Talking pictures shown for the first time in Iceland
On 30 October 1909 the newspaper Ísafold reported that a “trial screening” had been held the evening before in a new cinema in Reykjavík, and that “a great many townspeople were invited, so that Bárubúð was packed … One landscape film was shown, from Palermo in Sicily. The cinemas really ought to show more films of this kind. It is precisely they, foreign landscape films and films of folk life, that are most worthwhile and have the most educational value for the public, who are not able ever to travel abroad. In the new cinema there is accompaniment on brass instruments.” (see www.timarit.is).
The entertainment role of films has long weighed more heavily than their educational role. Around 1930 revues were popular both in theatres and in films. On 1 September 1930 a notable event took place in Iceland: for the first time films with sound were shown in the country, namely Hollywood-Revyan (The Hollywood Revue) and The Singing Fool.
Listen to Al Jolson singing “Sonny boy” from The Singing Fool:
The National Department of the National Library keeps a large number of “cinema programmes” from various periods, as well as much other published material classed as “ephemera”. The Highlights of the month for September are the “cinema programmes” of the first talking pictures shown in cinemas in Iceland.
Click the pictures below to view the PDF files:
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| Hollywood-revyan: programme from Gamla bíó |
Sonny boy:
programme from Nýja bíó
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