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Picturegoer was afan magazine published in theUnited Kingdom between 1911 and 23 April 1960.
The magazine was started in 1911 under the nameThe Pictures and in 1914 it merged withPicturegoer.[1] Following the merge it was renamedPictures and The Picturegoer, which continued until 1920.[1] The same year it was renamed asPictures for the Picturegoer.[1]
It began publication with the namePicturegoer in January 1921.[2][3]Odhams Press was the publisher of the magazine during the early years.[2] It was initially published monthly through May 1931, switching to weekly publication on 30 May 1931 asPicturegoer Weekly.[4] In September 1939,Picturegoer incorporatedFilm 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,Laurence Olivier,Bette Davis,Paulette Goddard,Petula Clark,Fred Astaire, andRichard Burton were among the hundreds of stars who graced its front cover. Its circulation reached a peak of 325,000 during the mid-1940s.[5]
AfterWorld War II, it found itself competing with periodicals published by theRank Organisation,Odeon Cinemas, andAssociated British Cinemas, which replacedPicturegoer with their own magazines at their theatre kiosks. As a result,Picturegoer became more sensational in the 1950s, with covers featuringcheesecake andbeefcake-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 magazineDisc Date. Shortly after thePicturegoer name was dropped and the publication concentrated solely on music. The last issue ofPicturegoer with Disc Date was published on 23 April 1960, with a cover showcasingJackie Rae andJanette Scott.[6]
Media related toPicturegoer at Wikimedia Commons