A short piece appearing in the 22 March 1919 issue of Motion Picture News. Harold B. Franklin, the managing director of Shea’s Hippodrome in Buffalo (NY?), speculates on the amenities and attractions likely to be offered by the “Theatre of the Future.”
I’ve just finished reading William Paul’s When Movies Were Theater (Columbia University Press, 2016), which sheds a great deal of light on many of the assumptions and standards of exhibition practice built into Franklin’s speculations. I’m also struck by how alien feature film presentations today might look to Franklin and his peers.
If you’re looking at this post (especially if you like going to movies in theaters), take the time to read the article. It’s really fascinating.
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