Originally published by Archibald Hunter in 1908 and edited by actor John Cabourn, The Bioscope emerged at a time when cinemas were beginning to sprout up around London and an opportunity in the market presented itself.
Deriving its title from an early term for a movie camera, The Bioscope was an illustrated weekly dedicated to the early years of cinema. Covering all aspects of the nascent film industry, including synopses of upcoming films, facilitating the buying of new pictures, and capturing the fascinating transition between silent films and the “talkies”, The Bioscope was one of the first journals of its kind and remains to this day an important resource for film historians.
Several iconic films of the silent era were to feature in various capacities throughout the title’s span, including the release of ‘The Cabinet of Dr Caligari’, a re-issue of Charlie Chaplin’s ‘The Kid’ in 1923, and the London premier of Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’, which was featured on the front page of 17 March 1927.
Unlike many modern publications covering the cinematic landscape, The Bioscope was aimed more towards the trade itself than to the public, discussing the technical and financial landscape of the industry, profiling industry figures, and harbouring opinion and correspondence sections from industry insiders. In one correspondence, dated 6 February 1919, actor, writer, and director Tom Terriss wrote a passionate diatribe about the “cancerous growth” of the rising power of the movie star.
The Bioscope ceased publication in 1932.
For this newspaper, we have the following titles in, or planned for, our digital archive:
- 1908–32 The Bioscope (London, England : 1908)
