Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World (Apr-Jun 1930)

DESIGNING THE THEATRE EXTERIOR An important subject discussed and illustrated by an eminent designer of motion picture theatres By ROBERT BOLLER THE architectural development of the motion picture theatre front should represent a process of evolution which keeps step with Early the changes and Designs improvements taking place in the production department of the film industry. It is to be regretted that exterior design has not kept pace with such advancement as has been brought about in the making of the pictures, such thought as has been given to theatre planning being devoted to the beautification of the lobbies, foyers, and the auditorium proper. Even the legitimate stage paid scant attention to the outward appearance of its playhouses till 1576, when The Theatre was built in London. Later, when Drury Lane and Covent Garden came into being, the first real architectural studies of theatre exteriors were made. Since the legitimate drama, with its background of centuries, so little grasped the need for an attractive street face, it is not remarkable that the motion picture industry has been slow to sense the value of a well designed exterior for the building which houses one of the greatest mechanical wonders of the age. The Penny Arcade In the early days of the Penny Arcade, still fresh in the minds of the older generation, we were dazzled by an array of electric lights, generously sprinkled around an archway guarded by two plaster angels. Once enticed into this alluring but slightly iniquitous place of amusement, we changed our nickels into pennies, and were thrilled by the antics of the individual moving picture machines, which produced 45 seconds of animated photography for each copper invested. Above (Sketch No. i), a design submitted for the Missouri theatre. Below, as it was built. The Penny Arcade was the logical location for the early editions of “Hale’s Tours,” an interesting scenic railway feature evolved by Chief Hale of Kansas City’s fire department, and Judge F. W. Gifford, of the same city, in 1905. Within the next year or two, the “Tours” gained in popularity to the extent that they made their appearance independ ently in 214 plants in various parts of the United States, boasting an exterior which for the first time made an attempt to indicate the nature of the entertainment offered within. The entrance represented the rear platform of a railway observation coach, the embryo marquise being merely an extension of the train roof. Forecasting the ornate display frames of today, crude easels flaunted posters telling of the wonders of “Hale’s Tours,” “Scenes of the World” and “Trains Every Ten Minutes.” When “The Great Train Robbery” made its appearance as a forerunner of our modern Westerns, it was first given a place in the rear of the Penny Arcade in many cities. Adolph Zukor seized the idea as a plot for a few thrilling moments in the middle of a “Hale’s Tour,” in one of his earliest attempts at theatre management, and the films soon required more space than was available in these low-priced amusement centers. Vacant Store Theatres Following the introduction of this epic-making production, films began to grow slightly longer, but scarcely more cultured. They were projected in vacant stores, plastered with violently colored lithographs advertising short subjects involving thief chases, more train robberies and episodes showing costumes which brought to sudden life the criticism and censorship of the period. Too many theatres of this type are still in existence, and time has not lessened their ability to awaken the wrath of an outraged public, with their placards of flaming youth, crime and sex plays. The industry is to be congratulated, however, that this sort of thing is being reduced to a minimum by the [23]