Wales and Cinema

de David Berry

This is the first full history of cinema in Wales. Based on a wealth of new research, this book follows the story of film in Wales from the Edison 'peepshows' seen in Cardiff in 1894 to the latest productions of Welsh-language film-makers. Wales and Cinema charts the colourful rise of the travelling picture showmen and the pioneers who screened their work on the fairground and in the music-hall at the turn of the century. Chapters focus on the romantic silent melodramas made when Wales was 'discovered' by Hollywood, and on the career and influence of Ivor Novello who starred for D. W. Griffith. The book celebrates the rise of the cinema itself in Wales, the coming of sound and the boom years of the twenties and thirties. There is a detailed analysis of the working-class mining films of the 1930s and 1940s and of the influence of such films as How Green Was My Valley, The Citadel and Proud Valley on twentieth-century perceptions of Wales and the Welsh. The careers of major actors, including Baker, Burton and Hopkins, are placed firmly in a Welsh context. Finally, the author examines the impact of S4C, the Welsh Fourth Channel, in rejuvenating film-making in Wales and discusses the work of a new wave of talented directors. A filmography of major Welsh actors and directors, and a comprehensive appendix of around 400 films make this book an invaluable reference work and a substantial contribution to cinema history.