The Cinema Museum

The Collection

A Glimpse

The collection encompasses every aspect of going to the pictures, from the architecture and fittings of the cinemas themselves to the ephemeral marketing materials promoting the films of the moment.

The images on this page highlight just a few of the items from the following categories.

  • Publicity images: we house more than a million photographs, plus posters and original poster artwork.
  • Film: a large collection of safety film of all gauges, including adverts, trailers, ‘B’-films, newsreels and home movies
  • Equipment: projectors, sound systems, arc lamps etc., including many early examples.
  • Uniforms: many cinema uniforms dating from the 1930s to the 1950s.
  • Fixtures and fittings: from seats to signage, elegant design from the era of picture palaces.
  • Publications: periodicals for both fans and the trade, catalogues and campaign books.

Click on an image to enlarge it.

While we cannot guarantee that everything you see on this page will be on display, the best way to experience the collection is to book a place on a guided tour. See how on our visit page.

Close-ups of two art-deco style cinema door signs. One reads 'circle', the other 'stalls'.
Art-deco door signs
The cover of a children's book titled 'The Boys' and Girls' Cinema Clubs' Annual and showing a drawing of a girl and a boy watching a film in a cinema.
Children’s cinema annual, 1948
A black and white photo of a silhouetted couple standing with their backs to the camera in front of the entrance to Odeon cinema. A sign above the doors advertises a 'gala invitation opening premiere'.
Publicity for a new Odeon on St. Martins Lane
Two cardboard boxes, designed to hold short reels of film. One is labelled 'Artist', the other 'Poison'.
Early short films in boxes
A headless mannequin wearing a bow tie and a uniform tail coat with brass coloured buttons and a red carnation 'buttonhole'. The photo is composed using a 'dutch angle'.
Something something uniform
An image from a 1930s catalogue of cinema furnishing, showing a pair of seats (one 'tipped') upholstered in blue.
Image from trade catalogue
A poster for the film The African Queen (1951) featuring pictures of its stars Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn.
Poster for The African Queen (1951)
A vintage cinema projector with a badge reading 'Kalee' featured prominently.
1930s Kalee projector
A section of carpet showing an elegant swirling 1930s pattern in blue and brown.
Example of 1930s cinema carpet
A stack of 35mm film canisters with many more of the same out of focus in the background. The canisters are labelled by hand around their edges.
35mm film canisters
A sign explaining three defunct rating categories for films: 'U' (universal); 'A' (adult); 'H' (horrific).
1930s film ratings
A can of liquid, labelled 'Florodol Floral Spray', next to a device for spraying it as an air freshener.
Spray to ‘freshen’ an auditorium
A poster with French text and two lobby cards advertising the film The Great Dictator (1940). The former features a cartoon of the film's star Charles Chaplin.
French publicity for Chaplin’s The Great Dictator (1940)
A view of three bookcases crammed with books on subjects related to cinema. The shelves have labels sticking out and identifying various subjects.
Publications archive
A blue enamel circular badge with picture of Shirley Temple at the centre. Around the edge it reads: "Sunday Referee - Shirley Temple League".
Shirley Temple club badge