Moviegoing in America

Pairing significant research with primary documents, Moviegoing in America charts the evolution of film exhibition and reception as a function of changing patterns of American community, identity, consumption, and the fabric of everyday life. "Moviegoing in America is an important, groundbreaking book." -- The Moving Image "Waller assembles an impressive collection that should become a key resource in the teaching of film exhibition history." -- Screen

List of Illustrations. Acknowledgments. Introduction: A Century at the Movies: Gregory A. Waller. Part I: Capturing an Audience, Creating a Business: 1896–1916:. Introduction. 1. Introducing Cinema to the American Public: The Vitascope in the United States, 1896–7:Charles Musser. 2. From Rum Shop to Rialto: Workers and Movies: Roy Rosenzweig. 3. Cheap Amusements (1908): John Collier. 4. Some Picture Show Audiences (1911): Mary Heaton Vorse. 5. Motion-Picture Work (1911): David Hulfish. 6. Hints to Exhibitors (1908): W. Stephen Bush. 7. Handling the Visitor (1909): Moving Picture World. 8. Posteritis (1910): F. H. Richardson. 9. Swelling the Box Office Receipts (1911): George Rockhill Craw. 10. The Murder of Othello (1911): H. F. Hoffman. 11. Projection (1912): F. H. Richardson. 12. The Regulation of Motion Picture Theaters (1912): Boyd Fisher. 13. Architectural Treatment of the Moving Picture Theatre (1914): Aymar Embury II. Part II: Palatial Palaces and Everyday Practices: 1916–1930:. Introduction. 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. 15. What the Public Wants in the Picture Theater (1925): Samuel L. Rothafel ("Roxy"). 16. Theater Entrances and Lobbies (1925): E. C .A. Bullock. 17.A Description of the Capitol Theater, Chicago (1925): John Eberson. 18.Building Theatre Patronage (1927): John F. Barry and Epes W. Sargent. 19. Motion Picture Theater Management (1928): Harold B. Franklin. 20. Fashioning an Exhibition Empire: Promotion, Publicity, and the Rise of Public Theaters: Douglas Gomery. 21. Where "Movie Playing" Needs Reform (1920): K. Sherwood Boblitz. 22. Musical Presentation of Motion Pictures (1921): George W. Beynon. 23. Music (1927): John F. Barry and Epes W. Sargent. 24. Future Developments (1927): Harry M. Warner. 25. Motion Pictures as a Phase of Commercialized Amusement in Toldedo, Ohio (1919): J. J. Phelan. 26. The Motion Picture and the Upbuilding of Community Life (1920): Orrin G. Cocks. 27. Our Movie Made Children (1934): Henry James Foreman. 28. Ethnography and Exhibition: The Child Audience, the Hays Office, and Saturday Matinees: Richard deCordova. Part III: Picture Shows and New Theaters: The 1930s and 1940s:. Introduction. 29. Hillbilly Music and Will Rogers: Small-Town Picture Shows in the 1930s: Gregory A. Waller. 30. Bank Night (1936): H. O. Kusell. 31. The Management of Motion Picture Theatres (1938): Frank H. Ricketson, Jr. 32. Show Lady (1939): Carlie Beach Roney. 33. What's Playing at the Grove? (1948): Fortune. 34. Give the Movie Exhibitor a Chance! (1935): P. S. Harrison. 35. Economic Control of the Motion Picture Industry (1944): Mae D. Huettig. 36. New Theatres for the Cinema (1932): Ben Schlanger. 37. Motion Picture Theaters (1937): Ben Schlanger. 38. A New Architecture for the Movie Theater (1948): Architectural Record. 39. Psychology of the Theater (1948): Walter A. Cutter. Part IV: Drive-In, Art House, Mulitplex: The 1950s and Beyond:. Introduction. 40. Spectator and Screen: John Belton. 41. Big Boom in Outdoor Movies (1956): Frank J. Taylor. 42. Free Lances (1929): Alexander Bakshy. 43. Sure-Seaters Discover an Audience (1952): Stanley Frank. 44. Some Considerations on the Rise of the Art-Film Theater (1956): John E. Twomey. 45. Domestic Theatrical and Semi-Theatrical Distribution and Exhibition of American Independent Feature Films: A Survey in 1983: Betsy McLane. 46. The Harlem Theater: Black Film Exhibition in Austin, Texas: 1920–1973: Dan Streible. 47. The Exhibitors (1972): Stanley H. Durwood. 48. The K-Mart Audience at the Mall Movies: William Paul. 49. Modern Times (1993): Barbara Stones. 50. From Exhibition to Reception: Reflections on the Audience in Film History: Robert C. Allen. Part V: Research and Resources:. A Guide to Research and Resources. Research Projects in the History of Moviegoing and Film Exhibition. Bibliography. Index.