Motion Picture News (Oct 1913 - Jan 1914)

THE MOTION PICTURE NEWS 29 on October 1st, but on account of delays the opening will not take place before November 1st. The second illustration on the page shows the exterior of the new "Heights" theatre on Wadsworth avenue, corner of 181st street, and floor plan. The "Heights" theatre is devoted to high-class motion pictures exclusively. They are projected on a gold fibre screen and are accompanied by one of the Wurlitzer Unit orchestras. The auditorium is lighted with the indirect lighting system and no side lights on the walls to shine in the eyes of the audience. Six hundred of the most comfortable seats, carpets in the aisles, brass railings, etc., complete the arrangements of the auditorium. The "Heights" is an up-to-date theatre, with none of the old fads of white gingerbread decorations; of a ticket office in the center of the lobby; of an abuse of posters, etc. Mr. W. A. Landau and Air. S. G. Bock, his partner, have what can be called, without contradiction, the refined photoplay house of the neighborhood. There is not a stick of wood in the whole place; it is all steel, brick, concrete and marble. The auditorium proper is 45 x 115 with a ten-foot lobby and the ticket office on the side. On both sides of the auditorium are six-foot alleys. On the south side four exit doors open on the alley, on the north side we find also four exit doors opening on the alley, with the last one, the one near the stage, connecting to a covered passage leading to 181st street. Beside these eight exit doors, we have the doors leading to the lobby. As can be seen by the diagram, there can be no casualty, as in case of fire the whole audience could walk out in less than a couple of minutes without any pushing. While the facade is free of gingerbread decorations, it is imposing in its simplicity, and attractive. The third illustration on the page shows the floor plan of a new motion picture theatre in course of construction on Amsterdam avenue, corner of 177th street. While it will be a smaller house, it has a special feature, the one of combining a closed theatre for the Winter months with an open auditorium for the Summer. The owner has divided his lot into two theatres, yet from the outside it will appear as one building. The corner lot is to be the covered auditorium. wi.Lc the lot on the north side will be me open space. The airdome is not to be fenced with boards, but enclosed in a brick wall. in tliis construction most of the exit doors are through the airdome. I have discovered still another new theatre in course of construction on the southwest corner of Amsterdam avenue and 160th street. I should say in course of alterations, as the building is not new. The first floor is converted into a motion picture parlor of 25x100 feet with about three hundred seats. It is a rather cheap-looking affair, with only one redeeming feature: the operating booth is low enough to insure a nearly direct throw, but the ticket office, directly under the booth, is very low of ceiling, not over five feet in height. The ticket-seller will have to be short in stature, and she will have to remove her hat before entering her cage, if she does not want to crush her feathers. The happy location of the booth is more of an accident than a special arrangement of the builder. The ceiling being rather low at the entrance, the height of the ticket office had to be sacrificed to accommodate the operating booth. INTERIOR, THE "PLAYHOUSE," NEWARK, N. J.