Un objet à const ruire: Les publics du cinéma

Abstract

The patterns of film attendance over time are well known - the cinema-going public grew regularly to apeak reached during the 1950s, then declined rapidly. This century-long process raises many questions: who went to the cinema ? Did they all come from the same social group or were they divided along lines that reflected existing social categories ?More important: how did the public react ? Did films and indeed the cinema influence behaviour or attitudes ? This paper provides a critical overview of the available sources and proposes a theoretical framework for the study of cinema audiences.