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The Uptown Theatre in Chicago

A movie palace (or picture palace in the United Kingdom) is a large, elaborately decorated movie theater built from the 1910s to the 1940s. The late 1920s saw the peak of the movie palace, with hundreds opening every year between 1925 and 1930. With the advent of television, movie attendance dropped, while the rising popularity of large multiplex chains in the 1980s and 1990s signaled the obsolescence of single-screen theaters. Many movie palaces were razed or converted into multiple-screen venues or performing arts centers, though some have undergone restoration and reopened to the public as historic buildings.

There are three architectural design types of movie palaces: the classical-style movie palace, with opulent, luxurious architecture; the atmospheric theatre, which has an auditorium ceiling that resembles an open sky as a defining feature; and the Art Deco theaters that became popular in the 1930s.[citation needed]

Background

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Paid exhibition of motion pictures began on April 14, 1894, at Andrew M. Holland's phonograph store, located at 1155 Broadway in New York City, with the Kinetoscope. Dropping a nickel in a machine allowed a viewer to see a short motion picture, devoid of plot. The machines were installed in Kinetoscope parlors, hotels, department stores, bars and drugstores in large American cities. The machines were popular from 1894 to 1896, but by the turn of the century had almost disappeared as Americans rejected the solitary viewing experience and boring entertainment.[1]

Around 1900, motion pictures became a small part of vaudeville theatres. The competitive vaudeville theatre market caused owners to constantly look for new entertainment, and the motion picture helped create demand, although the new form of entertainment was not the main draw for patrons. It was often used as a "chaser"—shown as the end of the performance to chase the audience from the theatre. These theatres were designed much like legitimate theatres. The Beaux-Arts architecture of these theatres was formal and ornate. They were not designed for motion pictures, but rather live stage performances.[2]

In 1902, the storefront theatre was born at Thomas Lincoln Tally's Electric Theatre in Los Angeles. These soon spread throughout the country as empty storefronts were equipped with chairs, a Vitascope projector, a muslin sheet on which the motion picture was exhibited, darkened windows, and a box by the door to service as a ticket office (literally, the "box office".) Storefront theatres, supplied with motion pictures made in Chicago and New York, spread throughout America. These theatres exhibited a motion picture at a specific time during the day.[3]

Air domes also became popular in warm climates and in the summertime in northern climates. With no roof and only side walls or fences, the air domes allowed patrons to view motion pictures in a venue that was cooler than the stifling atmosphere of the storefront theatre.[4]

In 1905, the nickelodeon was born. Rather than exhibiting one program a night, the nickelodeon offered continuous motion picture entertainment for five cents. They were widely popular. By 1910, nickelodeons grossed $91 million in the United States. The nickelodeons were like simple storefront theatres, but differed in the continuous showings and the marketing to women and families.[5]

The movie house, in a building designed specifically for motion picture exhibition, was the last step before the movie palace. Comfort was paramount, with upholstered seating and climate controls. One of the first movie houses was Tally's Broadway Theater in Los Angeles.[6]

History

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See also: Atmospheric theatre
The interior of the Grand Lake Theatre, built in 1926

The movie palace was developed as the step beyond the small theaters of the 1900s and 1910s. As motion pictures developed as an art form, theatre infrastructure needed to change. Storefront theatres and nickelodeons catered to the busy work lives and limited budgets of the lower and middle classes. Motion pictures were generally only thought to be for the lower classes at that time as they were simple, short, and cost only five cents to attend. While the middle class regularly began to attend the nickelodeons by the early 1910s the upperclass continued to attend stage theater performances such as opera and big-time vaudeville.[7] However, as more sophisticated, complex, and longer films featuring prominent stage actors were developed, the upperclass desires to attend the movies began to increase and a demand for higher class theaters began to develop.[8] Nickelodeons could not meet this demand as the upperclass feared the moral repercussions of intermingling between women and children with immigrants. There were also real concerns over the physical safety of the nickelodeon theaters themselves as they were often cramped with little ventilation and the nitrate film stock used at the time was extremely flammable.[9]

The demand for an upscale film theater, suitable to exhibit films to the upperclass, was first met when the Regent Theater, designed by Thomas Lamb, was opened in February 1913, becoming the first ever movie palace.[7] However the theater's location in Harlem prompted many to suggest that the theater be moved to Broadway alongside the stage theaters.[8] These desires were satisfied when Lamb built the Strand Theatre on Broadway, which was opened in 1914 by Mitchel H. Mark at the cost of one million dollars.[7] This opening was the first example of a success in drawing the upper middle class to the movies and it spurred others to follow suit. As their name implies movie palaces were advertised to, "make the average citizen feel like royalty."[7] To accomplish this these theaters were outfitted with a plethora of amenities such as larger sitting areas, air conditioning, and even childcare services.[10]

Between 1914 and 1922 over 4,000 movie palaces were opened. Notable pioneers of movies palaces include the Chicago firm of Rapp and Rapp, which designed the Chicago, Uptown, and Oriental Theatres. S.L. "Roxy" Rothafel, originated the deluxe presentation of films with themed stage shows. Sid Grauman, built the first movie palace on the West Coast, Los Angeles' Million Dollar Theater, in 1918.

Decline

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Following World War II movie ticket sales began to rapidly decline due to the widespread adoption of television and mass migration of the population from the cities, where all the movie palaces had been built, into the suburbs.[11] The closing of most movie palaces occurred after United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. in 1948, which ordered all of the major film studios to sell their theaters. Most of the newly independent theaters could not continue to operate on the low admissions sales of the time without the financial support of the major studios and were forced to close.[12] Many were able to stay in business by converting to operate as race or pornography theaters.[13]

The death knell for single-screen movie theaters (including movie palaces) arrived with the development of the multiplex in the 1980s and the megaplex in the 1990s.[14] Some movie palaces were able to stay in business only by getting out of the way, at least with respect to the highest-grossing first-run films for which they were no longer viable exhibition venues.[14] They became second-run theaters or specialized in showing art house films.[14]

By 2004, only about a quarter of U.S. movie theaters still had only one screen, and the average number of screens per theater was 6.1.[15]

Design

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Eberson specialized in the subgenre of "atmospheric" theatres. His first, of the 500 in his career, was the 1923 Majestic in Houston, Texas. The atmospherics usually conveyed the impression of sitting in an outdoor courtyard, surrounded by highly ornamented asymmetrical facades and exotic flora and fauna, underneath a dark blue canopy; when the lights went out, a specially designed projector, the Brenograph, was used to project clouds, and special celestial effects on the ceiling.

Lamb's style was initially based on the more traditional, "hardtop" form patterned on opera houses, but was no less ornate. His theaters evolved from relatively restrained neo-classic designs in the 1910s to those with elaborate baroque and Asian motifs in the late 1920s.

The movie palace's signature look was one of extravagant ornamentation. The theaters were often designed with an eclectic exoticism where a variety of referenced visual styles collided wildly with one another. French Baroque, High Gothic, Moroccan, Mediterranean, Spanish Gothic, Hindu, Babylonian, Aztec, Mayan, Orientalist, Italian Renaissance, and (after the discovery of King Tut's tomb in 1922) Egyptian Revival were all variously mixed and matched. This wealth of ornament was not merely for aesthetic effect. It was meant to create a fantasy environment to attract moviegoers and involved a type of social engineering, distraction, and traffic management, meant to work on human bodies and minds in a specific way. Today, most of the surviving movie palaces operate as regular theaters, showcasing concerts, plays and operas.

List of movie palaces

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This is a list of selected movie palaces, with location and year of construction.

Movie Palaces
Movie Palaces City State/Country Year Built Other Names
Akron Civic Theatre Akron Ohio 1929 (formerly Loew's (Akron) Theatre)
Alabama Theatre Birmingham Alabama 1927
Alameda Theatre Alameda California 1932
Albee Theater Cincinnati Ohio 1927
Alex Theatre Glendale California 1925
Arcada Theater St. Charles Illinois 1926
Arlington Theater Santa Barbara California 1931
Arvest Midland Theatre Kansas City Missouri 1927
Avalon Regal Theater Chicago Illinois 1927
Aztec Theatre San Antonio Texas 1926
Bama Theatre Tuscaloosa Alabama 1938
Biograph Theater Chicago Illinois 1914
Boyd Theatre Philadelphia Pennsylvania 1928
Brauntex Theatre New Braunfels Texas 1942
Broadway Theatre Mount Pleasant Michigan 1920
Byrd Theatre Richmond Virginia 1928
California Theatre San Jose California 1927
The Capitol Melbourne Australia 1924
Capitol Cinema Ottawa Ontario 1920
Capitol Theatre Rome New York 1928
Capitol Theatre Port Chester Port Chester New York 1926
Capitol Theatre Vancouver British Columbia 1921
Carlton Cinema London England 1930
Carolina Theatre Durham North Carolina 1926
Carpenter Theater Richmond Virginia 1928
Castro Theatre San Francisco California 1922
Carthay Circle Theatre Los Angeles California 1926 demolished 1969
Commodore Picture House Liverpool England 1930
Chicago Theatre Chicago Illinois 1921
Circle Theatre Indianapolis Indiana 1916
Congress Theater Chicago Illinois 1926
Coolidge Corner Theatre Brookline Massachusetts 1933
Coronado Theatre Rockford Illinois 1927
Crest Theatre Sacramento California 1912
Del Mar Theatre Santa Cruz California
Dominion Cinema Edinburgh Scotland 1938
Duke of York's Picture House Brighton England 1910[a]
Egyptian Theatre Boise Idaho 1927
Egyptian Theatre DeKalb Illinois 1929
El Capitan Theatre Los Angeles California 1926
The Electric Cinema London England 1910[a]
Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres Toronto Ontario 1913
Embassy Theatre (Fort Wayne) Fort Wayne Indiana 1928
Empire Theater Sellersburg Indiana
Everyman Cinema, Muswell Hill London England 1935
Englert Theatre Iowa City Iowa 1912
Fargo Theatre Fargo North Dakota 1926
Florida Theatre Jacksonville Florida 1927
Fourth Avenue Theatre Anchorage Alaska 1947
Fox Theatre Atlanta Georgia 1929 the only surviving movie palace in Atlanta
Fox Theatre Bakersfield California 1930
Fox Theatre Detroit Michigan 1928
Fox Theatre Salinas California
Fox Theatre San Diego California 1929 now Jacobs Music Center
Fox Theatre San Francisco California 1929
Fox Theater Spokane Washington 1931
Fox Theatre St. Louis Missouri 1929
Garde Arts Center New London Connecticut 1926
Garneau Theatre Edmonton Alberta 1940
Gateway Theatre Chicago Illinois 1930
Gaumont State London England 1937
Golden State Theatre Monterey California 1926
Granada Theatre Sherbrooke Quebec 1929
Granada Tooting, London England 1931
Grand Lake Theater Oakland California 1926
Grauman's Chinese Theatre Los Angeles California 1927
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre Los Angeles California 1922
Hammersmith Apollo London England 1932
Hawaii Theatre Honolulu Hawai 1922
Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace Sydney Australia 1935
Hollywood Pacific Theatre Los Angeles California 1928
Indiana Theatre (Indianapolis) Indianapolis Indiana 1933
Indiana Theatre (Terre Haute Terre Haute Indiana 1922
Ironwood Theatre Ironwood Michigan 1928
Jefferson Theatre Beaumont Texas 1927
Jefferson Theater Charlottesville Virginia 1912
The Kensington Cinema London England 1926 (now Odeon)
Kentucky Theater Lexington Kentucky 1922
Lafayette Theatre Suffern New York 1924
Landmark Theatre Richmond Virginia 1926
Landmark Theatre Syracuse New York 1928 (formerly Loew's State Theatre)
Lensic Theater Santa Fe New Mexico 1931
Loew's 175th Street Theater New York City New York 1930
Loew's Grand Theatre Atlanta Georgia 1920s
Loew's Jersey Theatre Jersey City New Jersey 1929
Loew's Kings Theatre Brooklyn New York 1929
Loew's Paradise Theatre The Bronx New York 1929
Loew's Penn Theatre Pittsburgh Pennsylvania 1927 (now Heinz Hall)
Loew's State Palace Theatre New Orleans Louisana 1926
Loew's State Theatre Providence Rhode Island 1928 (now Providence Performing Arts Center)
Loew's State Theatre Norfolk Virginia 1929 now TCC Jeanne & George Roper Performing Arts Center
Loew's Tara Cinema Atlanta Georgia 1968 now a multiplex; renamed the Lefont Tara years later
Loew's Valencia Theatre Queens New York 1929
Los Angeles Theatre Los Angeles California
Lorenzo Theatre San Lorenzo California currently in restoration by the Lorenzo Theatre Foundation.
Lucas Theatre Savannah Georgia 1921
The Madison Theatre Peoria Illinois 1920 currently in restoration by The Madison Preservation Association.
Mainstreet Theater Kansas City Missouri 1921 (formerly the Empire and the RKO Missouri)
Majestic Theatre Dallas Texas 1921
Majestic Theatre San Antonio Texas 1929
Manchester Apollo Manchester England 1938
Mark Strand Theatre New York City New York 1914
Martin's Cinerama Atlanta Georgia 1962
Michigan Theater Ann Arbor Michigan 1928
Michigan Theatre Detroit Michigan 1926
Michigan Muskegon Michigan 1929 (now Frauenthal Theater)
Million Dollar Theater Los Angeles California 1918
Norwalk Theatre Norwalk Ohio 1941
North Park Theatre Buffalo New York 1920
Odeon Leicester Square London England 1937
Odeon Cinema Manchester England 1930
Odeon North End Cinema Portsmouth England 1936
Ohio Theatre Columbus Ohio 1928
Ohio Theatre Cleveland Ohio 1921
Olympia Theatre Miami Florida 1926
Oriental Theatre Chicago Illinois 1926
Oriental Theatre Milwaukee Wisconsin 1927
Orpheum Theatre Sioux City Iowa 1927
Orpheum Theatre Memphis Tennessee 1928
Orpheum Theatre Vancouver British Columbia 1927
Orpheum Theatre Wichita Kansas 1922
Ouimetoscope Montreal Canada 1906
Oxford Picture Hall Whitstable England 1912
Palace Theatre Syracuse New York 1924
Palace Theatre Albany New York 1931
Palace Theatre (Marion) Marion Ohio 1928
Palace Theatre Cleveland Ohio 1922
Palace Theatre (Canton) Canton Ohio 1926
Palace Theatre Lorain Ohio 1928
Palace Theatre Louisville Kentucky 1928
Palace Theatre Columbus Ohio 1927
Pantages Theatre (Los Angeles) Los Angeles California 1930
Pantages Theatre (Salt Lake City) Salt Lake City Utah 1918
Paramount Theatre Abilene Texas 1930
Paramount Theatre Aurora Illinois 1931
Paramount Theatre Austin Minnesota 1929
Paramount Theatre Austin Texas 1915
Paramount Theatre Cedar Rapids Iowa 1928
Paramount Theater Denver Colorado 1930
Paramount Theatre Kankakee Illinois 1931
Paramount Theatre Los Angeles California 1923 demolished 1960
Paramount Theatre Oakland California 1931
Paramount Theatre Portland Oregon 1928 (now the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall)
Paramount Theatre Seattle Oregon 1927
Paramount Theater Springfield Massachusetts 1926 (formerly known as Julia Sanderson Theater and The Hippodrome)
Peery's Egyptian Theatre Ogden Utah 1924
Pickwick Theatre Park Ridge Illinois 1928
Phoenix Cinema East Finchley England 1912[a]
Plaza Cinema Port Talbot Wales 1940
Plaza Theatre El Paso Texas 1930
Polk Theatre Lakeland Florida 1928
Pomona Fox Theater Pomona California 1931
Princess Theatre Edmonton Alberta 1915
Quo Vadis Entertainment Center Westland Michigan 1966
Radio City Music Hall New York City New York 1932
Rahway Theatre Rahway New Jersey 1926 (now a performing arts center)
Redford Theatre Detroit Michigan 1928
Regent Theatre Mudgee (New South Wales) Australia 1935
The Rex Berkhamsted England 1938
Rialto Theatre Montreal 1924
Rialto Square Theatre Joliet Illinois 1926
Ritz Theatre Tiffin Ohio 1928
Riviera Theater Chicago Illinois 1918
Riviera Theatre North Tonawanda New York 1926
Rockingham Theatre Reidsville North Carolina 1929
Roxie Theater San Francisco California 1909
Roxy Theatre New York City New York 1927
Roxy Theatre Atlanta Georgia built 1926 renamed the Roxy in 1938[16]
Roxy Theatre Saskatoon Saskatchewan 1930
Saenger Theatre Mobile Alabama 1927
Saenger Theatre New Orleans Louisana 1927
Saenger Theatre Pensacola Florida 1925
Saenger Theatre Hattiesburg Mississippi 1929
Senator Theatre Baltimore Maryland 1939
Shea's Performing Arts Center Buffalo New York 1926
Snowdon Theatre Montreal 1937
Stanford Theatre Palo Alto California 1925 restored 1989
Stanley Theater (now an Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses) Jersey City New Jersey 1928
Stanley Theater (now Benedum Center) Pittsburgh 1928
Stanley Theatre Utica New York 1928
Stanley Theatre (now Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage) Vancouver British Columbia 1930
State Cinema (now Focal Point Cinema & Cafe) Hastings New Zealand 1933
State Theater Cleveland Ohio 1921
State Theatre Kalamazoo Michigan 1927
State Theatre Woodland California
State Theatre Center for the Arts Uniontown Pennsylvania 1922
The Strand Theatre Marietta Georgia 1935
St. George Theatre Staten Island New York 1929
Suffolk Theater Riverhead New York 1933
Sun Theatre Melbourne (Victoria) Australia 1938
Sunnyvale Theater Sunnyvale California 1926 formerly the New Strand Theater
Tampa Theatre Tampa Florida 1926
Tennessee Theatre Knoxville Tennessee 1928
Tower Theatre Sacramento California 1938
Troxy Cinema London England 1933
United Artists Theatre Los Angeles California 1927 reopened in 2014 as part of the Ace Hotel
Uptown Theater Washington D.C. 1933
Uptown Theatre Chicago Illinois 1925
Uptown Theater Minneapolis Minnesota 1913
Uptown Theatre Toronto 1920
Uptown Theatre Utica New York 1927
Varsity Theatre Palo Alto California 1927
Victory Theatre Evansville Indiana 1921 formerly the Loew's Victory
Virginia Theatre Champaign Illinois 1921
Warner Grand Theatre San Pedro/Los Angeles California 1931
Warner Theater Youngstown Ohio 1930 Powers Auditorium
Warner Theatre Erie Pennsylvania 1931
Warner Theatre Youngstown Ohio 1931 (now Powers Auditorium)
Warnors Theatre Fresno California 1928
Warren Theatres Wichita Kansas 1996
Washoe Theater Anaconda Montana 1931
Weinberg Center Frederick Maryland 1926 (formerly the Tivoli Theatre)
Wilshire Theater Beverly Hills California 1930
Wiltern Theatre Los Angeles California 1930

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b c One of the UK's oldest continuously-running cinemas.

Citations

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  1. ^ Valentine, The Show Starts on the Sidewalk, 16.
  2. ^ Valentine, The Show Starts on the Sidewalk, 16–19.
  3. ^ Valentine, The Show Starts on the Sidewalk, 22–23.
  4. ^ Valentine, The Show Starts on the Sidewalk, 23.
  5. ^ Valentine, The Show Starts on the Sidewalk, 23–30.
  6. ^ Valentine, The Show Starts on the Sidewalk, 30–38.
  7. ^ a b c d Halnon, Mary (January 1998). "Some Enchanted Evenings: American Picture Palaces". Some Enchanted Evenings: American Picture Palaces. American Studies at the University of Virginia. Archived from the original on December 1, 1998.
  8. ^ a b Slowinska, Maria (2005). "Consuming Illusion, Illusions of Consumability: American Movie Palaces of the 1920s". Amerikastudien.
  9. ^ Van Der Velden, André (2010). "Spectacles of Conspicuous Consumption: Picture Palaces, War Profiteers and the Social Dynamics of Moviegoing in the Netherlands, 1914-1922". Film History.
  10. ^ Melnick, Ross (April 25, 2014). "When Movie Palaces Reigned". Hollywood Reporter.
  11. ^ Bushnell, George (1977). "Chicago's Magnificent Movie Palaces". Chicago History.
  12. ^ Gomery, Douglas (1978). "The picture palace: Economic sense or Hollywood nonsense?". Quarterly Review of Film Studies. 3: 23–36. doi:10.1080/10509207809391377.
  13. ^ Alley-Young, Gordon (2005). "The Southern Movie Palace: Rise, Fall, and Resurrection". Southern Studies.
  14. ^ a b c Melnick, Ross; Fuchs, Andreas (2004). Cinema Treasures: A New Look at Classic Movie Theaters. St. Paul: MBI Publishing Company. p. 184. ISBN 9780760314920. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  15. ^ Hayes, Dade; Bing, Jonathan (2004). Open Wide: How Hollywood Box Office Became a National Obsession. New York: Miramax Books. pp. 314-315. ISBN 1401352006.
  16. ^ Cinema Treasures

References

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  • Valentine, Maggie. The Show Starts on the Sidewalk: An Architectural History of the Movie Theatre, Starring S. Charles Lee. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 1994.
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