This book charts the rise, and fall, of one of Britain's fastest-growing cinema groups which, at its height, controlled nearly 900 screens -- the largest in the UK and Netherlands, together with substantial theatre operations in Germany, Italy, Israel and the US. It looks at the Cannon Group' beginnings, and at some of the people and factors behind the group's meteoric rise. Additionally, there is illustrated examination of the circuit's picture houses highlighting some of the more definitive trademarks of the Cannon legacy including the cinema frontages and facades, the foyers, auditoria and projection equipment using many previously unpublished photos. Included, too, is a surface account of the Frank Verity-designed Haymarket flagship, the former 1927-built Carlton Theatre acquired by 'Cannon-Classic in 1982.