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THE PRESENT DAY FILM THEATER
An Exposition of Current Trends, and a Practical Long-Range Appraisement of Future Motion Picture Houses
By JOHN EBERSON, Architect —
(Editor's Note: In the following article, John Eberson, prominent film theater builder, designer and decorator, recounts some of the salient considerations confronting circuits, individual exhibitors, and architects in the construction of new theaters, as well as the remodeling of existing ones. Additionally, the author treats with modern equipment for motion picture houses of today, and with the probabilities which the future holds with respect to design and appointments.)
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1 1 here there is progress, there must of necessity be change. This precept is particularly applicable to the motion picture houses of today, and to all mechanical and esthetic appointments which they contain. Were it not for the application of this principle on the part of practical industry minds, not merely a static situation would develop, but outright retrogression.
Actually, a stubborn attitude toward change would mean the decay of what we call showmanship, and, too, such resistance to progress would soon witness a vast recession of public interest in films themselves.
Much of the strength of the industry today, — and it will be equally true of the future, — arises from the combination of ever-improving studio product, and the provision by circuits and independent exhibition interest of conditions under which film entertainment can be better enjoyed.
What, therefore, is accomplished along the line of new theater construction and remodeling by retail film outlets should receive the utmost encouragement in Hollywood, just as what is accomplished in Hollywood should command the profoundest interest of the retail showman. Make no mistake about it, the public, which is after all the court of last resort, is certainly interested both in the best of pictures and in the best of surroundings for their being viewed.
Filmland is fortunate in that its majority eyes have ever been turned toward improvement. How else could arise in the span of about two decades an industry of such magnitude and capability?
The number of better houses is growing, and it is encouraging to filmland and the public generally that the growth brings with it new theaters of thoroughly modern design, as well as remodeled houses having most of the virtues and advantages of the newly constructed ones. Many of both classes are contained in the theater census figures of Jan. 1, 1940, which reported total outlets in the U. S. at 17,003, as compared with 15,701 at the outset of 1939, according to probes by The Film Daily.
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