Movie palace

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 rise of television in the 1950s, 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.

Background

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

The interior of the Grand Lake Theatre, built in 1926
Studio Cinema in Timișoara, built in 1938
The interior of the Byrd Theatre, a 1928 movie palace in Richmond, Virginia, shown in 2021.

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] Architect George Rapp said of his Uptown Theater, "These are not impractical attempts at showing off. Here is a shrine to democracy where there are not privileged patrons. The wealthy rub elbows with the poor -- and are the better for this contact."[10] To accomplish this these theaters were outfitted with a plethora of amenities such as larger sitting areas, air conditioning, and even childcare services.[11]

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

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.[12] 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.[13] Many were able to stay in business by converting to operate as race or pornography theaters.[14]

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.[15] 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.[15] They became second-run theaters or specialized in showing art house films.[15]

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.[16]

Design

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

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

Table of Selected Movie Palaces
Movie PalacesCityState/CountryYear Built/OpenedOther Names
Akron Civic TheatreAkron Ohio 1929 (formerly Loew's (Akron) Theatre)
Alabama TheatreBirmingham Alabama 1927
Alameda TheatreAlameda California 1932
Alexandria TheaterSan Francisco California 1923 UA Alexandria
Alhambra TheatreSan Francisco California 1926
Albee TheaterCincinnati Ohio 1927
Alex TheatreGlendale California 1925
Arcada TheaterSt. Charles Illinois 1926
Arlington TheaterSanta Barbara California 1931
Arvest Midland TheatreKansas City Missouri 1927
Avalon Regal TheaterChicago Illinois 1927
Aztec TheatreSan Antonio Texas 1926
Bagdad TheatrePortland Oregon 1927
Bama TheatreTuscaloosa Alabama 1938
Biograph TheaterChicago Illinois 1914
Boyd TheatrePhiladelphia Pennsylvania 1928
Brauntex TheatreNew Braunfels Texas 1942
Broadway TheatreMount Pleasant Michigan 1920
Byrd TheatreRichmond Virginia 1928
California TheatreSan Jose California 1927
The CapitolMelbourne Australia 1924
Capitol Cinema (Ottawa)Ottawa, Ontario Canada 1920
Capitol Theatre (Rome)Rome New York 1928
Capitol Theatre (Porter Chester)Port Chester New York 1926
Capitol Theatre Vancouver, British Columbia Canada 1921
Carlton CinemaLondon England 1930
Carolina TheatreDurham North Carolina 1926
Carpenter TheaterRichmond Virginia 1928
Castro TheatreSan Francisco California 1922
Carthay Circle TheatreLos Angeles California 1926 demolished 1969
Commodore Picture HouseLiverpool England 1930
Chicago TheatreChicago Illinois 1921
Circle TheatreIndianapolis Indiana 1916
Congress TheaterChicago Illinois 1926
Coolidge Corner TheatreBrookline Massachusetts 1933
Coronado TheatreRockford Illinois 1927
Crest TheatreSacramento California 1912
Del Mar Theatre Santa Cruz California 1936 [17]
Dominion CinemaEdinburgh Scotland 1938
Duke of York's Picture HouseBrighton England 1910 One of the UK's oldest continuously-running cinemas.
Egyptian Theatre (Boise)Boise Idaho 1927
Egyptian Theatre (DeKalb)DeKalb Illinois 1929
El Capitan TheatreLos Angeles California 1926
El Portal TheatreLos Angeles California 1926
The Electric CinemaLondon England 1910 One of the UK's oldest continuously-running cinemas.
Elgin and Winter Garden TheatresToronto, Ontario Canada 1913
Embassy Theatre (Fort Wayne)Fort Wayne Indiana 1928
Empire Theater Sellersburg Indiana 1920s [18]
Everyman Cinema, Muswell HillLondon England 1935
Englert TheatreIowa City Iowa 1912
Fargo TheatreFargo North Dakota 1926
Florida TheatreJacksonville Florida 1927
Fourth Avenue TheatreAnchorage Alaska 1947
Fox Theatre (Atlanta)Atlanta Georgia 1929 the only surviving movie palace in Atlanta
Fox Theatre (Bakersfield)Bakersfield California 1930
Fox Theatre (Detroit)Detroit Michigan 1928
Fox Theatre (Salinas) Salinas California 1921 [19][20][21]
Fox Theatre (San Diego)San Diego California 1929 now Jacobs Music Center
Fox Theatre (San Francisco)San Francisco California 1929
Fox Theater (Spokane)Spokane Washington 1931
Fox Theatre (St. Louis)St. Louis Missouri 1929
Garde Arts CenterNew London Connecticut 1926
Garneau TheatreEdmonton, Alberta Canada 1940
Gateway TheatreChicago Illinois 1930
Gaumont StateLondon England 1937
Golden State TheatreMonterey California 1926
Granada TheatreSherbrooke Quebec 1929
Granada, TootingLondon England 1931
Grand Lake TheaterOakland California 1926
Grauman's Chinese TheatreLos Angeles California 1927
Grauman's Egyptian TheatreLos Angeles California 1922
Hammersmith ApolloLondon England 1932
Hawaii TheatreHonolulu Hawaii 1922
Hayden Orpheum Picture PalaceSydney Australia 1935
Hollywood Pacific TheatreLos Angeles California 1928
Indiana Theatre (Indianapolis)Indianapolis Indiana 1933
Indiana Theatre (Terre Haute)Terre Haute Indiana 1922
Imperial TheatreAugusta Georgia 1918
Ironwood TheatreIronwood Michigan 1928
Jefferson TheatreBeaumont Texas 1927
Jefferson TheaterCharlottesville Virginia 1912
The Kensington Cinema London England 1926 (now Odeon)
Kentucky TheatreLexington Kentucky 1922
Lafayette TheatreSuffern New York 1924
Landmark TheatreRichmond Virginia 1926
Landmark TheatreSyracuse New York 1928 (formerly Loew's State Theatre)
Lensic TheaterSanta Fe New Mexico 1931
Loew's 175th Street TheaterNew York City New York 1930
Loew's Grand TheatreAtlanta Georgia 1920s
Loew's Jersey TheatreJersey City New Jersey 1929
Loew's Kings TheatreBrooklyn New York 1929
Loew's Paradise TheatreThe Bronx New York 1929
Loew's Penn TheatrePittsburgh Pennsylvania 1927 (now Heinz Hall)
Loew's State Palace TheatreNew Orleans Louisiana 1926
Loew's State TheatreProvidence 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 CinemaAtlanta Georgia 1968 now a multiplex; renamed the Lefont Tara years later
Loew's Valencia TheatreQueens New York 1929
Los Angeles TheatreLos Angeles California 1931
Lorenzo Theatre San Lorenzo California 1947 currently owned by the Lorenzo Theatre Foundation.[22]
Lucas TheatreSavannah Georgia 1921
The Madison TheatrePeoria Illinois 1920 As of 2022, was in restoration by The Madison Preservation Association.
Mainstreet TheaterKansas City Missouri 1921 (formerly the Empire and the RKO Missouri)
Majestic TheatreDallas Texas 1921
Majestic TheatreSan Antonio Texas 1929
Manchester ApolloManchester England 1938
Mark Strand TheatreNew York City New York 1914
Martin's Cinerama Atlanta Georgia 1962
Michigan TheaterAnn Arbor Michigan 1928
Michigan TheatreDetroit Michigan 1926
Michigan TheatreMuskegon Michigan 1929 (now Frauenthal Theater)
Miller TheaterAugusta Georgia 1940
Million Dollar TheaterLos Angeles California 1918
Norwalk TheatreNorwalk Ohio 1941
North Park TheatreBuffalo New York 1920
Odeon Leicester SquareLondon England 1937
Odeon CinemaManchester England 1930
Odeon North End CinemaPortsmouth England 1936
Ohio TheatreColumbus Ohio 1928
Ohio TheatreCleveland Ohio 1921
Olympia TheatreMiami Florida 1926
Oriental TheatreChicago Illinois 1926
Oriental TheatreMilwaukee Wisconsin 1927
Orpheum TheatreSioux City Iowa 1927
Orpheum TheatreMemphis Tennessee 1928
Orpheum TheatreVancouver, British Columbia Canada 1927
Orpheum TheatreWichita Kansas 1922
OuimetoscopeMontreal, Quebec Canada 1906 (first Canadian theater dedicated to exclusively to showing movies)[23]
Oxford Picture HallWhitstable England 1912
Palace TheatreSyracuse New York 1924
Palace TheatreAlbany New York 1931
Palace Theatre (Marion)Marion Ohio 1928
Palace TheatreCleveland Ohio 1922
Palace Theatre (Canton)Canton Ohio 1926
Palace TheatreLorain Ohio 1928
Palace TheatreLouisville Kentucky 1928
Palace TheatreColumbus Ohio 1927
Pantages Theatre (Los Angeles)Los Angeles California 1930
Pantages Theatre (Salt Lake City)Salt Lake City Utah 1918
Paramount Theatre, AbileneAbilene Texas 1930
Paramount TheatreAurora Illinois 1931
Paramount Theatre (Mn)Austin Minnesota 1929
Paramount Theatre (Tx)Austin Texas 1915
Paramount Theatre (Cedar R)Cedar Rapids Iowa 1928
Paramount Theater (Denver)Denver Colorado 1930
Paramount Theatre Kankakee Illinois 1931
Paramount TheatreLos Angeles California 1923 demolished 1960
Paramount TheatreOakland California 1931
Paramount TheatrePortland Oregon 1928 (now the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, originally the Portland Publix Theatre)
Paramount Theatre (Seattle)Seattle Washington 1927
Paramount Theater (Springfield)Springfield Massachusetts 1926 (formerly known as Julia Sanderson Theater and The Hippodrome)
Peery's Egyptian TheatreOgden Utah 1924
Pickwick TheatrePark Ridge Illinois 1928
Phoenix CinemaEast Finchley England 1912 One of the UK's oldest continuously-running cinemas.
Plaza CinemaPort Talbot Wales 1940
Plaza TheatreEl Paso Texas 1930
Polk TheatreLakeland Florida 1928
Fox TheaterPomona California 1931
Princess TheatreEdmonton, Alberta Canada 1915
Quo Vadis Entertainment CenterWestland Michigan 1966
Radio City Music HallNew York City New York 1932
Rahway TheatreRahway New Jersey 1926 (now the Union County Performing Arts Center)
Redford TheatreDetroit Michigan 1928
Regent Theatre Mudgee (New South Wales) Australia 1935
The RexBerkhamsted England 1938
Rialto TheatreMontreal, Quebec Canada 1924
Rialto Square TheatreJoliet Illinois 1926
Ritz TheatreTiffin Ohio 1928
Riviera TheaterChicago Illinois 1918
Riviera TheatreNorth Tonawanda New York 1926
Rockingham TheatreReidsville North Carolina 1929
Roxie TheaterSan Francisco California 1909
Roxy TheatreNew York City New York 1927
Roxy TheatreAtlanta Georgia 1926 renamed the Roxy in 1938[24]
Roxy TheatreSaskatoon, Saskatchewan Canada 1930
Saenger TheatreMobile Alabama 1927
Saenger TheatreNew Orleans Louisiana 1927
Saenger TheatrePensacola Florida 1925
Saenger TheatreHattiesburg Mississippi 1929
Senator TheatreBaltimore Maryland 1939
Shea's Performing Arts CenterBuffalo New York 1926
Snowdon TheatreMontreal, Quebec Canada 1937
Stanford TheatrePalo Alto California 1925 restored 1989
Stanley TheaterJersey City New Jersey 1928 (now an Assembly Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses)
Stanley TheaterPittsburgh Pennsylvania 1928 (now Benedum Center)
Stanley TheatreUtica New York 1928
Stanley TheatreVancouver, British Columbia Canada 1930 (now Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage)
State Cinema (now Focal Point Cinema & Cafe)Hastings New Zealand 1933
State TheaterCleveland Ohio 1921
State TheatreKalamazoo Michigan 1927
State TheatreWoodland California 1936 [25]
State Theatre Center for the ArtsUniontown Pennsylvania 1922
The Strand TheatreMarietta Georgia 1935
St. George TheatreStaten Island New York 1929
Studio CinemaTimișoara Romania 1938 formerly the Thalia Cinema
Suffolk Theater Riverhead New York 1933
Sun TheatreMelbourne (Victoria) Australia 1938
Sunnyvale Theater Sunnyvale California 1926 formerly the New Strand Theater
Tampa TheatreTampa Florida 1926
Tennessee TheatreKnoxville Tennessee 1928
Tower TheatreSacramento California 1938
TroxyLondon England 1933
United Artists TheatreLos Angeles California 1927 reopened in 2014 as part of the Ace Hotel
Uptown TheaterWashington D.C. 1933
Uptown TheatreChicago Illinois 1925
Uptown TheaterMinneapolis Minnesota 1913
Uptown TheatreToronto, Ontario Canada 1920
Uptown TheatreUtica New York 1927
Varsity TheatrePalo Alto California 1927
Victory TheatreEvansville Indiana 1921 formerly the Loew's Victory
Virginia TheatreChampaign Illinois 1921
Warner Grand TheatreSan Pedro/Los Angeles California 1931
Warner TheatreErie Pennsylvania 1931
Warner TheatreYoungstown Ohio 1931 (now Powers Auditorium)
Warnors TheatreFresno California 1928
Washoe TheaterAnaconda Montana 1931
Weinberg CenterFrederick Maryland 1926 (formerly the Tivoli Theatre)
Wilshire TheaterBeverly Hills California 1930
Wiltern TheatreLos Angeles California 1930

See also

Notes

Citations

  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. ^ abcdHalnon, 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. ^ abSlowinska, 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. ^"Uptown Theatre: 100 years of glory and decay". Chicago Tribune. 2025-08-10. Retrieved 2025-08-11.
  11. ^Melnick, Ross (April 25, 2014). "When Movie Palaces Reigned". Hollywood Reporter.
  12. ^Bushnell, George (1977). "Chicago's Magnificent Movie Palaces". Chicago History.
  13. ^Gomery, Douglas (1978). "The picture palace: Economic sense or Hollywood nonsense?". Quarterly Review of Film Studies. 3: 23–36. doi:10.1080/10509207809391377.
  14. ^Alley-Young, Gordon (2005). "The Southern Movie Palace: Rise, Fall, and Resurrection". Southern Studies.
  15. ^ abcMelnick, 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.
  16. ^Hayes, Dade; Bing, Jonathan (2004). Open Wide: How Hollywood Box Office Became a National Obsession. New York: Miramax Books. pp. 314-315. ISBN 1401352006.
  17. ^Stenvick, Blair (2013-05-15). "Del Mar Theatre in Santa Cruz - 5 Unique & Fun Facts You Didn't Know". Santa Cruz Life. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  18. ^"Sellersburg, Indiana 115 S New Albany Street photograph 1973". indianamemory.contentdm.oclc.org. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  19. ^"Fox Theater Salinas". Fox Theater Salinas. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  20. ^"Fox California Theater in Salinas, CA - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  21. ^"Fox Theater, an entertainment venue in Downtown Salinas, is for sale". Monterey County NOW. 2024-08-08. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  22. ^"Save The Lorenzo.org". www.savethelorenzo.org. Retrieved 2024-11-24.
  23. ^Tremblay, Odile (2006-01-07). "Cent ans du Ouimetoscope". Le Devoir (in French). Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  24. ^"Roxy Theatre in Atlanta, GA - Cinema Treasures". cinematreasures.org. Retrieved 2024-11-20.
  25. ^Democrat, Jim Smith | Special to the (2017-06-29). "Woodland's State Theatre opens in red-carpet fashion". Daily Democrat. Retrieved 2024-11-24.

References

  • 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.