Gaumont British cinemas

The Gaumont cinemas formed one of the three national circuits in Britain as the High Street rival of Odeon and ABC during the boom years of picturegoing. Gaumont took over the chain of palatial Regents and Picture Houses built up by Provincial Cinematograph Theatres in the Twenties and added a number of huge Gaumont Palaces and other modern Gaumonts in the Thirties. Six of the ten largest cinemas in Great Britain were part of the circuit which was stylistically the most adventurous of the major groups. More than a dozen of the circuit's buildings have now been listed for their architectural merit. Generously illustrated with photographs of the cinemas as well as examples of advertising and publicity, this book recalls the history of the circuit as well as the formation and often turbulent life of its parent company, the Gaumont-British Picture Corporation. Besides the style of the cinemas, it describes how they were operated, how the chain became part of the J. Arthur Rank empire, and how its identity was slowly whittled away until its name in Britain was consigned to memory. Included is a detailed listing of more than 400 cinemas that were part of the Gaumont circuit, and the titles of all the films given the Gaumont circuit release from 1932 onwards.