American Picture Palaces

Run by the department of American Studies at the University of Virginia, the site is one long paper on cinema architecture. The layout is very old fashioned and there is a sad lack of images. These only appear when you click on links in the text and one or two are obviously broken. Still, the text is interesting in its own right and one can only hope that someone at the department takes interest in the site and gives it a face-lift.

Cinema and Theatre Historical Society

A site from Australia. It is slightly anorak-ish and confusing to navigate. It contains information about cinemas past and present, as well as in development or refurbishment.

Cinema Theatre Association

An information site about the Association rather than an online resource. The site has a useful set of links and their online shop is expected to be active soon.

Cinema Treasures

Though with only half the number of cinema listings as CinemaTour, this is still an excellent site. The cross-referencing is very good, enabling you to search by a number of different categories, including location, style, architect, etc, which makes finding particular types very easy indeed. It is truly global and includes theatres from every continent (Antarctica excepted). Great place to visit.

CinemaTour

This is a very good effort and although some entries are sparse, it’s a wonderful place to browse. The design is a bit bland but the content certainly compensates. You can browse by region/country, there is a good set of links to sites on cinema history and architecture and a very good list of books on the subject.

Silver Screens

Another labour of love, this time from France. The navigation is poor, the design is little better and the photographs are amateurish but you can sense the enthusiasm of the site’s author. A large section is devoted to French cinemas, but California gets its share of attention, too. Language – French and English