Architect Breaks Down 120 Years Of Movie Theater Design | Architectural Digest

There's something so inviting about movie palaces. Compared to the modern cineplex especially.

A wonderful megaplex was the original Edwards 21 Cinemas, Irvine Spectrum, Irvine, California.
My first IMAX experience, 1997.

Kings Theater!!! Best theater in NYC!

That the black and white contraption in the living room with tiny fuzzy flickering image and bad sound wiped out thousands of huge purpose built and magnificently designed and appointed movie theatres where the main attraction was the shared movie going experience on a big screen with big sound, the event status amongst incredible auditoriums and foyers, with hundreds or thousands of people creating a unique energy sharing, is a reality breakdown.
There are not many convincing arguments that justify what happened to the movie industry at that disastrous time of TV introduction.

Could never reconcile why architects put curved prosceniums in a movie theatre when the screen was either 1.33:1 (square) ratio or later up to 2.37:1 CinemaScope.
The curve was totally at odds with the screen shape and did not complement the overall purpose of the theatre at all.

Yes!

I wish it was reopened. I'm waiting for that before I visit Hollywood . The property owner probably feels they make more money keeping the building closed, the tax shelter, and everything is open again in Las Angeles.

You skipped about the first drive-in theater in 1933.

In San Jose, CA we used to have the Century Theater Domes--they were so amazing! A really special place to watch a film! Many of us were devastated to lose those cool theater domes!

The "blockbuster" was around for a long time , however "JAWS" - kinda created the "Summer Movie Blockbuster". Some pre-Jaws hits would include The Towering Inferno , The Poseidon Adventure and Airport. Grease was the 1979 Summer Blockbuster as was Animal House. 1979 was ALIEN and 1980 Empire Strikes back.

I was actually HOPING for this to be LONGER. My favorite theatre CHAIN designs were Century theatres mid to late 1960s. I'm on the East Coast . Not sure how much that matters.

This video skipped around a lot however I do like how in the past there were movie theaters with 3 projectors so one theater can play different movies. And with three projectors I can see where 3d films came into play. Very interesting.

the alamo on mission st. in san francisco has some great photos taken during the extensive renovation…and a sweet bar, “bull & bear”

baked patotoes at the movies ~

I love the movies so I loved this one!!

I remember when they pulled down the Bijou in Manhattan, although the sane and artful citizens had chained themselves to various parts of that movie palace....

Great post AD. Richard Weiss is really fun and informative!

The Garman Opera House in Bellefonte, PA, was my go-to in college: absolutely beautiful and playing a mix of current hits & classics. I was so sad (and astounded considering how busy it always was in the 2000s) of its abandonment, festering with mold, fire, and eventual demolition :(

thearter

No mention of the mighty Wurlitzer theater organs of 1920s ? Wow .

I love watching you. Your brains & knowledge are just really interesting.

I loved Arclight Hollywood when it was around. Still saddened that it closed during the pandemic 😢

You didn't touch on the, to my mind, subject and that was smoking !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No mention of the great Roxy in NYC…… 😢

The Neptune theater in Seattle, close to U of W. I'd watch double features there, a different double feature would play every day. I think it's a concert venue now.

Edison didn't invent VitaScope (or anything really). Charles Francis Jenkins did. Edison stole others patents and tweaked them.

It's funny, I was watching this on one screen and quickly looked up "projectionist jobs" on my other monitor. I read a job for "alamo draft house" at the same time he said "I am the architect for alamo draft house" lmfao

It’s so fun to learn the names of features that you’ve always admired.

Fabulous Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia! Classic movie palace with so much more. Worked there for 2 years and there was so much more to this building that very few got to see.

Actually, Cinerama was a huge hit, leading to CinemaScope, 70mm movies, color films and multi-channel stereo movies, so your jumpsuit to the 1960s is highly problematic and oversimplified to say the least and blockbusters like LOVE STORY, THE EXORCIST and THE GODFATHER proceeded JAWS by a good few years.

Great video. Great overview. Really appreciate the effort to revive these older theaters but... Having people eating and ordering and talking during a movie just absolutely completely ruins the experience for me. I just don't want to be there if people are going to interrupt the "Magic" of the movie.

You can't "suspend your disbelief" if the guy next to you is bragging about his promotion to his date, or complaining about how is burger is cooked. It just doesn't work.

Art deco is the best , sad it's not around that much anymore

I remember when I first saw a Cinerama film, that the theater emphasized the difference between itself and the normal theaters by pulling the curtain back to reveal only the center of the screen (or normal size). Then as the credits were ending they'd pull the curtain all the way back, tripling the size of the screen and even the sound got bigger as the extra speakers kicked in. Impressive but if filmmakers don't shoot in the format, it's got nowhere to go. It reminds me of the Showscan 70mm format that came along 20 years later.

No mention of the Lumiére brothers and their Kinetoscope? The ones whose creation actually stuck around?

The Mann Village in Westwood is my favorite theater! Old world class, art deco architecture, 1,100 seats and pure cinema!!

Tuschinski!

theerdr

I love the Music Box Theater in Chicago. The entire city supports the theater. During COVID, the management created a drive in theater in a Walmart parking lot. During evening and select matinee performances, we get live organ music before the movie starts. And, of course, the Music Box popcorn. It's the best in Chicago. The theatre just wrapped a weekend Billy Wilder film festival. The theatre just celebrated 90 years in business. Here's to the next 90 years. Long live the Music Box.

This man is not a student of cinema history. And the TWA terminal is not googie architecture.

The fox theater is one of my favorite parts of Detroit. Such a beautiful theater.

Fascinating history. I love Richard. Wonderful guy.

Absolutely fantastic! Love this type of video. So much to learn and delivered in such an interesting way.

Greetings from Amsterdam the Netherlands the city with the most beautiful cinema in the world; Tuschinsky Theater!!

I live near the city , I have to check that out

My favorite theater was the Fox Theater in San Francisco everything a movie palice should be. To bad it is now condos.

As a former film booker/buyer and a theater owner, I enjoyed this immensely. In the 1970’s I purchased a closed former Jerry Lewis Twin which was surprisingly expertly designed. Far superior to the AMC shooting galleries at that time. I added touches to enhance the auditoriums as well as new lamp houses and stereo surround systems. I loved operating it.

The only movie palace I had ever been in was one called "The Palace" in Danbury, CT. It had been cut up into three theaters, Two on the first floor and then one full width in the old balcony. the lobby looked amazing. Then it closed when the Sony Theaters opened 10 screens in an industrial park. no longer up there but I hear a group restored the Palace back to original and its an independent theater now.

Another factor that killed the Movie Palace IMO was the end to the studio system, the big movie companies used to own a huge portion of the theaters and I think it was USA v Paramount ended that.

I've never heard someone pronounce 'theater' as 'thee-er-der' so this accent is delightful, especially since he must say this all the time in his work.