Object Number: 1996.1.247
Between 1926 and 1930 many of the whaling companies installed cinemas to entertain their staff. Unfortunately, the Grytviken Kino (cinema) collapsed following hurricane strength winds in 1994. Although the building has long since gone, the existence is now represented by photographs, archives and personal anecdotes.
The Leith cinema was the largest of the five whaling station cinemas on the island. The building was a Nissan hut-like structure; curved corrugated iron sheets formed a long half tube with a stage at one end. It was quite separate from the rest of the whaling factory at the south-western end. Most of the men lived in the communal barracks in the centre of the station, so the walk to the cinema was possibly enough to make the whalers feel they really were “going out”.
“Going out” to the kino represented some downtime for those working on the station. As a rare chance to relax, even if you had seen the film many times before. Films were sometimes ordered on supply ships from the Falklands, or further afield. Oftentimes, it was a rerun of one you had seen many times before. There would be a special Christmas and New Year billing of films, which included favourites of the whalers.