• Ep 5: The Ritz, Belfast - Cinema in flames! Jaws, The Exorcist and the Troubles.

  • Sep 22 2024
  • Length: 31 mins
  • Podcast

Ep 5: The Ritz, Belfast - Cinema in flames! Jaws, The Exorcist and the Troubles.

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    In the fifth episode of the Wonder Cinema podcast, we go back to the 1970s. This was a difficult decade for cinema exhibitors across Britain and Ireland, but especially so in Belfast, a city that also had to navigate the civil unrest of the Troubles.

    Despite the chaos, big American films such as The Godfather, The Exorcist and Jaws attracted large audiences and queues were seen outside the Ritz (now renamed the ABC) for the first time in several years. Billy Connolly even came to the cinema to provide much-needed comic relief, a performance captured in Big Banana Feet, the documentary of his Irish tour. The Wombles stage show was less successful, resulting in angry complaints and eventual refunds. But all performances came to an end in 1977 when an IRA firebomb forced the cinema to close.

    Links:
    Flickr - Army patrol outside the ABC
    BBC Rewind - The Wombles at the ABC (1974)
    BBC Rewind - Firebomb attack on the ABC (1977)


    Written and presented by Dr Sam Manning and Brian Henry Martin
    Music by Score Draw Music
    https://thewondercinema.buzzsprout.com
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