I just got an inquiry concerning the Modjeska from a woman working with the Mitchell Street Development Opportunities Corp, in conjunction with the “Modjesks Theater Company” regarding raising funds to purchase the theater as well as listing it on the National Register of Historic Places. It is nice to see interest in this lesser Rapp & Rapp design.
It’s nice to see the classic “Casablanca,” but at the cost of MORE advertising?!! By now in our day and age, some people must be equating advertising with the ‘breath of life.’ How wrong that is! And they will give out popcorn and soda? Be still my heart.
In response to numerous requests, and because no other sources exist on the Web, I have uploaded a vintage photo of the auditorium at: View link If you get only the first page on the Cinema Tour site for this theatre, merely click on the thumbnail photo to enlarge it on another page along with caption. As time goes on I will upload more views if honcho Adam Martin continues to allow it. I think that you all will agree that the wait has been worth it to see this, perhaps Rapp & Rapp’s finest medium scale work. Let us hope a wealthy person with vision will rescue it, since the entire building is now up for sale, price undisclosed.
Well, “Life”, your imagination is good, and I too am disappointed in the results, especially after they made a public appeal in the newspaper to learn of the history of its signage and in response, I hand delivered a 6-page history with historic tinted postcards reproduced in color.
They may have run out of nerve or money when planning the current modest back-lit lithographed plastic sheets marquee in 1984, but I have a hunch that they were more determined NOT to recall any of the look of its movie palace days. Those days included an 8-foot high frame of skeleton light bulb letters above the 1940s replacement marquee of fluorescent back-lit letters, in addition to the 12-story high Vertical Name Sign (removed in the 1960s). Maybe their reaction was to go in the opposite direction away from light bulbs for a more ‘institutional’ look. Until recently, our PABST, an 1895 legit house, also had no light bulb signs ever since their 1928 Vertical was removed in the early ‘70s. This may have been their precident for a more modest —but unexciting— treatment. Most legit houses do not believe in garish signage to attract the passerby, but that their clientele will come on the reserved seat basis anyway, so the image and expense of movie house signage is avoided.
Possibly your best source of contacts on this is the Web site: www.film-tech.com You can search that site for references to that system, but you cannot post there unless you first register with them. Failing that, you might inquire of the Theatre Historical Society of America at: www.historictheatres.org Use the CONTACT US link on their second front page, and use the Ex. Director’s E-mail. He will check their extensive records, and possibly direct you to several of their tech members. Best Wishes.
Neither here nor www.cinematour.com list any other MODJESKA, but quite possibly www.historictheatres.org does; contact them by E-mail through their Executive Director’s address there.
Mr. Antonelli’s response above illustrates just why I do not comment more than I do concerning many posts on this site and others. My words have been interpreted and stretched quite beyond their original meaning and intent, and that ruins any rational hope of intelligent discourse. It seems Mr. Antonelli felt it decessary to stand up and shout a defense for a mere woman, but such bravado does not really serve anyone, don’t you see. I apologize if my choice of words irritated Mr. Antonelli, since I thought that I made it clear that I admired both the Patio and his accounts of it. Now, so as to not make more of a mountain out of a mole hill, I will drop the subject entirely and hope that voices of self-control will prevail.
I will accept no foolishly-sent words of shame, nor did I damn Mr Antonelli’s messages with faint praise as this hasty woman implies. The word “ignorant” is not opprobrious as many shallow people seem to think, but merely means ‘unknowning’ and people of humility all admit that there are things they do not know. Mr. Antonelli explained how his paragraphing was ruined by some computer malaise, and that was sufficient explaination for all others, or perhaps you did not notice those words. The Patio is a wonderful theatre which I once had the pleasure of visiting and I mourn its closing, but neither it nor Mr. Antonelli need any erstwhile ‘champion’ to defend them when they are not under attack. I will not dignify such petty sniping with further response.
Wow! What does one say to such an encomium? I have never seen the like of the above posts on this site, maybe because men of the description of “Alex” are that rare. I guess we just have to envy Mr Antonelli’s experiences with the PATIO, since sometimes such passionately held memories are all we have. I guess he brought home to me, for one, just how tepid are my own experiences with the memorable theatres in my home town, only 90 miles north of his.
Your writing may be long for this site, and you may be almost ignorant of paragraphing, Louis, but your deep feelings are warmly contagious, and I can only say “Thanks For The Memory …” as Bob Hope so often sang, and I send my hope that you and Alex and the PATIO long endure!
It is uninspiring, as I explained in a caption I added to the photo linked to by Lost Memory in the Comment above yours. We might be more patient with the 1984 remodelers if we realize that the original lobby is quite small for a theatre of this size, and when it was converted to a reserved seat, live action venue it had to have much more room for thousands of tickets than the old single person island box office it opened with in 1929 for movies. So they evicted the Buddy Squirrel Nut Shop from the space to the west, and constructed a larger box office there opening onto the side wall of the vestibule, and adding a line of doors along the sidewalk line to create a ticket lobby as well as space for smokers during the shows. It is never mentioned, but rumor has it that they also added that line of doors to keep street people from congragating there during foul weather, which is rather common here.
Yes, by all means, approach the current owners of the theatre first, but if they decline you would do best to approach first The Theatre Historical Soc. of America preferably with good snap shots at their address give on the first page of their web site: www.historictheatres.org If they express no interest, The League of Historic American Theatres might through their site: www.lhat.org
Both of these groups have means by which they might sell them for you on a consignment basis, should they not be able to afford them.
Please contact them BEFORE you go to such as E-bay where speculators will snap them up to resell at outrageous prices to the wealthy who care nothing about history, but only want what they think of as “kitsch.”
I would like to be an eternal optomist too, but reality comes along whether we like it or not. While I do not have a crystal ball anymore than anyone else, I believe there are 2 trends that will shape the cinemas of the future: (1) Ever improving home video to also watch movies, often day-and-date with release in cinemas; and (2) Teens (the only demographic that the studios (AND the advertisers who increasingly support them) want) looking for somewhere to meet up, be it just for gab, or any casual sex play available; the nature of the meeting place being unimportant aside from details such as proximity, lack of oversight, and out of the weather.
Given this, within a few decades the cinemas will be almost exclusively Teen-somethings' hangouts, rather like the squalid dens in “Blade Runner.” Older folks don’t matter to advertisers so the cinemas will degenerate to Grunge-filled temples to noise and illicit drugs that any sane adult will avoid as the plague. Because BIG business is involved with BIG MONEY, the governments will turn a blind eye except to denounce the occasional drug murders in them, but shortly it will be back to business as usual —what’s on the screen and how many dozens of commercials won’t matter to the kids who will be armed to the teeth and with absolutely no regard whatsoever for any form of law. The staffs will be behind bullet proof windows and will hand out foods through steel chutes; no cop or anyone else will dare to patrol the dank and very dark auditoriums.
What of the rest of society? They will more and more “coccoon” at home behind locked security doors watching their 6x10-foot flat screens with 10-channel super sound, AND clandestine commercial-killers that they have bought from the black market, since at that time the totally bought and corrupt governments will have passed laws that one MUST watch all “messages” sent out through any media. It will then be much as forseen in “1984” with Big Brother so much more trying to control our lives than now, that we will barely remember what relative freedom outside of the ever-corrupt State was.
The oldsters and children will be happy to lock themselves indoors since outside will be the rapid decay of a freightened ‘society’ that makes the vision of the BOOK “Bonfire Of The Vanities” look like a tea party in 1900. If the restrictions of such as the “Patriot Act” worry you today, look out for far worse to come as terrorists routinely set off bombs all over America and Europe —and some Teen-filled cinemas will likely be among the blasts which by then won’t merit news coverage.
Would God actually allow all this to take place? Well, no, probably not to this extent, but by then the nature of cinema and films will be the least of our worries! For those who want to know how God will interviene, contact me by E-mail and I will tell you, possibly much to your relief.
I respectfully agree with Ken: ads in theatres are steadily killing The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg, as the saying goes. Contrary to the claims of some, TV ads do nothing to help TV, but at home one can mute them and ignore the little screen. In a cinema one must face the screen, has no way to mute the blaring sound, and no light by which to read to avoid the screen; the cinemas may not have designed it this way just for ads, but the heartless conglomerates which now own them are laughing all the way to the bank, after sneering at the “fools” and “suckers” who sit there by the hour as they are steeped in the ads.
TV is well aware that they are losing audience, and with DVDs and such, few watch ads voluntarilly. Why should people go to movie houses to be be treated like Pavlov’s dogs —only in gilded ‘cages’? No, the endless greed of advertisers is only killing both mediums. Why else are video games, picture phones and even earphone audio being brought in? To have something other than the boring screen to look at. The movie house has become more than the “Passion Pit” it came to be, and is now just a convenient rendezvous for teens with too much money and time to spend. No wonder there are ongoing conversations and text messaging parties; even the jaded teens are glutted with ads and view a cinema/theatre as just somewhere else to play —outside of their parent’s none-too-watchful eyes.
The chain cinemas are doomed by their greed, but I wish I could tell the independants what to do to increase revenue outside of commercials, before they die as the mega-bucks chains slowly starve them to death. For a while the theatres were a refuge from our ad-crazy society, but no more. No, Ken, we will not be seeing each other at the movies for this and other reasons.
Angelo, how do you mean “a new sparking marquee”? Was it merely neon tubing that occasionally “sparked” or an actual sparking device? If a device, please describe it for us.
CT does not sell photos, but if local sources (libraries, museums, film societies, universities, descendants of the original owners, architects) are not helpful, there is a good chance that the Theatre Historical Soc. of America www.historictheatres.org may be able to help. E-mail your wants to their Ex. Dir. whose address is at the bottom of their front page, and he may be able to find something.
CAUTION, fellas; some other members have recently been restricted after their personal attacks got out of hand. Read: http://cinematreasures.org/news/A15133_0_1_0_C/ Patrick Crowley is now watching many posts more closely for violations of the Terms Of Use. And why should cat calls continue, when both of you have genuine content to enrich this site for all?!
Ed Buchinski, 2 posts above, is doing it right! More power to him and Rich Wolfe as examples that there are some who can make it with CLASS rather then the ‘We couldn’t care less about showmanship’ corporate greed of the chains. Men like you are the ones that keep the torch lit of our hope for real movie palaces surviving into this millenium!
But will the ever-greedy studios and distributors allow such as you to continue for long? There is the rub.
It was not unusual for a theatre to inspire kindred names in its locality, for often it was the largest structure in a neighborhood and acted as a beacon of sorts allowing locals to say ‘we are just a block from the JOY’, or whatever.
Here in Milwaukee there was the TOWER movie palace, and within a few years of its opening there appeared the Tower Drugs, Tower Cleaners, and Tower Records, among others. Once the theatre disappeared, so did such namesakes, one by one. Today, no resident there would attach any significance to the term ‘Tower.’ Sic transit gloria!
Does the film/tape list only the totals of closed theatres/cinemas, or also the names and locations? Any other details about the theatres individually?
This is a generous offer you make. May I suggest you send off a copy for archival reference to The Theatre Historical Society of America at the address given on their web site: www.historictheatres.org ?
The original idea at top about creating a list of “Commercial-Free” theatres here on CT may seem attractive at first, but, as usual, ‘the Devil is in the details’! First detail would be ‘What is a commercial?’ As one poster above noted, some cinemas call them “Spots” and would loudly object to anyone listing them as having “commercials.” Does Quantity of commercials matter? Should venues showing only one be forgiven that one and be listed as Commercial-Free, with all others having two or more be unlisted? Would CT find itself sued (even if only frivilously — at cost to appear and defend themselves?) for liebel or Restraint Of Trade?
Who compiles the original list? Who verifies it for accuracy? If just anyone here is allowed to submit theatre names, what prevents malefactors from submitting bogus or innacurate names and locations?
If a cinema changes policy who is responsible for notifying CT? A place deciding to add commercials will hardly brag about it, so may be happy to remain on the elite Commercial-Free list for as long as poossible. Would CT then deserve the loud cat-calls to come their way as unjust criticism? Given all this, how long would such a desireable list remain current, accurate and therefore useful? If one thinks he can just phone a theatre and get an accurate reply, think again. Most publically listed phone numbers only get you a recording, none of which will mention commercials if they are shown. If you can connect to a real person, is it the gum-smacking teen in the box office to be relied upon for ‘authoritative’ information? Will they know — or care? Who pays for the CT staffer to make cross-country calls and repeated follow-ups?
I would love such a list too, since I hate commercials vehemently regardless of where I find them, but the'Devil' will easily sink this idea!
Some municipalities put their old Building Inspection records on microfilm, and these may have included the prints originally submitted to get a building permit. It may pay to track down which municipality was then doing the permits for the theatres' area.
Sometimes State offices at the capitol were responsible, and possibly you could track them down through the State Historic Preservation Officer there.
Lastly, Any descendants of either or both the architect as well as the original owners may well have kept mementos of their famous ancestors, and a local geneologist can help you track them down. Daughters will have married under their husband’s names, but knowledgeable people can find them, and the girls often have such keepsakes.
Be discreet in how you approach such women: offer to come to them in the company of a lady friend; make it clear that you don’t want their originals (unless they offer to give them to you) but only seek to look at them for a few minutes. If once there, they seem willing, offer to buy the prints, or at least the opportunity to have them photographed, if the lady will kindly accept some small expression of your gratitude in the form of some gift. Don’t mention having them duplicated, merely “photographed;” to many women “duplicated” connotes some nasty machine that may shred their beloved keepsakes.
In the event they will not let the fragile prints/drawings out the door, have ready in your car a complete photo stand with close-up lenses and flood lights to copy them there, since you have no way of knowing if you will ever get back in again. Most such women will be elderly, so practice your sweetest manners to gain trust and allay their fears of a stranger. If they are in a complex where there is a public room you might use together, ask about that and offer to come during daylight, but leave the time to be ‘at her convience.’ Be prompt at the appointed time and all smiles and neatly dressed. Fail some of these points, and she may never open the door even after your initial phone call, or you could be asked to leave even if the prints are out on a table in plain view! (There is no legal reason anyone HAS to cooperate with you.) Best Wishes.
Your best bet —and that for everyone else seeking such— is to inquire of The Theatre Historical Society of America via there web site, where on the bottom of the first page is the link to their Ex. Director, Rich Sklenar. who can direct you to what they may have, as well as elsewhere. They are at: www.historictheatres.org
As to the original marquee: if it was a large spectacular for its place and time, it is possible that it appeared in SIGNS OF THE TIMES magazine (now celebrating their Centennial, with back issues at many libraries) but I doubt it is indexed back to the opening of the MAPLEWOOD, though it could have appeared in a photo ad by its maker. If you can learn the name of the signage contractor, you might be able to track them down and they may well have photos. Sometimes an electrical contractor was involved and you might locate the firm. If the marquee was only recently removed, see if you can find the salvage/demolition company that did the work (names often in demo permits at city hall) and it is possible that the thing is sitting in a scrap metals yard they know of. Is there a local office of the electrical workers' union? Possibly they have records of who worked on that job, and who knows which of those guys may have taken a snap shot?
That photo betrays that the MAPLEWOOD was a movie palace or earlier legit that was ‘modernized’ —or desecrated as most theatres buffs would see it!
In any case, your best bet is the Theatre Historical Soc. of America, where on the front page of their web site ( www.historictheatres.org ) you will find a link to their Ex. Director who, if you E-mail him, can tell you if they have anything among their thousands of photos, and if not, will direct you to other possible sources such as the magazines you spoke of.
However, often the best source for theatres not in major cities is locals. Have you contacted libraries (school/college as well as public), historical societies, your closest state university library and school of architecture, your state officer of Historic Preservation, local newspapers to find opening day ads and articles which can lead you to the original owners' descendents (maybe with the help of a local geneologist), the original architects and contractors/suppliers who could still be around with old, old files in someome’s attic? The Register of Deeds for the area should have documents that often reveal names of people originally involved, as do the archives of building permits for that municipality; city hall can answer that question. Ask a proment local property insurance salesman if the place was ever insured and who wrote the policy and then contact that company; they will probably also have record of the theatre’s attorney, and his office records could well offer up a photo. Old neighbors often have photos/snap shots in which neighboring lots and buildings appear accidentally; it may mean going door to door, but you will be surprised at the stories and memories you will find! A long shot is to contact appraisal companies, first in New Jersey, and the across the nation (almost all have web sites allowing you to E-mail them) who may have photos they will copy for you; try to get to their Public Relations dept. before their lawyers find out about your inquiry, since ‘client confidentiality’ will be their theme and they will brush you off —even if their original client has been dead for a century.
Yes, it is a lot of slow work tracking down old photos, but if you want others to do it for you, it will be expensive! BEST WISHES!
I just got an inquiry concerning the Modjeska from a woman working with the Mitchell Street Development Opportunities Corp, in conjunction with the “Modjesks Theater Company” regarding raising funds to purchase the theater as well as listing it on the National Register of Historic Places. It is nice to see interest in this lesser Rapp & Rapp design.
It’s nice to see the classic “Casablanca,” but at the cost of MORE advertising?!! By now in our day and age, some people must be equating advertising with the ‘breath of life.’ How wrong that is! And they will give out popcorn and soda? Be still my heart.
In response to numerous requests, and because no other sources exist on the Web, I have uploaded a vintage photo of the auditorium at: View link If you get only the first page on the Cinema Tour site for this theatre, merely click on the thumbnail photo to enlarge it on another page along with caption. As time goes on I will upload more views if honcho Adam Martin continues to allow it. I think that you all will agree that the wait has been worth it to see this, perhaps Rapp & Rapp’s finest medium scale work. Let us hope a wealthy person with vision will rescue it, since the entire building is now up for sale, price undisclosed.
Well, “Life”, your imagination is good, and I too am disappointed in the results, especially after they made a public appeal in the newspaper to learn of the history of its signage and in response, I hand delivered a 6-page history with historic tinted postcards reproduced in color.
They may have run out of nerve or money when planning the current modest back-lit lithographed plastic sheets marquee in 1984, but I have a hunch that they were more determined NOT to recall any of the look of its movie palace days. Those days included an 8-foot high frame of skeleton light bulb letters above the 1940s replacement marquee of fluorescent back-lit letters, in addition to the 12-story high Vertical Name Sign (removed in the 1960s). Maybe their reaction was to go in the opposite direction away from light bulbs for a more ‘institutional’ look. Until recently, our PABST, an 1895 legit house, also had no light bulb signs ever since their 1928 Vertical was removed in the early ‘70s. This may have been their precident for a more modest —but unexciting— treatment. Most legit houses do not believe in garish signage to attract the passerby, but that their clientele will come on the reserved seat basis anyway, so the image and expense of movie house signage is avoided.
Possibly your best source of contacts on this is the Web site: www.film-tech.com You can search that site for references to that system, but you cannot post there unless you first register with them. Failing that, you might inquire of the Theatre Historical Society of America at: www.historictheatres.org Use the CONTACT US link on their second front page, and use the Ex. Director’s E-mail. He will check their extensive records, and possibly direct you to several of their tech members. Best Wishes.
Those are great memories, Dave. If you think of any more, I know everyone will enjoy them. It is such memories that bring our history alive!
Neither here nor www.cinematour.com list any other MODJESKA, but quite possibly www.historictheatres.org does; contact them by E-mail through their Executive Director’s address there.
Mr. Antonelli’s response above illustrates just why I do not comment more than I do concerning many posts on this site and others. My words have been interpreted and stretched quite beyond their original meaning and intent, and that ruins any rational hope of intelligent discourse. It seems Mr. Antonelli felt it decessary to stand up and shout a defense for a mere woman, but such bravado does not really serve anyone, don’t you see. I apologize if my choice of words irritated Mr. Antonelli, since I thought that I made it clear that I admired both the Patio and his accounts of it. Now, so as to not make more of a mountain out of a mole hill, I will drop the subject entirely and hope that voices of self-control will prevail.
I will accept no foolishly-sent words of shame, nor did I damn Mr Antonelli’s messages with faint praise as this hasty woman implies. The word “ignorant” is not opprobrious as many shallow people seem to think, but merely means ‘unknowning’ and people of humility all admit that there are things they do not know. Mr. Antonelli explained how his paragraphing was ruined by some computer malaise, and that was sufficient explaination for all others, or perhaps you did not notice those words. The Patio is a wonderful theatre which I once had the pleasure of visiting and I mourn its closing, but neither it nor Mr. Antonelli need any erstwhile ‘champion’ to defend them when they are not under attack. I will not dignify such petty sniping with further response.
Wow! What does one say to such an encomium? I have never seen the like of the above posts on this site, maybe because men of the description of “Alex” are that rare. I guess we just have to envy Mr Antonelli’s experiences with the PATIO, since sometimes such passionately held memories are all we have. I guess he brought home to me, for one, just how tepid are my own experiences with the memorable theatres in my home town, only 90 miles north of his.
Your writing may be long for this site, and you may be almost ignorant of paragraphing, Louis, but your deep feelings are warmly contagious, and I can only say “Thanks For The Memory …” as Bob Hope so often sang, and I send my hope that you and Alex and the PATIO long endure!
It is uninspiring, as I explained in a caption I added to the photo linked to by Lost Memory in the Comment above yours. We might be more patient with the 1984 remodelers if we realize that the original lobby is quite small for a theatre of this size, and when it was converted to a reserved seat, live action venue it had to have much more room for thousands of tickets than the old single person island box office it opened with in 1929 for movies. So they evicted the Buddy Squirrel Nut Shop from the space to the west, and constructed a larger box office there opening onto the side wall of the vestibule, and adding a line of doors along the sidewalk line to create a ticket lobby as well as space for smokers during the shows. It is never mentioned, but rumor has it that they also added that line of doors to keep street people from congragating there during foul weather, which is rather common here.
Yes, by all means, approach the current owners of the theatre first, but if they decline you would do best to approach first The Theatre Historical Soc. of America preferably with good snap shots at their address give on the first page of their web site: www.historictheatres.org If they express no interest, The League of Historic American Theatres might through their site: www.lhat.org
Both of these groups have means by which they might sell them for you on a consignment basis, should they not be able to afford them.
Please contact them BEFORE you go to such as E-bay where speculators will snap them up to resell at outrageous prices to the wealthy who care nothing about history, but only want what they think of as “kitsch.”
I would like to be an eternal optomist too, but reality comes along whether we like it or not. While I do not have a crystal ball anymore than anyone else, I believe there are 2 trends that will shape the cinemas of the future: (1) Ever improving home video to also watch movies, often day-and-date with release in cinemas; and (2) Teens (the only demographic that the studios (AND the advertisers who increasingly support them) want) looking for somewhere to meet up, be it just for gab, or any casual sex play available; the nature of the meeting place being unimportant aside from details such as proximity, lack of oversight, and out of the weather.
Given this, within a few decades the cinemas will be almost exclusively Teen-somethings' hangouts, rather like the squalid dens in “Blade Runner.” Older folks don’t matter to advertisers so the cinemas will degenerate to Grunge-filled temples to noise and illicit drugs that any sane adult will avoid as the plague. Because BIG business is involved with BIG MONEY, the governments will turn a blind eye except to denounce the occasional drug murders in them, but shortly it will be back to business as usual —what’s on the screen and how many dozens of commercials won’t matter to the kids who will be armed to the teeth and with absolutely no regard whatsoever for any form of law. The staffs will be behind bullet proof windows and will hand out foods through steel chutes; no cop or anyone else will dare to patrol the dank and very dark auditoriums.
What of the rest of society? They will more and more “coccoon” at home behind locked security doors watching their 6x10-foot flat screens with 10-channel super sound, AND clandestine commercial-killers that they have bought from the black market, since at that time the totally bought and corrupt governments will have passed laws that one MUST watch all “messages” sent out through any media. It will then be much as forseen in “1984” with Big Brother so much more trying to control our lives than now, that we will barely remember what relative freedom outside of the ever-corrupt State was.
The oldsters and children will be happy to lock themselves indoors since outside will be the rapid decay of a freightened ‘society’ that makes the vision of the BOOK “Bonfire Of The Vanities” look like a tea party in 1900. If the restrictions of such as the “Patriot Act” worry you today, look out for far worse to come as terrorists routinely set off bombs all over America and Europe —and some Teen-filled cinemas will likely be among the blasts which by then won’t merit news coverage.
Would God actually allow all this to take place? Well, no, probably not to this extent, but by then the nature of cinema and films will be the least of our worries! For those who want to know how God will interviene, contact me by E-mail and I will tell you, possibly much to your relief.
I respectfully agree with Ken: ads in theatres are steadily killing The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg, as the saying goes. Contrary to the claims of some, TV ads do nothing to help TV, but at home one can mute them and ignore the little screen. In a cinema one must face the screen, has no way to mute the blaring sound, and no light by which to read to avoid the screen; the cinemas may not have designed it this way just for ads, but the heartless conglomerates which now own them are laughing all the way to the bank, after sneering at the “fools” and “suckers” who sit there by the hour as they are steeped in the ads.
TV is well aware that they are losing audience, and with DVDs and such, few watch ads voluntarilly. Why should people go to movie houses to be be treated like Pavlov’s dogs —only in gilded ‘cages’? No, the endless greed of advertisers is only killing both mediums. Why else are video games, picture phones and even earphone audio being brought in? To have something other than the boring screen to look at. The movie house has become more than the “Passion Pit” it came to be, and is now just a convenient rendezvous for teens with too much money and time to spend. No wonder there are ongoing conversations and text messaging parties; even the jaded teens are glutted with ads and view a cinema/theatre as just somewhere else to play —outside of their parent’s none-too-watchful eyes.
The chain cinemas are doomed by their greed, but I wish I could tell the independants what to do to increase revenue outside of commercials, before they die as the mega-bucks chains slowly starve them to death. For a while the theatres were a refuge from our ad-crazy society, but no more. No, Ken, we will not be seeing each other at the movies for this and other reasons.
Angelo, how do you mean “a new sparking marquee”? Was it merely neon tubing that occasionally “sparked” or an actual sparking device? If a device, please describe it for us.
CT does not sell photos, but if local sources (libraries, museums, film societies, universities, descendants of the original owners, architects) are not helpful, there is a good chance that the Theatre Historical Soc. of America www.historictheatres.org may be able to help. E-mail your wants to their Ex. Dir. whose address is at the bottom of their front page, and he may be able to find something.
CAUTION, fellas; some other members have recently been restricted after their personal attacks got out of hand. Read: http://cinematreasures.org/news/A15133_0_1_0_C/ Patrick Crowley is now watching many posts more closely for violations of the Terms Of Use. And why should cat calls continue, when both of you have genuine content to enrich this site for all?!
Ed Buchinski, 2 posts above, is doing it right! More power to him and Rich Wolfe as examples that there are some who can make it with CLASS rather then the ‘We couldn’t care less about showmanship’ corporate greed of the chains. Men like you are the ones that keep the torch lit of our hope for real movie palaces surviving into this millenium!
But will the ever-greedy studios and distributors allow such as you to continue for long? There is the rub.
It was not unusual for a theatre to inspire kindred names in its locality, for often it was the largest structure in a neighborhood and acted as a beacon of sorts allowing locals to say ‘we are just a block from the JOY’, or whatever.
Here in Milwaukee there was the TOWER movie palace, and within a few years of its opening there appeared the Tower Drugs, Tower Cleaners, and Tower Records, among others. Once the theatre disappeared, so did such namesakes, one by one. Today, no resident there would attach any significance to the term ‘Tower.’ Sic transit gloria!
Does the film/tape list only the totals of closed theatres/cinemas, or also the names and locations? Any other details about the theatres individually?
This is a generous offer you make. May I suggest you send off a copy for archival reference to The Theatre Historical Society of America at the address given on their web site: www.historictheatres.org ?
The original idea at top about creating a list of “Commercial-Free” theatres here on CT may seem attractive at first, but, as usual, ‘the Devil is in the details’! First detail would be ‘What is a commercial?’ As one poster above noted, some cinemas call them “Spots” and would loudly object to anyone listing them as having “commercials.” Does Quantity of commercials matter? Should venues showing only one be forgiven that one and be listed as Commercial-Free, with all others having two or more be unlisted? Would CT find itself sued (even if only frivilously — at cost to appear and defend themselves?) for liebel or Restraint Of Trade?
Who compiles the original list? Who verifies it for accuracy? If just anyone here is allowed to submit theatre names, what prevents malefactors from submitting bogus or innacurate names and locations?
If a cinema changes policy who is responsible for notifying CT? A place deciding to add commercials will hardly brag about it, so may be happy to remain on the elite Commercial-Free list for as long as poossible. Would CT then deserve the loud cat-calls to come their way as unjust criticism? Given all this, how long would such a desireable list remain current, accurate and therefore useful? If one thinks he can just phone a theatre and get an accurate reply, think again. Most publically listed phone numbers only get you a recording, none of which will mention commercials if they are shown. If you can connect to a real person, is it the gum-smacking teen in the box office to be relied upon for ‘authoritative’ information? Will they know — or care? Who pays for the CT staffer to make cross-country calls and repeated follow-ups?
I would love such a list too, since I hate commercials vehemently regardless of where I find them, but the'Devil' will easily sink this idea!
Some municipalities put their old Building Inspection records on microfilm, and these may have included the prints originally submitted to get a building permit. It may pay to track down which municipality was then doing the permits for the theatres' area.
Sometimes State offices at the capitol were responsible, and possibly you could track them down through the State Historic Preservation Officer there.
Lastly, Any descendants of either or both the architect as well as the original owners may well have kept mementos of their famous ancestors, and a local geneologist can help you track them down. Daughters will have married under their husband’s names, but knowledgeable people can find them, and the girls often have such keepsakes.
Be discreet in how you approach such women: offer to come to them in the company of a lady friend; make it clear that you don’t want their originals (unless they offer to give them to you) but only seek to look at them for a few minutes. If once there, they seem willing, offer to buy the prints, or at least the opportunity to have them photographed, if the lady will kindly accept some small expression of your gratitude in the form of some gift. Don’t mention having them duplicated, merely “photographed;” to many women “duplicated” connotes some nasty machine that may shred their beloved keepsakes.
In the event they will not let the fragile prints/drawings out the door, have ready in your car a complete photo stand with close-up lenses and flood lights to copy them there, since you have no way of knowing if you will ever get back in again. Most such women will be elderly, so practice your sweetest manners to gain trust and allay their fears of a stranger. If they are in a complex where there is a public room you might use together, ask about that and offer to come during daylight, but leave the time to be ‘at her convience.’ Be prompt at the appointed time and all smiles and neatly dressed. Fail some of these points, and she may never open the door even after your initial phone call, or you could be asked to leave even if the prints are out on a table in plain view! (There is no legal reason anyone HAS to cooperate with you.) Best Wishes.
Your best bet —and that for everyone else seeking such— is to inquire of The Theatre Historical Society of America via there web site, where on the bottom of the first page is the link to their Ex. Director, Rich Sklenar. who can direct you to what they may have, as well as elsewhere. They are at: www.historictheatres.org
As to the original marquee: if it was a large spectacular for its place and time, it is possible that it appeared in SIGNS OF THE TIMES magazine (now celebrating their Centennial, with back issues at many libraries) but I doubt it is indexed back to the opening of the MAPLEWOOD, though it could have appeared in a photo ad by its maker. If you can learn the name of the signage contractor, you might be able to track them down and they may well have photos. Sometimes an electrical contractor was involved and you might locate the firm. If the marquee was only recently removed, see if you can find the salvage/demolition company that did the work (names often in demo permits at city hall) and it is possible that the thing is sitting in a scrap metals yard they know of. Is there a local office of the electrical workers' union? Possibly they have records of who worked on that job, and who knows which of those guys may have taken a snap shot?
That photo betrays that the MAPLEWOOD was a movie palace or earlier legit that was ‘modernized’ —or desecrated as most theatres buffs would see it!
In any case, your best bet is the Theatre Historical Soc. of America, where on the front page of their web site ( www.historictheatres.org ) you will find a link to their Ex. Director who, if you E-mail him, can tell you if they have anything among their thousands of photos, and if not, will direct you to other possible sources such as the magazines you spoke of.
However, often the best source for theatres not in major cities is locals. Have you contacted libraries (school/college as well as public), historical societies, your closest state university library and school of architecture, your state officer of Historic Preservation, local newspapers to find opening day ads and articles which can lead you to the original owners' descendents (maybe with the help of a local geneologist), the original architects and contractors/suppliers who could still be around with old, old files in someome’s attic? The Register of Deeds for the area should have documents that often reveal names of people originally involved, as do the archives of building permits for that municipality; city hall can answer that question. Ask a proment local property insurance salesman if the place was ever insured and who wrote the policy and then contact that company; they will probably also have record of the theatre’s attorney, and his office records could well offer up a photo. Old neighbors often have photos/snap shots in which neighboring lots and buildings appear accidentally; it may mean going door to door, but you will be surprised at the stories and memories you will find! A long shot is to contact appraisal companies, first in New Jersey, and the across the nation (almost all have web sites allowing you to E-mail them) who may have photos they will copy for you; try to get to their Public Relations dept. before their lawyers find out about your inquiry, since ‘client confidentiality’ will be their theme and they will brush you off —even if their original client has been dead for a century.
Yes, it is a lot of slow work tracking down old photos, but if you want others to do it for you, it will be expensive! BEST WISHES!