The birth of the cinema took place in 1895, when Louis Lumière staged the first projection of moving photographic images to paying audiences in Paris. Showing motion pictures soon became a popular form of entertainment. After the First World War, cinema developed rapidly into a major form of mass entertainment, reaching its height of popularity in the 1930s. By 1934, there was one cinema seat for every ten persons in South Wales. It was a lucrative business for local entrepreneurs to become involved in.
The firm of S. Andrews and Son was founded by Solomon Andrews. Born in Trowbridge in Wiltshire, Andrews settled in Cardiff in the 1850s. He initially set up in business as a baker and confectioner. His business interests soon spread into such diverse areas as undertaking, furniture removal, the provision of omnibus and tramcar services, shops and department stores, property management and development, and collieries.
The company first ventured into the cinema business in 1911, with the conversion of the roller skating rink at The Hayes, Cardiff, into a cinema. The Central cinema opened in March 1911, and remained in the company’s hands until November 1959, when it was sold with The Hayes Buildings, after extensive fire damage.
Following the success of the Central cinema, S. Andrews and Son acquired land in Swansea and the Castle cinema opened in 1913.
In 1915 the site of the old town hall in Hannah Street, Porth, was leased by the company, and a new cinema was constructed.
The Central cinema, Porth, opened in 1916, and functioned as a cinema until 1974, when it was taken over completely as a bingo hall. Records for this cinema include cash books detailing the weekly finances for the years 1917 to 1930. The earlier volumes list weekly admission figures, and they give information on the programmes of films. There are also notebooks giving the weekly programmes of films covering the period from 1919 to 1945.
Among the many films recorded in the notebooks, various classic titles appear, such as David Copperfield with W.C. Fields and Basil Rathbone (shown in 1935), and Jane Eyre with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles (shown 1944). Popular films included Hitchcock’s thriller The Lady Vanishes starring Margaret Lockwood and Michael Redgrave (shown 1939), and The Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland (shown 1940). The latter was retained at the Central for six days instead of the customary three days, due to its popularity.
Various programmes covered six days, including the Shirley Temple films Poor Little Rich Girl (shown 1937), and the Little Princess (shown 1940), and also Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in Swing Time (shown 1937). Hollywood, from an early date, dominated the cinema industry and this is reflected in the records of the Central.
Two of the films shown at the Central cinema, Porth, were more directly concerned with the South Wales valleys. Proud Valley, starring Paul Robeson and Rachel Thomas, was shown in 1940 and again in 1943. And probably the most famous film ever made about Wales, How Green was my Valley, was shown in 1942.
An interesting group of records from the Central cinema, Porth, are the management letters, which run from 1920 to 1947, with a gap for the years 1928 to 1934. These are letters from the manager of the Central to the directors of Castle and Central Cinemas Ltd., to keep them informed of the daily business of the cinema. They cover the period when cinema-going was at its peak, and they help to throw light on social and economic conditions in the South Wales valleys. Information given in the letters includes the general business of the cinema, the programme and popularity of films, maintenance of equipment, repairs to the building, and the hiring of staff. The manager does, however, mention a local or national event, inasmuch as it affects the cinema business and attendance figures. Therefore the letters contain information on local and national strikes, the proposed closure of a local colliery, and local disasters such as fire or flood.
The Andrews family also owned the Olympia cinema, Queen Street, Cardiff, which opened in 1922.
Solomon Andrews and Son played a large part in the history of cinemas in Glamorgan. The company provided an important entertainment service, and much of the documentation relating to their involvement in the cinema business has survived. Records of Solomon Andrews and Son are available to consult at Glamorgan Archives and the catalogue, which can be accessed through our website www.glamarchives.gov.uk, can be browsed under reference DAB.
Glamorgan Archives 