Jane Crowther

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Silver Screens

A celebration of the world's most cherished cinemas, from vintage movie houses to quirky start-ups.

There is an enduring love for old cinemas. It may have something to do with Maya Angelou's famous quote that '...people will never forget how you made them feel'. Cinemas have been the places where all kinds of emotions have been felt - heartstrings are tugged, fears exposed, and then there is that explosion of joy with a happy ending. Cinemas are a place of communal experience, of first dates, of strong reactions. And you remember them. That's why people hate to see cinemas torn down.

Silver Screens is a celebration of movie houses and drive-ins from around the world that continue to show feature films. All cinemas are working and open for business - the book works as a part travel guide featuring a directory of contact addresses so you can visit each one that's listed.

There are the wonderful art deco masterpieces, such as the 1938 Rex in Berkhamsted; or the art deco Raj Mandir in Jaipur, India; or the Sun Theatre in Melbourne, an art deco building that now holds eight cinemas each named after a closed Melbourne movie house.

There are historic cinemas - such as the Texas Theater, Dallas, where Lee Harvey Oswald was arrested (his seat is flagged). And the Biopic in Chicago where John Dillinger was gunned down as he left.

There are the far-flung cinemas from around the globe, the most northerly, the most southerly, the biggest single screen (India), the official smallest cinema (in Italy) the oldest in Britain, the oldest in the World.

There are the famous cinemas - such as Mann's Chinese Theater or the Egyptian in Hollywood, or Cine Dore Filmoteca in Madrid which featured in Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her and Pain & Glory which survived a direct hit from an artillery shell in the Spanish Civil War.

So grab your popcorn and settle in. Welcome to the world of Silver Screens, where the magic of cinema lives on.