Motion Picture Theater Management (1927)

CHAPTER XXVI The Show Window of the Theater THE appearance of the faqade, as well as of the lobby of a motion picture theater, is of outstanding importance, and I am therefore devoting a chapter to its proper discussion. It is where the prospective patron receives first impressions, and may properly be termed the "Show Window" of the theater. The design of the facade, the arrangement, the lighting, the posters, the decorations, are all important factors which determine in a great measure the spirit of the theater. The entrance, or face of the building, should be of distinctive architecture, so that it may stand apart from surrounding structures; and the architect must endeavor to create the design so that it immediately suggests ' 'Theater." A splendid example of what is meant is expressed by the facade of the recently completed Ziegfeld Theatre in New York which, while not a motion picture theater, serves as an illustration (Figure 26). Here the architect has suggested the foyer of a theater through the rounded fagade, framed in by a design suggested by a proscenium arch. Other examples are expressed by the Paramount theaters in New York, Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood and the Uptown Theatre in Chicago. (Figure 27.) Most theater entrances are sheltered by a hanging marquise (canopy) supported from the face of the building by either chains or rods. This serves as a valuable advertising aid, and also as a protection for the patron against the sun and inclement weather. The sides and front of the marquise provide a splendid support for signs, where the name of the theater is placed, together with changeable attraction signs, which are set in with each alteration of program. These signs have letters of white glass, are illuminated from the back, 258