''Picturegoer'' was a

fan magazine A fan magazine is a commercially written and published magazine intended for the amusement of fan (aficionado), fans of the popular culture subject matter that it covers. It is distinguished from a scholarly, literary or trade magazine on the one h ...

published in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

between 1911 and 23 April 1960.

Background

The magazine was started in 1911 under the name ''The Pictures'' and in 1914 it merged with ''Picturegoer''. Following the merge it was renamed ''Pictures and The Picturegoer'', which continued until 1920. The same year it was renamed as ''Pictures for the Picturegoer''. It began publication with the name ''Picturegoer'' in January 1921. Odhams Press was the publisher of the magazine during the early years. It was initially published monthly through May 1931, switching to weekly publication on 30 May 1931 as ''Picturegoer Weekly''.British Library- Cinema and Film Periodicals: British and Irish, Picturegoer
Retrieved 12 November 2012 In September 1939, ''Picturegoer'' incorporated '' Film Weekly'', and in September 1941 it became a bi-weekly. It went back to weekly publication every Thursday in July 1949. ''Picturegoer'' featured the screen's biggest stars and was sold at all cinemas.

Clark Gable William Clark Gable (February 1, 1901November 16, 1960) was an American actor often referred to as the "King of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". He appeared in more than 60 Film, motion pictures across a variety of Film genre, genres dur ...

Laurence Olivier Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier ( ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an English actor and director. He and his contemporaries Ralph Richardson and John Gielgud made up a trio of male actors who dominated the British stage of the m ...

Bette Davis Ruth Elizabeth "Bette" Davis (; April 5, 1908 – October 6, 1989) was an American actress of film, television, and theater. Regarded as one of the greatest actresses in Hollywood history, she was noted for her willingness to play unsympatheti ...

, Paulette Goddard,

Petula Clark Sally "Petula" Clark (born 15 November 1932) is a British singer, actress, and songwriter. She started her professional career as a child actor, child performer and has had the longest career of any British entertainer, spanning more than 85 y ...

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz, May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, actor, singer, musician, choreographer, and presenter, whose career in stage, film, and television spanned 76 years. He is widely regarded as the "g ...

, and

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

were among the hundreds of stars who graced its front cover. Its circulation reached a peak of 325,000 during the mid-1940s. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it found itself competing with periodicals published by the

Rank Organisation The Rank Organisation (founded as the J. Arthur Rank Organisation) is a British entertainment conglomerate founded in 1937 by industrialist J. Arthur Rank. It quickly became the largest and most vertically integrated film company in the Uni ...

Odeon Cinemas Odeon Cinemas Limited, trading as Odeon (stylised in all caps), is a cinema brand name operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway and Greece, which along with UCI Cinemas and Nordic Cinema Group is part of the Odeon Cinemas Group subsi ...

, and Associated British Cinemas, which replaced ''Picturegoer'' with their own magazines at their theatre kiosks. As a result, ''Picturegoer'' became more sensational in the 1950s, with covers featuring cheesecake and beefcake-style artwork. The magazine missed publication on 1 March 1947 and from 4 July 1959 to 15 August 1959. It eventually merged with the pop music magazine ''Disc Date''. Shortly after the ''Picturegoer'' name was dropped and the publication concentrated solely on music. The last issue of ''Picturegoer with Disc Date'' was published on 23 April 1960, with a cover showcasing Jackie Rae and

Janette Scott Thora Janette Scott (born 14 December 1938) is a British retired actress. Life and career Scott was born on 14 December 1938 in Morecambe, Lancashire, England. She is the daughter of actors Jimmy Scott and Thora Hird and began her career as ...

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Picturegoer
Official website
(archived)
''Picturgoer''
at the

British Newspaper Archive The British Newspaper Archive website provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011. History The British Library's Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London ...

''Picturegoer'' (1921–1925)
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

Hot Off the Press: ''Picturegoer''
at the

1911 establishments in the United Kingdom 1960 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Film magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Entertainment magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1911 Magazines disestablished in 1960 Monthly magazines published in the United Kingdom Biweekly magazines published in the United Kingdom

Background

See also

References

External links