Quezi

Photo by atimicjeep - CC-BY

Today’s movie cinema format comprises a large chunk of previews and advertisements, followed by the main feature. But it wasn’t always like that. In the past there were three common formats: “shorts plus main feature”, “double feature” and “continuous screening”.

“Continuous screening” was used for “blockbusters” where the cinema was expecting to operate near full capacity. After each screening there was a gap of a few minutes before the next screening began (probably with a trailer and a couple of ads to get the audience settled). This maximized the turnover of paying guests.

If it wasn’t a “blockbuster”, the movie theater usually charged the same but provided more entertainment. Sometimes there was a “double feature”. This was like “continuous screening”, but with two feature films alternating. Some people just came to see the one film they were interested in, but if you wanted to stay for the second movie there was no extra charge (and just enough time to buy an ice cream in between).

The tickets for continuous screening and double features were generally valid any time during the day, and you could stay to watch the movies more than once if you wanted to.

The most common format, though, was neither the double feature nor continuous screening. The regular format started by screening advertisements and trailers, although not as many as we get nowadays. (For a time back then there was a fad for the audience to make coughing sounds during the cigarette ads.)

Next came one or more “shorts”, which just means “short films”. There was then an intermission, after which the main feature screened without further ado. The shorts were an eclectic mix, and usually added up to about 45 minutes worth.

First off was sometimes a newsreel. These survived through the 1960s, then died out in the 1970s with the increasing penetration of colour television. They showed a summary of the previous week’s news and events, narrated in an upbeat tone and accompanied by visually dramatic film clips and graphics—but all in black and white to save production time and allow the newsreel to be distributed while the news was fresh. The most common newsreels in my local movie theatres seemed to be from Movietonews.

There might then be one or two brief (five minute) films about matters of local interest (an upcoming sporting event, for example). This was followed by the “short proper”, which was sometimes a half-hour documentary. More often, though, it was a short dramatic film. Unlike the main feature, these were often alternative and experimental, and exposed the audience to all manner of interesting content that they wouldn’t have paid to view as a standalone show. Many up-and-coming filmmakers “cut their teeth” producing movie shorts. If cinemas still screened shorts today, they would be things like the “Wallace and Grommit” claymations.

Occasionally, instead of a documentary or experimental film there would be two or three cartoons. Even the adults in the audience seemed to applaud when they saw the opening screen of Tom & Jerry, Bugs Bunny, or the moviegoers’ favorite: the Pink Panther.

Why did the cinema shorts die out? In the 1970s, television became the news medium of choice and the newsreels were dropped. Multi-screen cinema multiplexes became established, and focused on pushing through the maximum number of screenings per day. And as people’s lives got busier there just wasn’t time to spend an hour watching shorts and taking an interval before seeing the movie you came to watch. No longer was the cinema the evening’s outing; increasing affluence meant that there needed to be time for a restaurant meal too.

The shorts are missed by many, but they had passed their “best before” date.