South African Cinema Hoarding Advertising 'Carmen'

Silver gelatin photoraph of the front of a cinema in South Africa showing an advertising hoarding for the film 'Carmen'.

Gerald Spencer Darrell was an officer in the British Army in the first world war. He was subsequently asked to open the first Moving Pictures Theatre at the Savoy in a yet unidentified South African town (most likely Cape Town), this collection of images shows the marketing tactics used by Mr Darrell to bring customers to his cinema.

The 1926 film 'Carmen' is a French silent drama based on Prosper Mérimée's 1845 novel of the same name, directed by Jacques Feyder and featuring Raquel Meller, Fred Louis Lerch and Gaston Modot. Also, future director, Luis Buñuel, had a small role.