History

During the Civil War between Communists and counter-revolutionaries, the early cinema pioneer, Dziga Vertov , helped establish and run a film-car on Mikhail Kalinin’s action-train . He had equipment to shoot, develop, edit, and project film. The trains went to battlefronts on agitation-propaganda missions primarily to the moral of the troops. They were also intended to stir up the revolutionary fervor of the masses.

In the late 1960s, Tony Benn , working under Harold Wilson ‘s Labor, commissioned seven custom built mobile cinema units for the Ministry of Technology . The project was short-lived and the units were sold in 1974, most are thought to be long since decommissioned and disappeared. However, one has survived via the purchase of Sir William McAlpine to tour with the Flying Scotsmanlocomotive he resuscitated from America, and donated to the Transport Trust in 1975 where it was in preservation for 15 years. Vintage Mobile Cinema, based in the South West of England. In May 2015, the only remaining Vintage Mobile Cinema was sold to its new home on the Hertfordshire / Buckinghamshire border. ^[4]

Mobile cinema was very popular during the colonial periods in Africa when the Land Rover was used as a movie machine, usually mounted on the Land Rover, a portable generator, a 16mm projector and mounted loudspeakers. In this way rural areas received propaganda and educational films, usually shown in the evenings during dark hours.

Worldwide examples

Sol Cinema,

The Sol Cinema is based in the UK and seats 8 people, leading it to be billed as the World’s Smallest solar powered cinema in 2010. ^[5] It uses an LED projector showing short films in cinematic surroundings full with usherettes; to the power of the Sun to power the cinema. Their photovoltaic panels harness the sunlight, even as the movies are being shown so they never run out of power. The Sol Cinema won a Digital Hero award for best use of sustainable technology in 2014. ^[6] Total Film magazine listed the Sol Cinema at number 26th in the ‘Best Movie Cinemas in the World’. ^[7]

Sol Cinema is booked to perform at Glastonbury Festival each year. It also covers the UK and Ireland.

The Irish traveling Picture show

In Ireland, mobile cinemas operated from the 1920s to the mid-1960s. A portable wooden structure was erected, with seating for up to 250 people. The building had wooden sides and a canvas roof, approximately 40 ft. by 24 ft. The 35mm projector was housed in a caravan at one end of the building. These shows traveled in winter and summer in all sorts of weather; at times gales forced them to the roof of the cinema sometimes at night when the winds made it hard to do so. There have been up to 20 families touring Ireland, mainly where the nearest permanent cinema was miles away. These mobile cinemas stayed up to 3 weeks in a village before moving to another area. The families lived in caravans had their own generators and a stock of movies with them. During the war, transportation became difficult as fuel for motor vehicles was in short supply. Some cinemas are going down for the duration of the war, while others are going back to their homes. Even then they had to buy extra fuel on the black market at up to 30 shillings a gallon. The children of the showmen went to the local schools for the duration of their stay; some went to 16 – 18 schools a year. Admission fees were around 1 shilling and 6 pence to 2 shillings for adults around the time when they ceased to tour in the 1960s. The arrival of TV will be able to remember these mobile cinemas, but they will be remembered to bring them to the movies. while others reverted to horses to move their equipment from village to village and their fuel to run generators. Even then they had to buy extra fuel on the black market at up to 30 shillings a gallon. The children of the showmen went to the local schools for the duration of their stay; some went to 16 – 18 schools a year. Admission fees were around 1 shilling and 6 pence to 2 shillings for adults around the time when they ceased to tour in the 1960s. The arrival of TV will be able to remember these mobile cinemas, but they will be remembered to bring them to the movies. while others reverted to horses to move their equipment from village to village and their fuel to run generators. Even then they had to buy extra fuel on the black market at up to 30 shillings a gallon. The children of the showmen went to the local schools for the duration of their stay; some went to 16 – 18 schools a year. Admission fees were around 1 shilling and 6 pence to 2 shillings for adults around the time when they ceased to tour in the 1960s. The arrival of TV will be able to remember these mobile cinemas, but they will be remembered to bring them to the movies. The children of the showmen went to the local schools for the duration of their stay; some went to 16 – 18 schools a year. Admission fees were around 1 shilling and 6 pence to 2 shillings for adults around the time when they ceased to tour in the 1960s. The arrival of TV will be able to remember these mobile cinemas, but they will be remembered to bring them to the movies. The children of the showmen went to the local schools for the duration of their stay; some went to 16 – 18 schools a year. Admission fees were around 1 shilling and 6 pence to 2 shillings for adults around the time when they ceased to tour in the 1960s. The arrival of TV will be able to remember these mobile cinemas, but they will be remembered to bring them to the movies.^[8] Most of the families changed to entertainment shows, some operated their own circus, others went to the established place of residence. Most are still represented by children of the world and others. The Lyons family, Mullins, Cullens, McCormacs, Courtneys, Lynns, McFaddens, Barrets, Corvinos, Roses, Gazetts, Bradleys, and many more; the names of all but the oldest. In 1949, one of these families, Brian Lyons, was featured in the Pictorial Timesin a full front page of pictures of their show and also a large article on other pages. The photos were taken in Rosscarbery West Cork and contained some shots of locals sitting in the cinema. Over the years, these mobile cinemas went up in flames due mainly to the type of film that was made use of by a solution. Luckily, no one was ever hurt though the buildings were destroyed in most cases. Most of those who have died are back on the road with other showmen. Today the name McCormack, Mullins, McFadden, and Courtney are some of the names that still follow the roads to bring the people of the country.

Australia

Since 1999, Road Movie has been involved with unique cinematics using mobile cinemas throughout South Australia, both in the country and country rentals. ^[9]

References