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Ep 3: The Ritz, Belfast - 1950s Spectacle, Spectacles and Cary Grant's Shillelagh
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In the third episode of the Wonder Cinema podcast, we look at how the Ritz coped with the challenges of the 1950s using spectacle, spectacles and even a Shillelagh.
Cinema attendance peaked after the Second World War, but the 1950s brought new challenges such as the arrival of television. The Ritz responded with widescreen and a short-lived experiment showing 3D films. And the continuation of Midnight Matinees, late-night screenings often featuring personal appearances and promotional stunts, helped reinforce the Ritz’s status as the ‘Wonder Cinema’. Belfast film fans still flocked to see big films such as The Quiet Man, and in 1958, just as cinema attendance went into freefall, one of the world’s biggest film stars, Cary Grant, arrived at the Ritz.
Links:
British Pathe - Angels One Five premiere
British Pathe - My Brother Jonathan premiere
Written and presented by Dr Sam Manning and Brian Henry Martin
Music by Score Draw Music
https://thewondercinema.buzzsprout.com
Capitole
1. Ep 3: The Ritz, Belfast - 1950s Spectacle, Spectacles and Cary Grant's Shillelagh (00:00:00)
2. The rise of cinema audiences after WW2 (00:01:31)
3. What is a midnight matinee? (00:02:37)
4. The Ritz, Belfast as captured by Pathe News (00:04:25)
5. The challenge of television in the 1950s (00:07:01)
6. The spectacle of 3D at the Ritz (00:09:09)
7. How widescreen made everything bigger in the 1950s (00:10:41)
8. The giant impact of John Wayne in The Quiet Man (00:12:00)
9. Who are ABC, the owners of the Ritz? (00:15:26)
10. Which midnight matinee would you go to? (00:17:48)
11. What happens when Cary Grant comes to Belfast? (00:20:32)
12. Was this the golden age of the Ritz, Belfast? (00:25:52)
13. The epic Ben-Hur breaks the box office record (00:26:36)
14. Why the 1950s was an extraordinary time to watch films (00:28:20)
5 episoade
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