Remembering a 'movie special' at Milford Haven super cinema

Most Milford folk will have their own special memories of "going to the flicks," and my own precious one of the Astoria is that it was there that I had my first "date" with my wife.

Synonymous with that cinema, of course, are the Scard family, and many moons ago my good friend Alan Scard kindly provided me with some of its history. "In 1919, the Charles Street cinema that burnt down (see pic) was the first of three that the family built.

The burnt down Astoria shows Yarmouth stores in the background. (Image: Jeff Dunn) The second one was more solid and elaborate, and both the first and second were known as Scards Cinema. It was only when the third one was built that it was named the Astoria. This one was the largest, most permanent, and, incidentally, built as a theatre, but mostly used as a cinema."

As well as the great music in "Singing in the Rain" I've always loved the story-line, set way back in the early days of the "talkies," and I remembered that Alan, during his Milford Grammar School days, had written a fascinating article called "The Story of Motion Pictures" in a school magazine and, as luck would have it, I knew that someone had once sent me a copy of the very same mag (1960) in which it was included.

I know Alan, being a TRM fan, won't mind my resurrecting it so, here's just a brief extract. "It all started in the basement of the Grand Cafe in the Boulevard des Capucines in Paris on a December's night in 1895, where a Frenchman, Louis Lumiere, had set up his show which he called "Le Cinematographe."

Haggar's Royal Electric, a travelling cinema called Bioscope which was run by fairground showman William Haggar. (Image: Jeff Dunn) He was delighted to have collected a total of 30 shillings, but his audience were even more delighted, for they had actually seen pictures that moved. The news spread rapidly both far and wide, and in February 1896, London invited Lumiere to give his show at the Polytechnic in Regent Street, where a big bill outside the hall announced "Wonderful Living Pictures."

Lumiere, by this time, had made 25 films and for each performance six of them were selected to compose a half-hour show. The films, short and simple, inclded such topics as.."The Fall of a Wall," "Teasing the Gardener," and "The Blacksmiths at Work," and the audience, who sat on wooden chairs and forms, had to pay a shilling for admission.

Up on the stage stood a lecturer who proudly commentated upon the film as it was run through and also gave a short introductory speech on the theme of the next film as the operator changed the reels. Working with him was the sound effect man, who stood behind the screen out of sight of the audience and added much excitement to the show.

In fact, it has been said that his sound effects were so realistic that in one film, when the audience saw a train steam head-on towards them into a station, they nervously left their seats. However, the new form of entertainment was soon accepted, and by 1906, the first permanent cinemas were being built in the country.

Obviously, in those early days, the equipment left much to be desired, and there is one story of a lecturer who had the uncomfortable experience of hearing his projector fall to pieces, bit by bit, as the film was running. One of the first big films to be made was Edwin S. Porter's "The Great Train Robbery" which was filmed on 700 feet of celluloid in Paterson, New Jersey.

The producer hired a special train and a length of railway line for the train scenes and he filmed most of his shots in a convenient park in the town... It is a curious fact that at that time the public were not over-concerned about who acted in the film but the great interest was the film itself.

It was only several years later that they were enticed into the cinema by screen personalities." There is so much more in Alan's article, and maybe, when it suits, I'll be able to return to it for more.

I'll draw the curtain on these film flashbacks by recalling William Haggar, a fairground showman, who along with other entertainments, before the days of the Astoria, in the first decade of the "moving pictures" era, travelled round the area running a travelling cinema called a Bioscope...and, much to my surprise and delight, I found this pic in my pile of photos.

Time to draw the curtain on our movie flash-back, so I'll leave you with these words of wisdom which come from Avril Sloe..."Don't ever save things for a special occasion. Being alive is the special occasion." Take care...please stay safe.