Product Description

From the 1890 penny arcades and the opulent and ornate movie houses of the 1920s and 1930s to the drive-in theatres of the 1950s and the multiplex cinemas of today, movie theatres have provided an environment where millions of Americans learned about life, culture, politics, romance, and sex. In this entertaining and lively book, Maggie Valentine examines theatres as products and symbols of their time, and shows how they influenced and were influenced by architectural trends and the economic, social, and political forces of the era.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #405434 in Books
• Published on: 1996-03-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 248 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Valentine focuses on the career of architect S. Charles Lee, who designed movie theaters from the 1920s until 1950.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
S. Charles Lee designed more than 300 movie theaters between 1920 and 1950, mostly in California. Over his long career, he incorporated architectural elements from Beaux Art, Spanish Baroque, Art Deco, Streamlined Moderne, and almost any other strong design theme that he thought would please clients and draw audiences. Valentine has done a good job of setting the cultural tableaux of Lee's world. With ample illustrations, she limns Lee's four decades of building bold, sometimes outlandish movie houses and honors him for making monuments where the fantasy world of film was at home. The book is strongest when Valentine describes the importance of Moderne design: sleek yet powerful, optimistic in hard times and, best of all, providing great impact on a low budget. A valuable, though specialized, addition to a growing body of work on American movie houses; recommended for libraries with large architecture collections and libraries in California, where Lee's theaters are still a presence.
David Bryant, New Canaan P.L., Ct.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Customer Reviews

The best book on this subject I have ever read!
Having worked and managed movie theatres from the 40s thru early 70s, and now considered a "dinosaur" of that age, was completely captivated by the coverage accomplished by Ms.Valentine, especially on the accomplishments of architect Lee.She captured the "flavor" and context of that wonderful era,never to be again. And surprise of surprises,I actually managed or knew intimately of some of the theatres Mr.Lee designed or worked on! I have nearly all the books published on movie theatres,et al,but have to admit this particular tome really grabbed me emotionally with text and photos so for the while it took me to read this book(hard to put down)I re-lived that era in a way I never thought possible. (The Arden in Lynwood, Tower in L.A., the old Alhambra in Alhambra, are only a few I "set foot in again"!)..if I could give it more than 5 stars I would! A tip of my hat to Ms.Valentine, to Mr.Lee, and the great bunch of people I worked with, and for, oh, so many, many years ago

A great book
I am a brazilian architect, working now in a thesis research about movie theaters located in my city, Porto Alegre, in the south of Brazil. I found this book in B&N store, in New York. It's a great book! GOOD for my work in research end for teaching architecture design (at an architecture school)about movie theaters. (sorry for my poor english...)

I am author's brother and hope everyone will buy one
My sister has written a very intelligent and well thought out book. She deserves to be rich and famous.