You are on page 1of 7
‘The movie palace {desl: fn architect's watercolor of the Roxy. Movie Audiences, Urban Geography, and the History of the American Film Douglas Gomery A fundamental set of questions for the historian of fmeriean Cinema revalves around the size and compost tion ofthe movie auatence Fron the std-1930's on, with the advent of sophisticated sampling, Wie havea fair iden of the answer {to what types" of persons frequently patronized novie houses. These Estimates do not approsch the Sccuracy of modera U.s. television and radio ratings, but a5_suma- ized {n Leo Horde": HoT] ywood Cooks at tts Auctence (THE0), the generat eatione sean clear, re- Hable, end consistent. However, for years prior to the Great pression, the nature of the fil Rudtence in the United states re- of early’ audtences; were they truly working class or not? Can ve go no further than’ to Tabel such Midtences a5, "niddlecclass” Thare seen to be at Teast tho aporeaches that researchers have UtiTized to Improve aur knowledge: 1} "working backward from cultural topeals of the fine thenselvess or. 2) crudely estinating fron evidence generated by social Copyright (¢ 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company Copyright fe) Univerity af Texas Prese sclentists during the 1940's. ut ‘hese present svani*i cant preblens fin historical iogte and'the use of primary evigence.| In this article INT atoue for third alternative Hy approach enerses from the Field ef urban seography. Like othersy [agree thatthe evidence foes: suggest that sovie-cotne Brincfpat ly functioned. aan urban henenenen'during the 1920"s Audiences attended nefohborhood and downtown theaters..Assuring tn efficient economfe system, eunibttors would only open theaters THE VELVET LIGHT TRAP Wo. 18 23 which offered naxinun profit poten- Hal. Ifa theater began to Fun up Tosses, Tt could be (and would be) closed. Beginning in the ea "S20'r, large theater cheine, beads quartered fn cities of 100,000 or fore population, hired real estate experts to seek out optinal sites. Exhibitors perfected « sophisti- cated sethod of price diserimt- Ratton. ("the run-zone-cTearance Systen") to. ouarantee maxirum revenues. "By analyzing the pattern OF theater locations, and the Surrounding netahborhoods which supplied the crowds, historians an begin to analyze the eake-up 8F auatences for motion pictures.2 During the 1820's the U.S. rovie industry accumulated’ the Bulk of Its profits fron first and Second-run theaters. These stt0a~ Hons correctly translate into ‘the’ feage of the picture palace. Textbooks of fim Mstory argue Cinpitettiy) that nose pfcture palaces were located in the heart Of fnerfca's downtowns, spect cally the central business dis Ericts of U:5, elttes with, popul ‘ons exceeding 100,000, AS a ‘Firet approxinatfon’ that hypothe- Sie seene Tegttinate. Desire for faxtnum profit. motivated exhibitors fo congreaate theaters. downtown. Alt'mass, transit. Tines passed through "ain street,” and/or a Noenter square.” voreover since other business and recreation ‘establisheents clustered tovether at this focal point, clty dwellers ‘could conbine Vefsure and 9ro~ fessional activities, The picture of the apartment dvei Ter our= haying to the "Roxy" on streetcar 4nd shopping before (or after) ping to the movies seens accurate, By 1930, opulent. downtown picture palaces’ functioned es the flagships Of America's most profitable re ‘tonal theater chains: Loew's. (New York City), Stanley (Philadelpht Pitesburen, and Washington, D.C. Balaban & Katz (Chleago), Saxe eiwaukee), Finkelstetn’& Rubin inneapolts), North Anerican (san Franctseo and’seattie), and Nest Coast (Loe Angetes). Unfortunately the assumption of 1 domtomn Tocation has produced & portion of the current misunder- Standing ebout the audiences for jo20's"notion ptetures.. Theaters ina central business district, attracted patrons from all sectors of an urban enviroment. Thdeed {he oft-described portrait of the Pleture palace on main street has fotivated the general zation that {the movies drew fn equal deno~ ‘raphte proportions fron al? sub- (Groups of Aerican soctety.. Film Aistory texts are dotted with texanples from "omtown” New York: ‘the Roxy, Paranount, and ulei~ mately Radio they Ruste Hall. Yet 2 Copyright (¢ 2006 ProQuest Information and Lea Copyright () University of Texas Press {n terms of raw nunbers ty of 1920's pteture palaces were rot sttuated' downtown,” but rather {in netshborkood Tocations, The atstributten of these outlying picture palaces can tell us @ breat deel about the socfo-econonte charactertsties of the avid sovie-. ‘oer of the 1920's. ihat type of Telghborhood generated the conti dence necessary to construct @ 5,000-seet aud toriun several elles from downtown? For example, {in Chicage one had to Journey st salves north fron the Loop to find “hat city's largest theater, the Uptown, T arque that an andlysts of the pattern of cevelopment of foertea's nefahborhood pteture Dalaces can furnish a. poverful tool ‘or understanding an trportant Segment of the audience for Hol Iywood fms during the 1920's. City shape supplies a. fund rental explanatory variable, Urban geographers posit three baste conffaurations: square city, a rectangular city, and a fan-thaped city. For cfttes. tn the first two categories nearly all picture palaces could be found ovntown. But in fan-shaped urban areas the nunber of neighborhood Breture palaces far exceeded those fovntewn. This Tatter category. ‘included a Targe proportton of the nore populous U.s. cities. in this, fra: “Chicago, Detroit, St. Louis Philadelphia, MiTvaukee, for exan” ple. A study of outlying picture palaces in fancshaped efttes 42 Where we Should becin in any re- {Interpretation of the fm aud- fence for 1820's motton ptetures. For proper perspective we should first consider the question of the effect of the square and rectan: lar urban ToceTe on plture construction.” The squere. ft) Drovides the stnol fst subject. Here bortraits of picture palaces or hain street prove quite accurat No soctocecononte devande impel ed the construction of outlying icture pelaces. Square cities, uring’ the expansionary twenties, Grew equally on all'sides. Even the most recently settled restdents of the lergest examples, Denvers Gayton, or Indtanapelis; cove Journey downtown in 2 relatively Shore Une via streetcar. Conse ‘quently we cannot Tocate the exact Source of movie attendance. Patrons Could cone from any section of the tty Rectangular-shaped cities offer better prospects, Here as the Urban area expanded during the 1820's, mountains and/or targe bodies’ of water Tinfted growth to districts situated further and further fron downtown. consequent Company Dayton The square etty shape Manhattan ‘The rectangular city shape RKO Coliseum —_ ered — Radio ey The Rony Copyright (¢ 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company Copyright () “A Rindu-tadochinese Tse Sexeet Theater 1y Jn rectanguar cities of alt Haat (iastson, sconsing me ‘ngheny Algbong, and Ponta) ree aubursanitas" denned er Wices near thetr hoe’? outing isiheas and Fecresttona) centers grew to rival doweowns. Fanhattan an'serve te an sionnating Ste "During the a2b's only he ean north of 15th Street exe Fetlenced population growths fis re fay tive te eqn eves north SF the eland’s canal rectors Hone district, Hes squre Entrepreneurs rearoned the ear rent oweliers north of 1eSth Street outa support thet own Boriness/rncreat ional carter Pete palaces proved tmensely profitable, ineeed tutly onestth SP haettin's 26 largest eovie fhenters could be found nersh of Vth Street. in other worés tat istrict or famatean (with ol Srectrntieth of the poputacion Supported ene-sfth ef sl the ctor ntucas on the etana See caily the tom's 175th Street and the Sk Colfseun servet {5 eccen for novieoers fron the, $Sebursen” end of banbattan Teton hat types of people generated this extraoréinary denand for, rrovie entertatnnent?. During the 1320's the district north of 145th Street offered a purely restdentia] environment suburban Tiving, 17 you wil. Uneongested compared to fouthern envirens, the middle and Uppercntddie class, residents. (11 tems of incone) Tived In contort: able apartment buildings. These Second’ and ehiva eeneration Aner ans were educated considerably Shove the efty's average, and held ellspaying Jobs. Commuting to enniown was easily feel Iitated fy"the newly constructed subway Vines. By 1928 excess denand hee bull to the potnt. that Loew's, The, the elty's nest. power ul chain and parent company of MM, conseructea a Hinds-indzch nese palace on one city lock at 175th End Brosayay. for $4,000,000 (the cost for-auplieation {n"T981 would exceed $25,000,000). This afgentic fnvestment provided an instant payort because well-educated, Finanetatiy secure suburbanttes Handed ovie entertatneent 19 fester numbers than suggested by previous film historians. These Upscale persons and theiy: children had acquired the necessary free ‘ine ang eiscreefonary incane to Frequently enjoy the twentieth- Century's newest was medium. Our Frage of the pitcbox mall theater verging in suburban environnents during’ the 1960"s and. 1870's, Should berre-exanined. —Suburban‘tes of the 1920's seamed to endoy the Iovies far in excess of shat their place in, the population woutd Suggest The presence of such moviegoers -~ educated, well-off fanities Tivino a suburban Tifestyle = Becones even nore evident. in fan-shaped cities. Here we find the most extrene develonnent of the 4820's. decentral zation of retatl and recreational activity. fan-shaped cities ortainated as ports, and thelr centrel business districts remained ad- Jaeent. to bodies of water, even as their popula Tons Ineressed. Consequently tn Cleveland, De~ troft, and Milwaukee successive growth occurred further and further: fram downtown. Desand for outlying recreation faci ities far exceeded pressures in rectangular cfties. In chicago, Finertea's laraest fan-shaped clty during the 3920's, the number of outlying palaces. far sur~ assed’ the ninber found in’the Loop. The officers Gf Balaban & fatz, Chicaco's dominant theater chain, understood the desires of the new Chicago Suburbanites. A case study of the development of ‘this corporation reveals much about the change in ‘the composition and structure of Averica"s urban roviesoers between 1818 and’ 1930. Balaban & Katz becan as a chain of nickeTodeons fon Chfcago's near west side, Sy 1915, can Katz, hier operating officer, reasoned that, the firm! had gone as far os 1t could with that business Strateay. Noting the success of Roxy's Pivolt, fate proposed to buITé Chicago's first picture palace im North Lawndale, a far west side netah- Borhood, hore of Chicago's, burgeoning Jewish infddte clase. Initially he. sought Toans. from friends, but none had the financtal muscle to tender the needed resources.” Consequently Katz approached Julius Rosemald, chief executive of Sears, the west. side's largest exployer. Rosen weld itked Katz's proposal, and fashioned a syn~ Gieate to ratse the needed’capttal The Central Park opened on schedule on Saturday, 27 Oetober 1917. Its success even surpassed the foptinfstic expectations. of the young san Katz, Tmmediately Kets drew up plans fore theater/hotel complex to be located fn the’ fashtonable north Tae netahborhood of Uptom. Pasemald suscested nore conservative strategy. Why not take over: ludevitie theater already planned for the dis- fct?" The sodi ted Riverta opened as a picture Delace tn 1918. The syndicate continued to support 211 of BAK's outlying picture palace ventures bi (Ghuse Sts merbers had understood and taken adva ‘age of the trends” in Chicaco suburbantzat fon. AT'had fnvested heavily in Chicago real estate Using excess profits culled from large-scale re- EaiTing enterprises. Business historians have Tena recognized the oforeering efforts of Julfus Rosenwald at Sears, In 20 years, he propelled ‘that Chicago-based enterprise into the posttion of Arerfca's Tarcest retatler. Another syndicate Imenber, HiTItan Hrigley, created a chewing ous empire! A third, John Hertz, had thitiated taxt Service for mtadie~ and upoer-incone Chicagoans fn 1910. “Before that only the rich could afford 10 hire'a private automobile. Hertz ourchased e 2,o00"car Fleet, oainted the bodies yelTon, qua ‘ered fares and’ reaped large profits throuth econonfes of scale. These ane other syndicate Members exploited. the changing tastes of middle- has’ Chicacoans 5 BAK fully participated in thts retaiTing transformation. Analysts. of the socio-economic environments. surrounding the frn's first. two theaters clearly tTlustrates how well BEK ana Mized where the potential frequent movie atten dees lived. B4X butlt the Central Park on ese 32th Street (now Roosevelt Rose) in the heart of the North Lamdate neighborhood. chiesgo's 26 Copyright (2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company Copyright fe) Univerity af Texas Prese B & K Theaters and Elevated (Chicago, 1930's) The Centra Park ‘Areas with Less Than 10 People Residential Land Value per Motion Picture Seat Front Foot Values in Dollars 100 and over HERE 50.99 26-49 425 Copyright () 2006 ProQuest If Copyright fe) Univerity af Texas Prese on and Learning Company ra "The Uptown The Tivol Maps from Homer Hoyt, One Hundred Years of Land Values in Chicago (University of Chicago Press, 1933) and Chicago Recreation Commission, The Chicago Recreation Survey, Volume Il, Commercial Recreation (Chicago, 1938) a dearer: terre! ae paehiecs Gaelic, ei eit ar Rab Oe gaia, Tein eee, dermal Somes, Bar tet tara eae tametrmnach. Gaara tna een aie eg a Sane eee Siemmreiae — ipepmicnse ata eis imcen ie, Raden sits i erate tition tar Rerkee iemg Gees riage ie Rea ee pee ‘the pares! of Jand pelea a who affected the ways of more uper strength in the best nesghborhoods, es Retclerr” een ith i elserioe Saucy ditt, eon ttre a.m to meant are. Sait erate Seago, ai, eel te il airs a Suerdatea sem tape ag ei Tavish nefehborhood picture palace, nitated the Eataban & fats etra- raking the Central Park the rost profitable theater in the efty. BAX's second theater nas con- structed inthe noreh side. conun= ity of Upto. Rs Chfeagoans moved to’ the periohery of the ety, points oF {intersection between ass transit: Tines functioned 2s the most conventent location for retail and recreatfonat activity. Establishments positioned near "Streetear-trensfer points" pros= pared. Scon chain stores scrambled fo'acquire Tots as close as posst= ble to the actust point of trans- fer. Certain strestear-transfer corners becane the hub for dance halts, cabarets, arcades, and rovte’pelaces.. Uptown grew to Becone’Chieaoo's largest. "bright Mahe" center. “With nore than 100,000° prosperous Chicagoans Tiving within welking distance, Uptown reserbled a city within 2 city, complete with {ts own central bustness istrict. The surrounding Fesidene al environs” accomodated Upwardly nobite, young fant Ties. in Scores Of spacious apartnent edi- s. Clustered on Wilson Avenue and Broagway, one found banks, ‘epartnent stores and specialty 8 Copyright (2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company Copyright fe) Univerity af Texas Prese ‘egy. ay 1990 theater chains in fan-shaped cities. had constructed ‘unerous opulant pteture palaces far fron sain street, And in such turban’ environs. outlying pataces far outrunbered thetr center eity counterparts. Such a pattern, ‘coupled with the assumption of an efficent market, suggest that the thew "suburbanttes" attended movies far in excess of their place tn ‘he urban population. Young people of higher than average education particularly flocked to outlying Bleture palaces. Ths audtence enjoyed the necessary Tefsure tine land discrettonary incone to seek (ut pleasing recreation alter natives.” Tt seens that as early 45 1928 rovle entrepreneurs: recognized that thelr business vas Becoming a specialized enter prise. By 1990 outlying picture Palaces constituted a stonifieant fucles of the fin industry's Substantial monepoly power. Without addttfonal research, my ‘claims must” remain tentative hypo theses subject to further fnvest!- sation. However, even at this Doint the anelysis does suggest hres important. inelfeations for the film historian and theorist. First, ny findings chal Tenge. the accepted notion that during the 1920's. the movies In Beericn functioned as an fentertainnent with the broedest based appeal ~~ the 20th century's ‘first mss medion. Certain Baett= ane attended the roviee far in excess of thetr place in the popu- Jation, Te is erucfel to recognize that at thts point in file history _youna,weT -educated,unwardly nobive ‘The Central Park: "The neat lavish neighborhood picture palace.” citizens did not find st in their best interest to acknowledge this ‘ove for the navies through writing, speaking, or acadeste study.” Se- cond, {the generalization about the frequent steencance of the new suburbanttes holds up, what does this nean for the study’ of the popular ft In? Te would be fascina Eing to learn for example, what genres attracted the greatest. hun= Bers. of new suburbantter, Other ‘questions. can be easily identified Finally, 1 would argue that a pet~ tem of suburban movie. theater davelopeent. commenced in the United States’ Tong Lefore cur current era of ubtquttous nalt-plexes. 32K Ploneered a. suburban seravecy as early as 1517. However, close’ ‘examination reveaTs © comeonality Between BEK and the fnerfean nul t\= cineras of the present aay.” If an turban envivon's crossroads used to be "streetcar trensfer-points," the Conjunction of superhighways. iden- Eitied the location of 1980's ralls._ And until the md-1970"e the demand for suburban Tiving continued unabated. the’ discon- ‘nuance of cheap petro! seems to have ended the 75-year trek of Urbanites.tovard the suburban Tife- Style. But one difference ts clear. Today's mall-plexes are evotd of architectural splendor, Stageshows, and other accouter- rents of picture palace entertain ment. “Can their only added attrac ‘fon be Buttered popcorn? Notes 1) Larry May tn hts recent book, Screening ut the Past. (New York ford Universtty Press, 1900) UtiTizes one nethocoteay. He analyzes the "cultural appeals" of Dicture palace entertainnent.. Exotic architectural styles, escapism, oputence, release fron everyday tnhibi tions, and ushers transformed U.S. movie entertain- sent. into a spectacle “clearly (eered toward middle-class. aspira- Tlons® (prié). TF we could assume a clear-cut reiatfonship between Certain forms of pleasure produc {Hon and augtences from a spect fic soctoveconomte stratum, then May's approach could generate a areat eat about. the makeup of fll audiences. tn the 1920'S, But how an one ealeulate such a trans- formation? What package(s).of appeals would attract what type(s) (of audiences? “vow can we account ‘for regional and/or corporate variations? To his erestt My Tecogntzes the difficulties tn Such a task, and turns 208 nore Concrete alternatives TRIS more ‘comonly enployed argument unfotds fs follows. Leo Mandel and others have generated a sizable array of ‘nformatton concerning U.S. audi fences of the 1940's. And gross Attendence Tioures for that decade ‘approximated the crude estinates for the 1920's. Therefore, these historians argue, it fs plausible to sinply extrapslate backwards, and conclude that the size and conposttfon of audiences for movies {n'the 1920's closely resenbled the soclonecononie charactertstics of their latter counterparts in the forties! Sut 1s such reasoning walla? vow can we account. forthe STantficent socto-economte tran= ‘qurations caused by the Great Depression and Wortd War TI?" Do we assume nevtraity for the frects of entertainnent competi tors Tike radio? The nethod of “reverse extrapolatton™ only Breeds pore. questions than 1 answers. Certainly ve need to develop nore owerful nethodotogtes. 2) Raymond E. turphy, The Arorican city (lew York: etran- HITT, 978), pp.245~78; oavie Secal, Urban Eecnories’ (Homewood, HMVingisr Richard D- Trwiny 1377), pease bs vara T Leta, Reward Business. Reports fol. cay, 1930), ‘Whew York Metraw pp. 480-89, 3) Here 1 use suburban to. denote an urban Tocetion far from the, antral business district, even {f the nefhborhood was: Tegal ty ‘included within a cfty's Boum ries. Nass transit enabled Ant cans to Vive a great.distance fron the place of work.” The suburbant te developed Tifestyie characteristics Aifferent fron inner-city cousins. 4) federal Nesters project, ew York city Guise Ce Yorks hand” House, TBs), pp 226-825 Hen York feraid, The New Yort tket” (how Yorks ew ore verelér TED) Bpy80.t8, 68009, ATTahNeving and Skin eout, es. The renter EH fir York: Coit Univer simetetalaelgge aes alter Laidlo, Population oF she ity of fen York, TBBDSTES Tien” forks Cities tencus Comittee, 1822), pp.81-85: Harold 7. Lewis, Transit’ end Transportation, fe ‘lanat survey, Wet TV ther York Festonal Plan’ of New Yorks 1326), ppelSe83, 5) tn hema Fortes Yoogy"s Hanuat of Ineureriets (New ek e's Yvette 1824), 6.10925 hots ing tn Cease and Titinote-(chteagot RA fareuts, 1517), op. 73,388-85; Nelehoit Patyty The Chicago Credit Harket. (chicago: Untverstey of Uhfeago Pressy 1937), pp. 10-725 various issuet of Eahtbriar's Herald, Hotfon Picture Newt, otogriphy, and The New York Ties, 6) Paul F. Cressey, “Population Succession th Chicago’ 1696-1900," Aserican Journal of Soctologyy 44 + Dp-85-89; Honer Woyes, One, Hundred Years of Land Values’ sn Ghfeago (Chicago: University of Ghteago Press, 1933), 99.225-315 Rca plan Eommtssiony Forty Four Cities in the City of Chicago [Ghreago: thteage Pan Connt ston, 1942), p.12-28; Louts Wiren, The Gneted (Chicago: University of hicago Press, 1928), pp.246-64; Yaleale 0. Proudfoot, "Fhe HaJor ‘Gutlying Business Centers of Chicago® (PhD. Dissertation, Unt- versity of Chicago, 1996), pp.16- 450, 992225; John and Ruth Le Ashenhurst, RIT Abaut Chicago (New York: Houghton MPPTIn T933), pp.140-43; Michael Conant, ands Ha tT Sy EXFGEE Presse ned) poste, 7) For the case of MiTwaukee see Douglas Gonery,. "Saxe Aruserent Enterprises: The Movies cone to, AiTwaukee,” MiTwaukee History, 11,"No.t (Spring T979), pp-t8-26. Copyright (2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company Copyright fe) Univerity af Texas Prese Balaban & Katz MAGAZINE Jaben & Katz Magsing, Ine, Pabihre i es WELCOME othe Uptown Theatre Wass resend come you ay old fide fo eur ewes theatre, te it nor 20 long ago—not_much nae than si pets gett we oe trl ‘yaur sommeshy, hekaiagiy 29

You might also like