The Wonder Cinema

Send us a textIn the fourth episode of the Wonder Cinema podcast, we look at how the Ritz responded to the explosion of youth culture in the 1960s and hosted some of the world's biggest musical acts.As audiences continued to fall in the 1960s, cinema became more youth-oriented with The Young Ones, featuring Cliff Richard, breaking box-office records in 1962. In the following year,

Send us a textIn the third episode of the Wonder Cinema podcast, we look at how the Ritz coped with the challenges of the 1950s using spectacle, spectacles and even a Shillelagh.Cinema attendance peaked after the Second World War, but the 1950s brought new challenges such as the arrival of television. The Ritz responded with widescreen and a short-lived experiment showing 3D films.

Send us a textIn the second episode of the Wonder Cinema podcast, we explore what it was like to go the Ritz during the height of cinema attendance in the 1930s and 1940s. How much did it cost and what awaited visitors when they moved from the pay boxes to the plush foyer and grand auditorium?While the Ritz offered entertainment and escapism and screened many of the era’s most ic

Send us a textIn the first episode of the Wonder Cinema podcast we go back to the 1930s to discuss the cinema boom and the grand opening of the Ritz, Belfast’s largest and most upmarket cinema.Cinema attendance grew rapidly in the 1930s and the Ritz, opened by British chain Union Cinemas, was one of many venues built to serve a growing audience of film fans in Belfast. We discuss

Send us a textTake a trip from The Wizard of Oz to Reservoir Dogs in The Wonder Cinema of Ireland, the Ritz, Belfast. Join hosts filmmaker Brian Henry Martin and cinema historian Dr Sam Manning for a new six-part series revealing the remarkable story of a long lost picture palace.Written and presented by Dr Sam Manning and Brian Henry Martin Music by Score Draw Music https://thewon