We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.
Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.
Background of the Industry <^ <^ <^> <^ 9
the subsequent trend toward integration also appeared to add its weight to that of the feature picture and the star system. This was a substantial change in the type of theater. The success of those who made early experiments in the production and exhibition of feature pictures aroused the interest of others to the possibilities of this type of picture and hastened its popularity. The first exhibitions of these films took place in shooting galleries, or in theaters which were remodeled shooting galleries. The attempt to place the motion picture on a basis of equality with the spoken drama seemed to demand a more formal theater for exhibition. The first efforts in this direction centered about the leasing of legitimate theaters. Then the practice of prerelease showings for particular pictures, especially in New York and Chicago, became common among producers. The feature picture also appeared in the vaudeville houses as an essential part of their program. There it came to be used as a regular attraction instead of simply a makeshift entertainment between shows. A most important result of this development came with the exclusive use of theaters designed especially for the exhibition of motion pictures. Gradually the size of the motion picture theaters increased beyond that of the so-called legitimate houses, since there was no limiting factor of audibility such as operates with the spoken drama and also because the figures on the screen were large enough to transmit minute details of facial expression much greater distances than could actors of the legitimate stage.
Many of the owners of these new theaters were men who had been showmen in the earlier period. Their prosperity had enabled them to finance the transition to the more elaborate motion picture theater. Moreover, as additional funds became available, theater chains, generally highly localized in character, began to assume significance. As early as 1912, such chains as those of Gordon in Boston, Kunsky in Detroit, Mark in New York, and Swanson in Salt Lake City came into existence.