The interior of the Glasgow Film Theatre, 1976.
Glasgow's role as a former industrial powerhouse was historically matched by its inhabitants' love of cinema: Glaswegians worked hard, and they played hard. In the 1930s, Glasgow boasted the most cinemas per citizen in the world; in the 1940s, they went to the pictures up to three times a week, at a price of one shilling and five-and-a-half pence a go (just under £2 by today's standards).
This cinephile heritage is celebrated both by Glasgow Film's ongoing Cinema City project, and by the exhibition 'Jeely Jars and Seeing Stars: Glasgow's Love Affair with the Movies', which is being held at the Mitchell Library every day during the Glasgow Film Festival 2015. The exhibition comprises audience memories, archive footage, cinematic artifacts, movie memorabilia, first-hand stories and free talks, not to mention a wealth of photographic material - for a taste of the latter, flick through our gallery of archive images below.
Jeely Jars and Seeing Stars, The Mitchell Library, Thu Feb 12-Sat Feb 28.
