Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1946)

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Park Ave. Theatre Last Word in Readers Book by FLOYD STONE WALTER READE's Park Avenue theatre, which opened Wednesday, is the "result of a lifetime of experience," according to the Reade Circuit's announcements. It will also give the patron "the most perfect comfort." If you meet Walter Reade, Sr., the "old man," who runs the New York and New Jersey circuit with his son, Walter, Jr., he will agree — most vocally. He has had experience. And the theatre has comfort. All it needs are escalators. And they may come. Mr. Reade was a raconteur, these last few days before the house opened. He compared those old days with his dream come true. Said he : Comfort Comes First "The achievement of comfort facilities has been my brain-child for 40 years. It was with me when I started running Fehr's Opera House in Port Chester — up three flights of stairs, and you had to have an alpine stick to get there. "That little house had no toilets, no fans ; it had a low, 12-foot ceiling, and was heated by a coal stove; it had one projection machine which the operator ground by hand, praying the film would go through." The film, supplied by Bernstein and Carrick, came in lots of five cans, a thousand feet in each, giving a program change every day, and costing about $30 per week, Mr. Reade recalled. "Well, that was the house ; those were the days — and even then I always criticized public places of assembly for completely ignoring the patron," he said. "So I started in my own way. I put theatres on the ground floor, so that elderly people need not climb stairs. I put toilet facilities one flight up, and eventually on the ground floor. I began considering the width of seats, and their spacing." The Matter of Seats The average seat, in those days, he pointed out, was 19 inches wide, and there was a 24-inch separation back -to-back, and in those days "25 years ago," no seat was anything but veneer. "No padding, no springs, no cushions, no ball-bearing hinges." The seats in the Park Avenue house are 40 inches back to back, and not less than 24 inches wide, Mr. Reade noted. Mr. Reade continued his story of the old days. The industry at the time, he pointed out, was labeled "montebank." This made it difficult to obtain money to improve service. "We were one degree higher than a man with an organ, tin cup, and monkey. Entrance into a loan institution, a bank, a mortgage company was difficult— embarrassing. The moment I related my business, in order to embellish my plea, they'd reach under the desk, press a buzzer, and call in a uniformed policeman with a badge, and tell' him : " 'Take this man out of here. He's crazy'." Mr. Reade insists this actually happened to him, and names the place, the Seacoast Trust Company, at Asbury Park. And all the other bankers in every other ' town he was in refused in those days to accept his account, he said. "Well, those were the days — struggle to raise our standards of service, and our standards in the community," Mr. Reade said. "Today we are the most desired accounts. We are the ones who give the banks their ready cash. We give the service. And the Park Avenue theatre is the tops in service." There is not much else a house can do for the patron in the future, according to Mr. Reade. He does see escalators, for any house with a balcony or mezzanine. "What's left is to lift the patron on and off his seat," he said. "Perhaps that's not necessary." Disapproves European Practice While the Park Avenue theatre has a snack bar serving coffee, tea and biscuits, and a television receiver and art exhibits, and a cosmetician — Mr. Reade sees no reason for having in a theatre the adjuncts to entertainment which in European countries are so prevalent : the music hall, the bowling alley, the drinking bar. "In this country, the public doesn't like to do but one thing in one building," he said. "I have studied operation in London, Antwerp and Paris. Omnibus entertainment is sloppy, insect breeding, unprofitable. Our people especially want to do one thing — and go somewhere else." [Detailed discussion of the theatre's construction was the subject of an article in the September 21 issue of Better Theatres.] The Park Avenue theatre is on a subscription basis. Mr. Reade had something to say about that. "We are giving the patron the opportunity of having his own theatre. He doesn't have to go to any other theatre. Everything good will come here. What does he care, when the picture comes ?'' Two Changes Weekly The theatre, with two changes a week, opened Wednesday with Twentieth CenturyFox's "Anna and the King of Siam." This was to be followed by Warners' "Stolen Life." The house will also show 16mm selected product, for which Mr. Reade had a good word. "Firstly, in 16mm, we'll get a lot not seen elsewhere," he said. "Secondly, using a Bell and Howell arc projector, and with only a 125-foot throw, we get results just as good as 35mm." The theatre will be one house never oversold, Mr. Reade pointed out. "We have 584 chairs," he said. "We will never sell 585. "And there will be no passes." Photos by the Herald WALTER READE tells his story. In his Duffy Square, New York, office, the head of the Reade Circuit is emphatic and forthright. In the lo wer photo, he and his son, Walter, Jr., examine the new theatre's plans. MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 2, 1946 29