Cinema Memory and the Digital Archive

Nancy Prudhoe came into contact with Cinema Culture in 1930s Britain in July 1995 through her friend Nancy Carrington, a project participant based in the London suburb of Harrow. Born in Manchester in 1913, Mrs Prudhoe moved to Harrow at the age of two when her engineer father’s job was relocated to London during World War One. Her first job on leaving school at the age of fourteen was in a sweet shop and she later worked in a brush factory in Wealdstone. She took part in two interviews conducted in conjunction with Nancy Carrington at the latter’s home in South Harrow.

In her first interview, which took place on 25 July 1995, Mrs Prudhoe is accompanied by her sister Elsie Horne (born in Manchester in 1908), and the three women prompt each other’s memories in a lively conversation which ranges over local cinemas—with vivid recollections of the Cosy on Harrow Hill; of going to the pictures two or three times a week, dressing up to go, copying the stars’ styles, and queuing to get in. They talk about different star personae and the “clean” films of those years (“You never saw them in bed, did you?”). They exchange gossip about various film personalities, including Jessie Matthews, Gracie Fields, Shirley Temple, “cruel” Joan Crawford, and the recently deceased Ginger Rogers. They ponder the appeal of Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin. They scare each other with visceral memories of horror films and agree on a preference for American over British stars, acting styles, and films. Towards the close of the interview the tone turns elegiac, with recollections of how quiet and rural Harrow once was and memories of childhood games and toys. The conversation concludes with reflections on lifelong friendship.

When Mrs Prudhoe was interviewed for a second time on 30 April 1996, she was accompanied to Mrs Carrington’s home by her grandson, Nicholas. The discussion begins with memories of queueing to get into the cinema and staying to see the film twice over at one sitting. Local cinemas including the Cosy, the Odeon and the Granada are described in some detail and talk turns to favourite stars and the preferred ‘romantic’ films, with recollections exchanged of going to the pictures and dances with boyfriends. The friends have a heated discussion about whether the boys were out of work or not and whether or not in consequence they could afford to pay cinema or dance admission for the girls, or even for themselves. Mrs Prudhoe recalls that she stopped going to the cinema once she had started going dancing every night. On the subject of getting home after an evening out, the women debate whether there were any local buses, and mention using an unofficial taxi service to get home. Finally, they return to the subject of the immense changes in the area that have taken place—and continue to do so--during their lifetimes.

Audio-synced interview (1 of 2)
Interview transcript | Listing of cinemas, films and stars mentioned
Audio-synced interview (2 of 2)
Interview transcript | Listing of cinemas, films and stars mentioned

Documents, Memorabilia and Related Links

Harrow home page
Cosy Cinema, Harrow (cinematreasures site)
Memories of South Harrow by Nancy Carrington (forgottenmemories site)
Trailer from The Mystery of the Wax Museum, 1933 (Youtube)
Jessie Matthews in Evergreen, 1934 (Youtube)