in the meantime, Seasons Greetings from the Cinema Museum x

Midland Counties Ice Cream Ad (Druggy Dollies) 1968

Relax! Relax a LOT, and have a Valium (tm) flavour ice cream, from Midland Counties Ice Cream, ca 1968. (This cinema ad should probably have a warning before it saying "this advertisement is from a different era"). Mogadon Ripple, anyone? 😴🍦🍧

Dear Friends, despite the accolade of our co-founders Ronald and Martin receiving a prestigious award at the Pordenone Festival, Italy last week, The Cinema Museum remains in immediate danger of losing its home and closing forever. We intend delivering our online petition to our landlords and the Mayor of London, but in order to do that we will need to bring the petition to a close. We want to have hit 60,00 signatures - we're currently approaching 57,500 - so please help if you can by signing and sharing across your social media networks. This is likely to be everyone's last chance. So please do all you can to help us out of this jam. Here is the link to the petition: https://tinyurl.com/y9jgubrv Thank You! And have an ice cream on us (see attached vintage advert).

Lyons Maid Countdown

WE ARE REOPENING OCTOBER 19th!! Finally! After 18 months closure we're back open for events starting Oct 19th. Details of all events will be posted here and on our website. Come and see us! Tours will recommence in 2022, COVID permitting.

During our 18 month closure due to COVID we have been sorting out and cataloguing some of our film holdings and here's a rather splendid discovery: this cartoon was spliced on the end of a reel and we didn't know it was there. Anson Dyer (1876-1962) was a major figure in British animation for over thirty years, from the First World War to the late 1940s. Here's an advertising film he made for Kelloggs called "Behind The Clock", showing you the benefits of having a good breakfast every day. You'll note that you're not told you're watching an advert until the very last minute. The lovely unfaded colour is dye transfer Technicolor. From 1943.

I Couldn't Have Believed It (Cadburys Ad, ca. 1930)

REOPENING DATE SOON ... We hope to be open again in mid/late October. More news on this when we have it. Meanwhile, settle in with a nice box of chocolates. This promotional film for Cadburys, scanned from our collection, is from the pre-Quality Street era when chocolate assortments were still the preserve of the wealthier purchaser .... and when cinema audiences had the patience for six minute adverts. From around 1930.

Embex Cinema Ad, 1942

DO YOU HAVE A HEADACHE?? Does your head often THROB? If so then that could be due to the SHOUTY announcer on this CINEMA ADVERTISING FILM from 1942. He wants to tell YOU in NO UNCERTAIN TERMS about the NEW WONDER HEALTH PRODUCT called EMBEX. We don't know what's in it, but BY JOVE, EMBEX CURES ALL ILLS!! Buy some TODAY!! 💊💊😊

Yes! At last! The wonder of SKIFFLE HEAT will cook your dinner auto-magically whilst you're out shopping in your gloves and high heels. Scanned from a delightful 1950s British cinema ad. (Musical purists might question whether this is really skiffle - where's me washboard?)

On Tuesday March 24th we're hosting a special event as part of KINOTEKA, the Polish Film Festival. In 1894 – a year before the Lumière Brothers presented their famous cinematograph on the world stage – Polish inventor Kazimierz Prószyński constructed his own film camera for taking photos and projecting moving images. Just four years later, the Pole refined his design and invented a new device with reduced flicker. This would prove to be a milestone in Polish cinema history, and it was reconstructed in 2017. In partnership with the National Centre for Film Culture in Łódź, we are delighted to present the results of this remarkable project as part of the KINOTEKA Polish Film Festival. The project team will show a making-of film, present the biopleograph itself, and screen the reshot version of The Return of the Reveller.

Cinema Museum Slideshow Dec 17

Some Recent Guests at The Cinema Museum... see whom you can spot.... Thanks to everyone who has supported us this year; we hope to see you in 2018.

Glenda Jackson at the Cinema Museum, 5/3/17

Some Recent Events @ The Cinema Museum

Here's a video of photos (by Phil Clark and Selene Marotta) from just a few of the recent events at The Cinema Museum.