Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Mar 1932)

14 Better Theatres Section February 13, 1932 Elevation of the main foyer, showing wall opposite doors to auditorium. will include 10 other buildings of lesser heights, carefully massed, sculped with modern emphasis of line and purity of surface out of limestone. But provisions of more direct civic interest have also been made. At the central Fifth Avenue entrance to the plot (as indicated in the accompanying chart) will be a promenade leading to a monumental plaza or "public forum." Being contemplated is also another "public forum" in the sub-level of the central office building. All sections of the plot will be accessible through sub-level passages as well as at the surface, and sub-level parking space will be reached by ramps. The Cinema will have its entrance on Sixth Avenue at the corner of 49th Street. Next door — just across 49th — will be the main office structure, while on the opposite corner of the plot — between 50th and 51st Streets — will be situated International Music Hall. The 48th Street corner was not acquired, so that the theatre proper will be located behind an existing building, with entrance through a vestibule (outer lobby) and a main lobby running back 80 feet along 49th Street. The main lobby enters into a grand foyer spanning the auditorium at its rear. The building is thus on the L-plan, the auditorium running from North to South, with entrance on the West. The entire theatre portion of the building— that is, auditorium, foyers and all divisions related in any way to the theatrical functions of the structure — contains 4,484,000 cubic feet. The ground area covers 36,420 square feet. The Cinema will seat 3,500 on four levels. Other basic dimensions, contributing further to an appreciation of the major relationships of the plan, place the width of the auditorium at 158 feet, and its length (from rear wall to curtain line) at 128 feet. The average height of the auditorium is approximately 65 feet. The grand fo)'er has about the same width as the auditorium, with a depth of 22 feet. The proscenium opening is 60 feet wide and 38 feet high, while the entire stage area measures 92x46 feet. The principal lounge is located in the basement, and off it are placed the men's and women's special lounges and toilets. The remainder of the basement is devoted to machine rooms and below-stage quarters. Still another level below the basement, or first sub-level, contains such special rooms as the music director's office and a rehearsal hall. IN DECORATIVE treatment, simple elegance of modern character forms the only general motif. The main foyer has mirrors opposing the entrance doors to the auditorium. Rising to the height of the second level of the auditorium, it opens through columns upon the mezzanine formed behind the seating area. The main lounge has walls covered with fabric. Simplicity in the auditorium treatment has been carried out with distinction in wood. The entire wall surface is in a special wood of the approximate tone of walnut, with relief worked out in horizontal strips level with each seating floor composed of a cuprous material. Further relief is afforded by a vertical series of pierced plaster rectangles of ornamental pattern, flanking the proscenium. These serve also as organ loft grilles. The ceiling, which is treated decoratively in plaster harmonizing in tone with the walls, is involved in the distinctive arrangement of the proscenium arch. In a sense, there is no proscenium arch, the opening proceeding in straight lines almost to the ceiling. Incorporated in this arrangement is a stage curtain divided into constituent curtains each of which can be lifted independently of the other. The purpose of this is to provide flexibility in the presentation of stage features as well as to permit the use of the screen without full stage. There are many details in the physical plan and decorative scheme of Theatre No. 8 which could be enumerated, but they are of the kind which at this time are probably more clearly indicated in the designers' sketches and architects' plans accompanying this article. They will also be more definitely subject to discussion when the completed theatre is available. From what has been given, however, and from an examination of the accompanying sketches and plans, it is possible to ask consideration of the question as to whether Theatre No. 8 fully realizes in its branch, the ideals of the Rockefeller City project. IN A VERY special sense. Theatre No. 8 — the "sound theatre," and therefore necessarily the motion picture theatre of Rockefeller City — suggests the old, old quandary: Are we to plan a motion picture theatre or a stage-show theatre in which we merely exhibit motion pictures? The special sense in which this question applies to the Rockefeller City Cinema is derived from the provision in the project of other theatres designated for the other theatrical arts. More than ever — vastly more — presentation of motion picture entertainment, which is delicately mechanical in both action and sound, must be dissociated from the "legitimate" or stage-show type of theatre if it is to realize its full effectiveness. It seems to me that at best, Theatre No. 8 represents the same old compromise that has generally characterized motion picture theatre design to the detriment of the art it is supposed to serve. The presence of the stage and its elaborate accessories, while indicative, is not definitive. One need not insist upon the absence of a stage. But for a motion picture theatre, the screen, projection, sight lines and the allocation of seating areas in