Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

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THEATRE remodeling as a program of EXHIBITION modernization By BEN SCHLANGER, Theatre Architect and Consultant That our theatres are rundown, obsolete, too shabby and uncomfortable to attrack patronage is an old story. Exhibitors must be tired of hearing it by this time. This editor is tired of telling it. Nor do we believe it explains reduced attendance as much as it often is meant to do. It is not altogether a fable, however; and much of the point of it lies in the very fact that it is an old story. Obsolescence began for most of the exhibition plant while the rest was being built. A large part of it was ill-planned in the first place. And nearly all of it has been carried over, as is, into the age of television and two-car garages on every plot. We are trying to modernize the art, and theatres are part of the art itself,, and partly its package. The adjoining article is chiefly concerned with its former function, but recognizes the other needs of modernization in suggesting that remodeling, where extensive revisions are necessary, be handled as a long-term program. For portions of this, and for smaller projects and re-equipping, loans are available, in "distress" situations, through the U. S Small Business Administration. This aid has resulted from appeals made by TOA and Allied States.— George Schutz. Zor a decade, and in a broad sense longer, very little has been done about the obsolescence of our motion picture theatres. In more recent years, uncertainties created by the competition of home television, plus the “growing pains” of new techniques, have discouraged basic modernization. But in the ten-year period prior to 1946, obsolescence was taking its toll despite the fact that this was a prosperous period for most exhibitors. Exhibition tended to see no need for improvements when business was good without them. Some of us, at least, now think we can perhaps see through these clouds of uncertainty, even if only dimly. Indoor motion picture presentation has gone through severe and protracted tests, from which has emerged some indication of where and ichy and how it can endure as a profitable medium of entertainment. The first phase of home television competition—the “live” and TV-film show —is now a known quantity. A second phase— exhibition of motion picture releases—can be to some degree evaluated. It is altogether possible, I think, that color TV. and even pay-as-you-see telecasting of new motion picture releases (should it come), will not be sufficiently competitive to make further sizable inroads into indoor motion picture exhibition. This appraisal is predicated on technological progress giving the theatrical motion picture greater creative scope and physical impact. JUSTIFYING REMODELING To take advantage of a growth in the theatrical screen capable of meeting competition from a less novel, yet a more competent home screen, the industry must modify its exhibition plant. Home television competition dictates revisions also in matters of comfort and convenience. And the very newness of television, relative to motion pictures, advises that theatres, in architecture and decor, give their screen identification with the tastes and institutions of these new times. Fundamentally, I don’t think we can longer think in terms of different classes of motion picture theatre operation. All screen theatres are confronted with the same competition, therefore there will have to be incorporated into all theatres, the features that make the patron aware of a unique experience in pleasant surroundings with at least the degree of comfort available at home. Not only the uncertainties which face exhibitors, but also the high costs of construction have discouraged erection of new motion picture theatres. Therefore those existing theatres which are well located, and which possess good parking facilities where needed, have increased in value considerably. Their increased value has little or no practical vane, however, unless a modernization program is carried out. The cost of construction has tripled since 1939. A budget for modernization will, of course, vary according to the amount of neglect and obsolescence encountered. If such items as restrooms, lobby and foyer approaches, air-conditioning and external appearances have been neglected, the budget will be relatively large when you add modernization of the auditorium and its seating, a most important and commonly neglected area that must be included. REASONABLE EXPENDITURE A new motion picture theatre, fully equipped and furnished, under present conditions will cost, in most parts of the U. S., about $350 a seat. Before 1939, when most existing theares were constructed, this figure was about $125. It would be most logical, therefore, to invest as much as $125 a seat for an existing theatre of good structure and good basic plan, in locations that are still po(Continued on page 14) 8 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 8, 1956