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| Neighborhood Theatre
Powerful Agent for Good
It Keeps the Family Together and Has Become a Practical Necessity Part of the Every-Day Life of Many Millions of Our Very Best Home People By Alfred Hamburger, president of the Hamburger movie theater circuit Source: Motion Picture News, 11 August 1917, pg. 975. The neighborhood or family theatre has reached a stage in its growth where it may be said to be an important factor in the lives of millions of people daily-- that is, so far as their theatrical amusement is concerned. As a pioneer in the neighborhood theatre I have had the opportunity of watching its progress from a lowly improvised storeroom theatre to the present palaces dedicated to it. The neighborhood motion picture theatre, in which the splendid screen productions of the present day are now so satisfactorily presented, is one of the most powerful agencies for good, despite the continuous hue and cry that so-called reformers are putting up. The amusement or entertainment caters to the tastes of the entire family-- father, mother, and children. Thus it keeps the family together, and if it were possible to compile statistics it would be found that before the advent of the neighborhood motion picture house the head of the family made a hasty exit after supper to the nearest corner cigar store or saloon. Now it is a case of all to the first show at the corner theatre-- father, mother, and kiddies-- and it has truly been the means of closely cementing the bonds of the entire family. Censorship has been unjust to the neighborhood theatre. That is, the type of censorship existing in Chicago and any other place where they might have the "pink" or "adults only" permit for a certain class of shows. A picture should be either accepted or rejected. There should be no "pink permits." Neighborhood theatres are strictly family houses, and it is our desire and the desire, I know, of those running this class of house, wherever it may be, to have the entertainment seen by every member of the family. The neighborhood theatre has to be made attractive, inviting and pleasant. Some of the finest houses are of the neighborhood type. The transition from the cheap and ordinary in this class of house was not slow-- it took only the time necessary to improve the entertainment and theatres. As the theatres improved in class the patronage involved, and today it is a common thing to see many of the neighborhood houses with ten to a hundred automobiles parked in front. One pet theory have I worked out to my entire satisfaction with the neighborhood house. That has been in the matter of light. While naturally the interior must be dim, I believe and know that the outside of the house should be ablaze. Don't spare candle-power with a neighborhood house. It marks the theatre as a bright spot in the locality. It attracts attention and creates comment. In conclusion, you ask what of the future regarding the neighborhood house. I am optimistic about the photoplay proposition as a whole, and especially the neighborhood house. And the neighborhood theatre has become a practical necessity-- a part of the every-day life of millions of people. |
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Page authored: 24
August 2000 -
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