When movies were theater: architecture, exhibition, and the evolution of American film

445 Pages·2016·32.243 MB·English

by  Paul, William

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ARCHITECTURE EXHIBITION AND THE EVOLUTION OF AMERICAN FILM
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film and culture
john belton, editor
film and culture
A series of Columbia University Press
edited by john belton
For the list of titles in this series, see page 423.
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William Paul
columbia university press new york
columbia university press
Publishers Since 1893
new york chichester, west sussex
cup.columbia.edu
Copyright © 2016 Columbia University Press
All rights reserved
The author and publisher wish to thank the College of Arts and Sciences,
Washington University in St. Louis, as well as its Program in Film and Media Studies
for contributing to the cost of this publicaiton.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Paul, William, 1944– author.
Title: When movies were theater : architecture, exhibition, and the evolution
of American fi lm / William Paul.
Description: New York : Columbia University Press, [2016] | Series: Film and
culture | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2015044943| ISBN 9780231176569 (cloth : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9780231176576 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780231541374 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Space and time in motion pictures. | Motion pictures
and architecture. | Motion picture theaters. | Theater architecture.
Classifi cation: LCC PN1995.9.S668 P38 2016 | DDC 791.43/095693-dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015044943

Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-free paper.
Printed in the United States of America
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Cover art: Commercial painting of the Olympia Theatre, Miami (John Eberson, architect)
References to websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing. Neither the author nor
Columbia University Press is responsible for URLs that may have expired or changed
since the manuscript was prepared.
To my wife Rafi a,
with love and admiration

contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xiii
introduction
An Art of the Theater 1
1. making movies fit 21
2. store theaters
A Radical Break 62
3. palatial architecture,
democratized audience 95
viii contents
4. elite taste in a mass medium 122
5. uncanny theater 186
6. the architectural screen 230
conclusion
Ontological Fade-Out 275
Appendix 1: Stage Shows and Double Features in Select Markets Outside New York City 299
Appendix 2: Feature Films Based on Theatrical Sources, 1914–2011 303
Appendix 3: Filmography 309
Appendix 4: List of Theaters 313
Abbreviations Used for Citations in Notes 317
Notes 319
Selected Bibliography 399
Index 413
illustrations
Figure i.1 Side boxes at the Strand Theater, New York (1914) 6
Figure i.2 A 1914 sketch of the proposed Duplex Theater in
Detroit 9
Figure 1.1 The movie screen framed like a picture at the premiere
showing of the Vitascope (1896) 35
Figure 1.2 A mid-nineteenth-century tiered horseshoe theater,
New York 39
Figure 1.3 The horseshoe form of Koster and Bial’s Music Hall 40
Figure 1.4 The Olympia Music Hall (1896) 55
Figure 2.1 A 42nd Street façade theater, New York (1903) 70
Figure 2.2 A typical confi guration for a store theater (Chicago,
1909) 73