Motion Picture News (Jan-Feb 1922)

January 14, 1 p 2 2 541 NEW THEATRE Construction & Equipment P R O JECTION Department CAMERA j P. M. ABBOTT --------- TECHNICAL EDITOR New York Has Innovation in Superfine Small House No Expense Spared in Perfecting 600 Seat Theatre for City’s Busiest District The Cameo Theatre, under the direction of B. S. Moss, in and adjoining the famous Bush Terminal Building at 130 West 42nd Street, just east of Broadway and one of the busiest corners in Manhattan, is unique among theatres devoted to the motion picture in its exclusive intimacy, its artistic luxury, its perfection of appointments, and its atmosphere of the smart drawing room. The Cameo is to theatres what the Petit Trianon is to royal palaces — an exquisite structure so superbly original in the artistry of its design that it may well stand for years as the finest example of aristocracy in the theatre. Irving T. Bush, who designed the Bush Terminal Building, an epoch-making creation in the world of International business, worked with B. S. Moss in making the Cameo the ideal motion picture theatre where in clubhouse comfort amid surroundings of chaste elegance one could view perfect projection of great pictures worthy of the house and the exacting clientele to which it will cater. The Cameo is revolutionary in many ways. Occupying one of the finest sites in New ,York and built, decorated and furnished regardless of expense it nevertheless seats but 600 iieople on a single floor, the first and only consideration having been the maximum of comfort, beauty and efficiency regardless of capacity. The wide aisles, the efficiency regardless of rapacity, the unusual space betwen seat rows so hat patrons can walk to their seats comfortably n any part of the house without stumbling over A light cheerful tapestry is predominate earlier arrivals, the faultless taste of the rich decorations and furnishings, the orchestra of symphony artists, the scientific illumination, ventilation, heating and cooling, the correct pitch of floor and aisles, the admirable sight lines that draw the vision without effort to the screen which reflects a mellow projection freed of every element of eye-strain. The Cameo represents the results of many years experience with mition picture presentment by Mr. Moss and his painstaking study of all the many problems involved. It is supremely comfortable, beautiful, and smart in the highest sense of the word. The usual marquee extends across the front and we pass under it into the vestibule which has a high base of black and gold marble and a paneled wainscot of Botticino marble running up to the underside of the cornice. The cornice and ceiling is of ornamental plaster in the decoration of which the tones of the marble wainscoting have been recalled. Thru glazed doors we enter the lobby where the cold tones of the vestibule have been changed for slightly warmer ones. The marble base here is of Rosato with pilasters and panels of Sienna marble in which a creamy color predominates and above this is the cornice and a vaulted ceiling with penetrations over the panels. The body color of the ceiling is of the same general tone of the Sienna though somewhat cooler. The lobby is 70 feet long and in the eleven panels on either side wall are set alternately gold display frames and mirrors 9 feet high. The ornamentation is in polychrome and gold leaf. The blue in the cornice is of a ( Continued on page 548) While simple in design, every detail bespeaks quality A comfortable, home like atmosphere prevails throughou