Motion Picture News (Mar-Apr 1923)

Auditorium of the new Stanley theatre, West Palm Beach, Florida, showing the mediaeval effect of rough stone walls, Spanish balconies and panelled ceiling Third House Opens State 'TP HE Troy, a motion picture theatre being *■ built by the Mark Strand operating company, in Troy, N. Y., and costing upwards of $350,000 will be opened on February 21, according to present plans. Uly Hill, managing director of the Mark Strand in Albany, will also handle the Troy house, with Edward H. Crawford, former manager of the Lincoln, in Troy, acting as business manager. The new house seats 2,100 persons, the balcony accommodating 603. The Troy is the largest and most magnificent motion picture theatre in the city, and completes the third link of a chain of Strand theatres in the Capital District, the State in Schenectady, second of the chain, having opened about two months ago. The three houses represent an investment of about one million dollars. The Troy will maintain a fourteen piece orchestra, and will also have a soloist changing weekly. No decision has yet been reached as to admission prices, although it is said that the top will probably be forty cents, or five cents more than the Lincoln, and fifteen cents more than the State in Schenectady, which dropped from forty to twenty-five, and ten cents less than the Mark Strand in Albany. in Strand New York Chain The opening feature has not been fully decided upon. It may be "Dr. Jack," or it may be "Robin Hood," or some one of the many good features which have already been booked by the house. The opening will be one of the midwinter events in the Capital District, and one which will attract many well known persons in film circles from New York and elsewhere. — Grant. Price of Raw Stock Reduced AVERY important announcement was recently made by the Eastman Kodak Company to the effect that raw stock would be cut from 2J4c a foot to 2c a foot. This reduction in the price of film has been made possible through the advancement and perfection of methods used in making moving picture film. When the enormous amount of raw stock used in this industry is taken into consideration, a reduction of %c a foot mounts into large sums of money. It is encouraging to note the trend towards lower prices in this industry and it is hoped that other processes will become more efficient and thus reduce the required investment in pictures. Motion Picture News Doings in Oklahoma and Texas The Arcade theatre at Denison, Texas, has been completely overhauled, remodeled and made practically new, both inside and out. J. E. Pearce has purchased the Grand Opera House at Galveston, Texas, and will redecorate, renovate and make the house entirely new, at an early date. J. E. Elliott at Thorndale, and the Palace 'theatre at Nacogdoches, Texas, have installed Velvet Gold Fibre screens and will add other improvements soon. Eugene Kennedy has taken over the Jewell theatre at Rusk, Oklahoma, and will add many new improvements, promising no more jumping or dim lights on screen. Dan Myers is remodeling a building at 208 Broadway, Muskogee, Okla., which will soon be converted into a first-class motion picture house. — Noble. "Bellevue" Installs Minusa Screen The Minusa Cine Screen Company of St. Louis has installed a' 19 by 14-foot Golde Fibre screen in the Cinema Bellevue, Zurich, Switzerland. This is one of the biggest foreign installations ever made, and is expected to lead to other orders from that country. John Sutz, manager of Cinema Bellevue, in a letter to Minusa company, states that the screen has proven entirely satisfactory. — Barrett. New House for Willimantic, Conn. There is to be another motion picture house at Willimantic, Conn., by early fall, according to Abraham Krug, owner of property on Union street. He states that he has notified Boyle & Murphy, contractors of the business block, of which the cellar and foundation have already been laid, on property between Union and Main streets, that he has decided to change the plans. His original plans were to have a two-story business block with bowling alleys in the basement. According to the announcement of Mr. Krug, he plans to tear down the old building now on the site and to erect a theatre with a frontage of 90 feet on Union street, a depth of 80 feet, and providing a seating capacity of 1,000.— Agard. Interior views of the new Stanley theatre, West Palm Beach, Fla. On the left is shown the artistically designed foyer which follows the old Spanish style. The right view is the exquisite ladies' lounge