1898-1919: the early years of the Cinema in the leeward Algarve

Abstract

In this article we contribute to a better knowledge about the exhibition and reception of cinema in the sub-region of the leeward Algarve, inventorying the different exhibition spaces that, between 1898 and 1919, appeared in the localities of Faro, Olhão, Tavira, Loulé, São Brás de Alportel and Vila Real de Santo António, as well as the films that were exhibited there, and its reception by the public and the Algarve press.
In the Algarve, the High-Life salon, of the company Neves & Pascaud, and the company Alves França played a fundamental role in the affirmation of cinema as a spectacle and form of leisure. Between 1910 and 1917, new rooms appeared, prepared to host the animatograph sessions, but, as in the rest of the country, there was no chronologically delimited replacement of the itinerant halls by fixed rooms, but a coexistence that continued for several years.
During the first decade of the twentieth century, French cinema occupied a hegemonic position in the halls of the leeward Algarve, thanks to the production and distribution capacity of the production companies Pathé Frères and Gaumont, deserving rave reviews from the local press. During the 1910s, Italian and American production gained an important space, registering enormous popularity with the general public, thanks to films such as Maciste (Borgnetto, Denizot, 1915), and new stars such as Eddie Polo. During these years, we have verified that the main halls of Faro, Olhão and Tavira are integrated in the exhibition circuit of Lisbon, thanks to the contracts signed with the main national exhibitors/distributors.