ABSTRACT
Cinemas generate a strong emotional response; their demolition can be interpreted as representative of the decay of personal relationships or entire communities. Many variety theatres and music halls included films as part of their programmes for some time before being converted to permanent cinemas. A number of old men wandered in, eager to reminisce and share their memories of the building during the 1940s and 1950s; their first topic of conversation was sex. Smoking is not allowed, usherettes no longer appear with ice creams and the seats are no longer cheap. Yet the Palace and Empire were once as integral a part of the urban industrial landscape as chapels and churches, manufacturing sites, housing, tramways and schools. Early cinemas were only one of a number of competing entertainments on offer in towns like Moorthorpe and Knottingley, and they should be considered as a part of the contemporary working-class entertainment culture.
