Moviegoing in America : a sourcebook in the history of film exhibition / edited by Gregory A. Waller.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Waller, Gregory A. (Gregory Albert), 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Motion pictures--United States--History.

Motion pictures.

Motion picture theaters.

History.

United States.

Motion picture theaters--United States--History.

Physical Description:

xi, 351 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Malden, Mass. : Blackwell Publishers, 2002.

Summary:

Moviegoing in America catalogs the social and cultural changes that have attended America's favorite pastime from the days of the nickelodeon to the dominance of the multiplex. Bringing together an impressive range of historical scholarship, Gregory A. Waller charts the evolution of film exhibition and reception as a function of changing patterns of American community, identity, and consumption.

Pairing notable current research with extensive primary material -- drawn from trade accounts, popular magazines, and exhibitor handbooks -- Moviegoing in America deepens our understanding of the role of film in everyday life by exploring the movie theater as commerical venue, physical environment, public space, community centerpiece, and all-important site where audiences experience the movies and experience themselves as an audience.

Contents:

Introduction: A Century at the Movies / Gregory A. Waller 1

Part I Capturing an Audience, Creating a Business: 1896-1916 9

1 Introducing Cinema to the American Public: The Vitascope in the United States, 1896-7 / Charles Musser 13

2 From Rum Shop to Rialto: Workers and Movies / Roy Rosenzweig 27

3 Cheap Amusements (1908) / John Collier 46

4 Some Picture Show Audiences (1911) / Mary Heaton Vorse 50

5 Motion-Picture Work (1911) / David Hulfish 54

6 Hints to Exhibitors (1908) / W. Stephen Bush 64

7 Handling the Visitor (1909) / Moving Picture World 66

8 Posteritis (1910) / F.H. Richardson 68

9 Swelling the Box Office Receipts (1911) / George Rockhill Craw 70

10 The Murder of Othello (1911) / H.F. Hoffman 73

11 Projection (1912) / F.H. Richardson 75

12 The Regulation of Motion Picture Theaters (1912) / Boyd Fisher 77

13 Architectural Treatment of the Moving Picture Theatre (1914) / Aymar Embury II 81

Part II Palatial Palaces and Everyday Practices: 1916-1930 83

14 "You Can Have the Strand in Your Own Town": The Struggle between Urban and Small-Town Exhibition in the Picture Palace Era / Kathryn H. Fuller 88

15 What the Public Wants in the Picture Theater (1925) / Samuel L. Rothafel ("Roxy") 100

16 Theater Entrances and Lobbies (1925) / E.C.A. Bullock 104

17 A Description of the Capitol Theater, Chicago (1925) / John Eberson 106

18 Building Theatre Patronage (1927) / John F. Barry, Epes W. Sargent 110

19 Motion Picture Theater Management (1928) / Harold B. Franklin 116

20 Fashioning an Exhibition Empire: Promotion, Publicity, and the Rise of Publix Theaters / Douglas Gomery 124

21 Where "Movie Playing" Needs Reform (1920) / K. Sherwood Boblitz 138

22 Musical Presentation of Motion Pictures (1921) / George W. Beynon 140

23 Music (1927) / John F. Barry, Epes W. Sargent 144

24 Future Developments (1927) / Harry M. Warner 147

25 Motion Pictures as a Phase of Commercialized Amusement in Toledo, Ohio (1919) / J.J. Phelan 151

26 The Motion Picture and the Upbuilding of Community Life (1920) / Orrin G. Cocks 153

27 Our Movie Made Children (1934) / Henry James Foreman 155

28 Ethnography and Exhibition: The Child Audience, the Hays Office, and Saturday Matinees / Richard deCordova 159

Part III Picture Shows and New Theaters: The 1930s and 1940s 171

29 Hillbilly Music and Will Rogers: Small-Town Picture Shows in the 1930s / Gregory A. Waller 175

30 Bank Night (1936) / H.O. Kusell 189

31 The Management of Motion Picture Theatres (1938) / Frank H. Ricketson, Jr. 192

32 Show Lady (1939) / Carlie Beach Roney 197

33 What's Playing at the Grove? (1948) / Fortune 203

34 Give the Movie Exhibitor a Chance! (1935) / P.S. Harrison 211

35 Economic Control of the Motion Picture Industry (1944) / Mae D. Huettig 214

36 New Theaters for the Cinema (1932) / Ben Schlanger 219

37 Motion Picture Theaters (1937) / Ben Schlanger 221

38 A New Architecture for the Movie Theater (1948) / Architectural Record 225

39 Psychology of the Theater (1948) / Walter A. Cutter 228

Part IV Drive-In, Art House, Multiplex: The 1950s and Beyond 233

40 Spectator and Screen / John Belton 238

41 Big Boom in Outdoor Movies (1956) / Frank J. Taylor 247

42 Free Lances (1929) / Alexander Bakshy 252

43 Sure-Seaters Discover an Audience (1952) / Stanley Frank 255

44 Some Considerations on the Rise of the Art-Film Theater (1956) / John E. Twomey 259

45 Domestic Theatrical and Semi-Theatrical Distribution and Exhibition of American Independent Feature Films: A Survey in 1983 / Betsy McLane 265

46 The Harlem Theater: Black Film Exhibition in Austin, Texas: 1920-1973 / Dan Streible 268

47 The Exhibitors (1972) / Stanley H. Durwood 279

48 The K-Mart Audience at the Mall Movies / William Paul 282

49 Modern Times (1993) / Barbara Stones 296

50 From Exhibition to Reception: Reflections on the Audience in Film History / Robert C. Allen 300

Research Projects in the History of Moviegoing and Film Exhibition 322.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 324-345) and index.

ISBN:

0631225919

0631225927

OCLC:

46641560