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The History of Cinema Exhibition in Exeter 1895 - 1918

Alex Rankin

(The text of this dissertation is copyright Alex Rankin, 2001. No part of it may be reproduced without the permission of the author.)

Chapter Three:

Stock Actualities, Lectures and Extended Film Runs (1902–1909)

In 1906 the moving picture show was still seeking a home of its own, still appearing mainly in fairgrounds and music-halls and turning up in illustrated lectures to enliven or replace the still lantern picture.(70)

Hancock’s Fair had, since it first introduced the Biograph into its collection of attractions in 1898, continued to successfully tour and made frequent visits to Exeter. Most of these visits received little attention from the press, save perhaps a single advertisement which did not even always include mention of the moving pictures. Fairs did not really need newspaper coverage since they were masters at self-advertisement and it must be expected that the flyers and posters they used ensured success. In September 1902, however, Hancock’s must have decided that the public would be particularly interested in their film collection since they listed some of them in a newspaper advertisement, albeit after listing other attractions first:

The whole of Hancock’s celebrated RIDING MACHINES, shooting galleries, cocoa nut [sic] alleys, park swings and other numerous side shows. Performing lions and Living Pictures. For the first time in Exeter the whole of the Coronation procession. The naval review at Spithead and the Decorations in London, including the Canadian Arch, the arrival of Lord Kitchener at Southampton. The landing of the three Boer Generals: Botha, De Was and De La Roy. Also the march past of the Indian troops before the Queen and Prince of Wales. The King and Queen laying the foundation stone of the Naval College at Dartmouth, and the whole of their visit to the West. First time shown in Exeter.(71)

September proved to be a busy month for cinematographe fans in Exeter. The Livermore Brothers’ Court Minstrels arrived at the Victoria Hall a week after Hancock’s had left town and their “Dumonto Coronatographe” gave patrons the chance to see films similar to those in the Hancock show.(72) More importantly, perhaps, T.J. West arrived a week later with his all-film show provided by the Imperial Coronascope. T.J. West was no relation to the Wests who created “Our Navy” but was apparently frequently mistaken as part of that family, a mistake he saw no reason to correct.(73) It would be reasonable to suspect that West’s shows, coming immediately after Exonians had been given the opportunity to see two other film programmes, would fail to arouse much interest. However, from the review in the Flying Post it seems as if West actually managed to attract, and impress, a considerable audience. Perhaps what made West’s show stand out, and therefore appeal to the public, was the fact that his stock of films included more than just actualities. Films of events were obviously still highly popular, as testified to by the names of both West’s and the Livermore Brothers’ machines that so obviously suggest what their principal films dealt with. However, the review of West’s clearly indicates that actualities were, whilst still expected, no longer considered the highest form of the entertainment:

Among the novelties, both in conception and execution, are a coloured set illustrating the story of the prodigal son, a series depicting Alpine climbing and others pictorially explanatory of a trip to the moon (apparently founded on Jules Verne’s romance) and of “East Lynne.” There is a large selection of what may be called stock subjects, and all are well done, the Coronation being a particularly effective set, though the Abbey interior scenes, as well as some other scenes, are frankly – and properly – described by the cicerone as made-up views, and not as actual photographs.(74)

Thus whilst the global trend was still for filmmakers to rely on topical film genres,(75) the success of Thomas – whose programme featured many dramatic works – and West suggests that other genres were certainly gaining an importance.

With “stock subjects” apparently going out of favour in Exeter, the showmen who toured through the city over the following year found little support. The main problem with actualities seemed to be that “public response was dependent in large measure upon the impact of the news event depicted”.(76) This meant that the films not only had to be of subjects of massive national interest, but that they also had to be both up to date, and the first of their kind in any given place. A stock consisting solely of actualities, then, could quickly go out of favour. To make the job even harder for the showmen who were working during this period, the vogue for advertising individual films meant that an audience would be able to decide whether the show was worth seeing prior to paying any money. Equally, if films were not mentioned in the advertisements then a prospective patron would know that the films were not ones of great importance. Thus Gilbert’s “Imperial Bioscope” (October 1902), J. Brewer’s “Anderton and Roland’s Cinematographe, showing pictures of all recent important events” (December 1902) and Barnes’ “Royal Bioscope” (October 1903) all failed to gain a review in the FlyingPost.(77)None of these showmen gave details of their films in their advertisements (although all of them were using films as part of a programme and not a programme on their own) and seemingly failed to attract attention as a result. It must be noted, however, that the Evening Post went bankrupt in June 1902 leaving the weekly Flying Post as the main source for this research. A weekly newspaper obviously has more constraints on its space allocation than a daily and this could account for a lack of details regarding these shows. There is also the possibility that the paper did not bother with reviews if the show had already left town, presumably a common occurrence given that some programmes only played for a few days. However, during this period, one show did make a big enough impact to gain mention in the paper. The showman was, once again, T.J. West and he arrived with his “New Coloured Animated Pictures” in September 1903. He played at the Victoria Hall for one week and it is the films that were not connected to events of the day that received the accolades:

A new departure has been made in a series of pseudo-scientific studies illustrating features of vegetable life and natural history, and including a number of pictures showing how bees are managed and various phases of their work. The miscellaneous section is very diversified and interesting throughout, many of the sets being unusually long.(78)

The trend for unimaginative, or poorly advertised films, failing to achieve much success in Exeter (and vice versa) continued into 1904. Poole’s arrived in February and obviously had the advantage of being well known for good performances. Their advertisements included detailed accounts of what their films would contain and, perhaps with this help, they achieved considerable success yet again. However, they were also picked up by the paper for showing films that seem to have offended some members of the audience:

...and there are two cinematograph exhibitions, most of the films in which are acceptable all round, but there are one or two which would be all the better for being censored.(79)

This is seemingly the first time that the issue of censorship had been raised regarding films in Exeter. It is unlikely that they offended through the showing of violence since this was generally seen as acceptable – consider some of the scenes in the popular war pictures – and instead they were presumably seen as being in opposition to various high moral standards.(80) This opinion could have been intensified depending on the composition of the audience. Certainly, the shows had, in the last few years, been targeting children and families more intensely; T.J. West had offered a special discounted family ticket for his shows, and the Livermore Brothers offered a deal whereby two children got into day performances free with every paying adult. With families in the audience, moral standards would have been considered more closely. The concerns expressed therefore, whilst obviously not what the Victoria Hall wanted, at least indicate that the shows had enough families, and presumably therefore big enough total audiences, for the paper to be worried. Moral danger was not the only thing that prospective patrons had to concern themselves with, however. Whilst the physical danger of fire was a well-known problem, it was physical danger of a more bizarre kind that befell the public at Hancock’s fair in April:

A lion which was going though its performances in Hancock’s menagerie... forced open an unsecured door and bolted into the open... no one was much hurt. The tent was, however, damaged, and a cinematograph smashed.(81)

This incident, given its harmless conclusion, seems quite humorous. What it does show, however, is the very real danger that the public was in at all cinematograph presentations. On this occasion the rush to get out of harm’s way resulted in the tent being ripped as people forced their way out. Had this been in a solid building – for example, the Victoria Hall, which did hold circuses – then people could have been potentially crushed in the confusion. Similarly, the fact that the cinematograph was smashed indicates that it was positioned, as was popular at the time, within the audience. A fire here, coupled with the lack of proper fire exits and lack of control, could have disastrous results.

If Poole’s advertising campaign had ensured success, albeit with a little criticism, then West’s “Our Navy”, arriving for a return visit in April, would have done better. It played the Victoria Hall for a week and included amongst its films “The Disaster to the Submarine A1” and “The Impressive Funeral Procession”.(82) The A1 was the first Royal Navy submarine to be lost, sinking after a collision on the 18th March 1904. With there only being one month between the disaster and the show in Exeter, the film would obviously be of a news story that people were keen to see. What makes this more impressive, however, is that the A1 was not raised until the 18th of April 1904 and presumably, therefore, the funeral could not take place until after this date.(83) This would give the Wests just days to produce the film and get it transported to their tours and would also mean that those patrons in Exeter were some of the first to see this particular series of films.

Whilst Poole’s and West’s advertising seems to have paid off, those that followed them apparently did not have films worthy of advertisement or of review. David Devant returned to the Victoria Hall in May and once again his show contained some (unnamed) animated photographs. The only mention these received in the review was because they were exhibited on a “screen that is too small to do them justice”.(84) Gilbert’s Modern Circus of that year, meanwhile, contained a bioscope that received even less attention. Even the films on Poole’s tour of 1905 failed to raise much interest save for one picture of an “amusing Irish eviction scene”.(85) What is most remarkable about this is that on a national scale, films were beginning to find themselves an established position. Charles Musser has noted a similar progression in America whereby films, in the process of turning towards a longer, more dramatic format, cemented themselves in the commercial entertainment category.(86) This process meant that, both in America and in Britain, the general public demanded films not as and when there were news stories, but on a regular basis. Indeed, “as filmsbecame longer...the demand for them grew more constant”.(87) The result was more coverage in the national press as regular reviews began to appear, including a monthly feature in the Optical Lantern and Cinematograph Journal. Indeed, this new popularity even allowed The Times to discuss moving pictures in 1904, something it had not bothered itself with since 1896.(88)

With national coverage increasing, it seems strange that in Exeter people seemed to be losing interest in films. Part of this lack of interest could stem from the gradual change to narrative films. Although stock actualities were certainly losing favour, Robert Allen has suggested that, in America at least, the public demand for original topicals(89) continued for several more years.(90) These, however, were hard, and often expensive to produce and film companies resorted to narrative films to cover the general demand for films. For West and Thomas who clearly had a set of exceptionally good films this was not a problem and the public was won over. Other showmen, presumably, did not reach the same standard and with only average narrative films to replace the much-desired actualities, the public response was disappointing. Although this is only one possibility, what is certain is that some showmen were so out of favour that selection of “Stereoscopic Art” at a Bazaar in Barnfield Hall in October 1905 received more attention than the films in Gilbert’s Circus the previous month.

The end to this lack of popularity in Exeter came about on Boxing Day 1905 with the arrival of Mr. Walter Jeff. The show was predominantly film based with some basic variety thrown in as well. Quite why this particular show suddenly achieved success when those prior to it had struggled is not clear. Certainly, the programme included some of the new breed of longer dramatic films, but it also seems to have relied on the traditional stock actualities as well. Even with the success of Jeff, moving pictures were apparently not immediately accepted again since the Poole’s cinematograph (which was still there to provide a support act for the Myriorama) received little mention when they toured early in 1906. However, 1906 did see the beginning of moving pictures in a role outside basic entertainment in Exeter; in March there were two lectures given with illustrations provided by animated pictures. The first of these, on “Through Savage Europe”, was given at the Royal Public Rooms and, in addition to the films, also used over one hundred lantern slides.(91) Lantern lectures had, of course, been given for many years and it is perhaps appropriate that the two media initially shared the bill.

The next week, however, moving pictures took the credit in a “Bioscopic Lecture on Mountaineering” at the Barnfield Hall. These pictures were apparently obtained at “considerable personal risk”,(92) and, in the review that followed, they were given as much credit as the lecturer himself. Certainly, the pictures seemed to have added some tension to the lecture:

Some exciting biographic pictures of the climb of the Matterhorn made the audience catch their breath at points as the climbers scrambled along giddy heights.(93)

With the cinematograph seemingly coming into favour again it is no surprise that the next big film presentation was also a success. The Victoria Hall hosted the W. F. Jury Imperial Bioscope in September and not only offered reduced prices for schools and children, but also gave away half-price coupons in the local papers. The result was a big audience who, if the press coverage is anything to go by, were impressed by what they saw:

...history, nature history [sic], industry, manufacture, travel, &c., and some striking views of recent events, such as the Spanish Royal Wedding, the Derby, Crystal Palace Fireworks, the great wrestling match, and the San Francisco calamity, and with humorous pictures give a graphic touch to the programme.(94) Notably, dramatic films are not mentioned here and although they were gradually taking up a bigger percentage of each programme, the topical films seem to have still demanded the greatest attention.

Dramatic stories may have been on the increase, but a good news story or event of local significance on film would still attract the crowds. In February 1907 this was shown by two different programmes. The first was another lecture at the Royal Public Rooms, this time on the life of trawler fisherman. With Exeter’s established coastal links, presumably many families in the city knew of local fishermen and the chance to see the kind of work they did ensured the lecture’s success. Whilst this was of particular local significance, the other programme, which happened to be Poole’s Myriorama at the Victoria Hall, secured footage of an international news story. Poole’s had already been in town for two weeks before they advertised pictures of “The Holland Disaster – actual films taken on the spot”.(95) The Holland disaster was the sinking of a passenger ship that resulted in the deaths of one hundred and twenty people. The story, and the chance to see actual footage must have raised considerable interest since, in addition to the advertisement, the Flying Post ran a short piece on an inside page to give the public more information:

The management [Poole’s] have had the good fortune to secure some cinematograph films of the wreck of the Berlin at the Hook of Holland, and these will be shown during the performance on Monday.

Next to this short piece was the article covering the disaster that had happened just two days before. Whilst it may seem somewhat macabre to feature such footage in an entertainment programme, this chance to show a recent news story was obviously going to attract the customers. Indeed, the ability of the Poole family to acquire this footage and be showing it within four days of the disaster is quite remarkable. Without such a story to cover, however, showmen could still struggle in Exeter despite the gradual change to narrative films. When the Great Britain Animated Picture Company came to the Barnfield Hall their advertisement promised an interesting and varied show. However, despite their prices also being cheaper than those at the Victoria Hall, the Flying Post review – it was apparently deemed worthy of column space in the paper – indicates that it only played to a “fair sized audience”.(96)

In May 1908 moving pictures returned to the Theatre Royal as part of a variety season. Ruffell’s Bioscope occupied the bottom slot but was still considered important enough for individual films to be listed in the advertisements throughout the short season. This extended, regular slot for films in the city started a trend and by the end of the year two other venues adopted this format. The Barnfield Hall was the first of the two, playing host to the Columbia Animated Picture and Variety Company in September. A month later the Hippodrome (which had previously been the Royal Public Rooms) started the “Hippodrome Pictures”. Both of these film seasons offered two performances a night with a wide range of ticket prices indicating that the audience was made up of both middle and lower classes. Seemingly, some twelve years after moving images had first been publicly screened, Exeter was achieving a presentation schedule along the lines of those that had been in existence in the capital from the beginning. The Royal Public Rooms’ transformation into the Hippodrome was certainly well received with the increased capacity, full orchestra, comfortable seats and excellent service coming in for as much praise as the pictures themselves.(97) With the films now being popular enough to justify these extended runs, the more traditional entertainments began to suffer. In Exeter at this time this is most obvious in the development of Gilbert’s Circus; having toured for many years, the new competition had so altered the public’s expectations that the old style was no longer acceptable. In November 1908 what was on offer was no longer advertised as “Gilbert’s Circus”, but “Gilbert’s Palace”, the name change signifying the forced alterations to the programme:

For some years past “Gilbert’s Circus” has been an attractive autumnal feature at the Victoria Hall, Exeter. Of late the purely circus side of the entertainment dwindled before the advancing popularity of other forms of amusement, and this year the ‘ring’ has been abandoned altogether…(98)

That this change came at a time when Exeter audiences were getting used to almost continual presentations is important since Gilbert was a travelling showman who would have played many towns and cities every year. Thus it is safe to assume that whilst Exeter was obviously lagging considerably behind London in terms of entertainment expectations, the development in other provinces must have been akin to that in Exeter. Although Gilbert had used film equipment in all his shows in Exeter, it was only during his first visit in 1901 that individual films had been mentioned in the Flying Evening Post. It is therefore significant that in 1908 The Flying Post brokethis habit and wrote of “cinematographic reproductions...of a fly performing a number of balancing and other feats” and “a fine coloured series illustrating incidents in the life of the unfortunate Mary Stuart”.(99) Seemingly then, films had not only helped contribute to the downfall of the true circus, but they had also become a far more significant part of the show.

Cinema presentations in Exeter in 1909 carried on much the same as the previous year. Poole’s Myriorama returned in February and although it maintained a cinematograph in support could now only manage a two-week run. This is not to say that the high standard that the Poole family had always put into their business had declined, nor that they could not change their programme to keep up with changing technology since their panoramas became increasingly more ‘high-tech’. Instead it perhaps suggests that the public’s taste had moved on somewhat. The panoramas would continue to remain popular, but whereas in past years patrons might have attended the show on a number of occasions during its stay they were probably now content with just one visit. In contrast, moving pictures in Exeter strengthened their popularity when the Columbia Animated Pictures returned, this time to the Victoria Hall, in March:

Large audiences have witnessed the Columbia animated pictures at the Victoria Hall this week... the most striking of the films being the one entitled “A voice from the dead”. Next week a photographic replica of the Burns-Johnson fight in Australia will be put on.(100)

This fight film was evidently a strong selling point since a new advertisement was taken out, proclaiming that, “We have secured the sole rights of exhibiting in Exeter and surrounding districts the Johnson v Burns fight, in addition to our usual grand change of pictures.”(101) Although the Victoria Hall was the only establishment to advertise a moving picture season in the Flying Post during the year, it is fairly safe to assume that the Hippodrome was running something similar. Certainly at the Annual General Meeting of the Victoria Hall Company in May it was noted that the Hippodrome was their major competition.(102) The lack of Hippodrome advertising could be seen as an indication that the moving picture seasons were doing well. If the posters they would presumably have had and word of mouth had already ensured full houses, there would be no need to pay money to advertise in the local papers. A lack of reviews is also unsurprising since the local papers would continue to be, at best, sporadic when it came to detailing film entertainments in the city for many years to come. The only other advertised film presentation of 1909 – with the exception of a number of illustrated lectures came late in November. The presentation, a series of films on Shackleton’s South Pole Expedition, was not part of a season but instead played for just two nights at the Barnfield Hall.

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