* Well, not me, of course — I was only a baby. But films first shown at this time cast a long shadow. In the next decade, cowboy action movies in particular dominated our TV-watching (you can see how prevalent they already were in the cinema) and featured heavily in our games, clothes, and songs and rhymes. (There will more to come on 1950s Cowboy-Culture quite soon.)
Here's an image of the luxurious interior of the Granada cinema, Clapham Junction — looking down from the gallery to the pit and distant screen. I've Photoshopped in a frame from Riders in the Sky, 1949, directed by John English (who was himself English, would you believe).
Here's a remarkable scene featuring the "Singing Cowboy" Gene Autry, which I've chosen mainly because I love the song so much:
Singing cowboy Gene Autry (Gene Autry) comes to the aid of Anne Lawson (Gloria Henry), who is trying to help her rancher father, Ralph Lawson (Steve Darrell), beat a murder rap. Autry suspects that Ralph is in fact innocent, but he's having difficulty getting the two witnesses to the crime to speak up. One of the witnesses ends up killed, and Autry figures out that Rock McCleary (Robert Livingston) is behind it all. McCleary, however, is ready for a fight.
There were loads of cover versions in 1949 (and later), including those by Burl Ives, Johnny Cash, Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee. And this, my favourite version, from Vaughn Munroe.
— Wikipedia: (Ghost) Riders in the Sky: A Cowboy Legend.
Here are a few more Westerns shown at the Granada in 1949:
Not all Cowboy films were desperately serious:
But it wasn't just Westerns, of course.
The Granada was also used for live shows — pantomimes, for instance, even ballet.
Mona Inglesby had continued to tour her "International Ballet" throughout the war, and was still popular:
Here's a fairly random page from the South Western Star from Friday 30 December 1949, to give a flavour of all the tasty screen treats on offer that week.
