- A Cork City and County Archives Exhibition supported by the Department of Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht -
The Picture Palace and Silver Screen
A truly modern and egalitarian entertainment for the masses, the technology of cinema spread easily and rapidly around the world. The first moving picture was seen in Cork at the Opera
House in 1896.* By 1950, Cork had nine cinemas and another four venues that regularly showed films. Chillingworth & Levie appear to have been a popular choice for cinema developers as the firm designed five (including one in both Mallow and Youghal), remodelled the screen of two and may have been the site-architects for the finest, the Savoy. While the Coliseum was the first purpose-built cinema in Cork, Chillingworth & Levie designed the city’s second and third cinemas in 1919 and 1920. The Washington Cinema on Great George’s Street (Washington Street) was created in the style of a theatre with its stage, gallery and gangways. In 1920 the Bellevue Cinema on Military Hill was laid out in a similar plan and classical garlands decorated the interior of both. Plans to place a projection in the front wall, containing the operator’s room, were omitted in the final construction of the Bellevue.
Photograph of the Coliseum Cinema, Cork, c. 1930, Courtesy Michael Lenihan
‘Sketch for proposed cinema to be erected in Great George’s Street’, ink on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1919, 64 x 40cm, Cork City and County Archives
In 1930, the Opera House again led the way in presenting the first ‘talkie’. The arrival of sound brought with it opportunities for refurbishments to accommodate new
equipment in cinemas and film venues. However, it was the opening of the Savoy on Patrick Street in May 1932 that set a new standard for cinema design in the city and introduced Art Deco style to Cork.
‘Proposed Cinema Theatre, Military Hill, for M. Prendergast. Esq.’, ink on paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1920, 65 x 50cm, Cork City and County Archives
During the interwar period cinema exemplified Art Deco. Along the high street, cinemas appeared with their ultra-modern façades regularly
characterised by the contrast of block-like vertical and horizontal planes with projecting canopies and lengthy vertical signs (gone was the traditional articulation of floors and windows). Linear and zigzag mouldings wrapped around surfaces in metal, enamel and faience. Glamorous interiors were created by an opulent mix of shiny surfaces and exaggerated motifs from Egyptian and Classical ornamentation
Front elevation detail of ‘Proposed Cinema St. Patrick Street Cork for Associated Irish Cinemas Ltd.’, ink on drafting linen, Moore & Crabtree Architects, 1931, 99 x 49cm, Cork City and County Archives
The Savoy Centre, Patrick Street, Cork, courtesy the NIAH
and American Indian iconography. With names like the Ritz, Carlton, Savoy, Regal, Trocadero, Odeon, Adelphi and Luxor, and their exclusive or exotic references, cinemas buildings were a visual escape from
the realities of the economic depression of the time.
*For information on Cork cinema history see TheGolden Age of Cork Cinema by John McSweeney (2003 &2013)
Proscenium detail of ‘Proposed Alterations & Additions to the Assembly Rooms, South Mall, Cork’, ink on glazed linen paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1932, 67 x 48cm, Cork City and County Archives
Detail of ‘Ground Floor Plan, Proposed Cinema St. Patrick Street Cork for Associated Irish Cinemas Ltd.’, ink on drafting linen, , Moore & Crabtree Architects, 1931, 99 x 49cm, Cork City and County Archives
Proscenium detail of ‘Proposed Alterations & Additions to the Assembly Rooms, South Mall, Cork’, pencil on tracing paper, Chillingworth & Levie, 1932, 76 x 54cm, Cork City and County Archives
The Assembly Rooms, South Mall, Cork, courtesy the NIAH
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