Year book of motion pictures (1951)

THE MODERNIZATION OF THEATER PLANNING By JOHN and DREW EBERSON Partners in the Architectural Firm of Johti and Drew Eberson T * HE HALT IN THEATER BUILDING by government order in the interest of national defense serves more than merely a patriotic purpose. To the exhibition business it offers a blessing in the disguise of hardship because it provides the theater architect with a period of respite during which he can do some thinking on sorely needed changes in theater architecture and decoration and prepare for a new era in the design of film showhouses that is sure to burst upon us when all bars to construction are lifted. The coming of that new era is an inevit sacrifice in good taste. It must be stressed ability because, in common with u?, many that loss of good taste would be intolerable architects who specialize in theater planning under any circumstance. Vulgarization of theater architecture and decoration must be avoided at any cost. What we are after is elegant simplicity— beauty unadorned, shall we say. However, we must guard against the application of simplicity to the point where it produces monotony. The elimination of all unnecessary ornamentation is a prime requisite. Of late years the film theater has become moie or less standardized. Most to be regretted is that it has grown over-adorned. Following a period of e.xcefsive embellishment of theaters there arises convincing evidence of the willingness of the public to forget custom and view the modern trend in theater planning with satisfaction. The film theater of the future will combine convenience with dignified beauty. From now on the architect must focus his eye on what really is required in the theater and must regard ornamentation as something extraneous and as a costly luxury the loss of which will never be missed, still less regretted. The designer of the motion-picture theater of tomorrow must turn his back on period architecture and decoration. He must break completely with the past. The day of traditional forms in theater architecture and adornment is over. Contemporary architectural design and embellishment such as we have in mind must be founded on the principle of utility and serve a functional purpose. A strong argument for the abandonment of the traditional in theater design and decoration in fa\or of the purelv contemporary is that the simplicity which is a characteristic of the latter makes for economy— by all odds an important consideration in these days of ever-mounting costs. For all its individuality the modern motion-picture theater such as we describe does not require an extravagant expenditure of money to bring it into being. Cheering news 617 JOHN EBERSON DREW EBERSON and decoration are convinced that the present showhouse is out of date both in arrangement and in design. They feel it is high time theater planning were modernized to meet the needs of this day and age not only to the larger pleasure of the public but to the greater financial benefit of the exhibitor. -Vow more than ever there is need for theater design and decoration that are a reflection of the times. We say "now more than ever" because theater men never have been ;o desperate for means to bolster attendance. A theater offering new excitement for our esthetic senses as well as the latest in physical comforts is certain to be more extensively patronized. By new design we do not mean a flight into the world of exaggeration and surrender to the bizarre and the eccentric. Resort to exhibitionism is as much to be deplored as slavish adherence to the older forms of architectural design and embellishment. We believe that the new design will be one rich in \igor and promise with no vital