About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherJohns Hopkins University Press

ISBN-100801863295

ISBN-139780801863295

eBay Product ID (ePID)1637644

Product Key Features

Book TitleSilent Screens : the Decline and Transformation of the American Movie Theater

Number of Pages128 Pages

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2000

TopicFilm / General, Landscape, Theater / General, Film / Référence

IllustratorYes

GenrePerforming Arts, Architecture

AuthorMichael Putnam

Book SeriesCreating the North American Landscape Ser.

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.7 in

Item Weight28 Oz

Item Length10.2 in

Item Width8.7 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN99-053226

Dewey Edition21

ReviewsTakes us back to the wonderful world of the small hometown theater--not as they were but what they have become. A wonderful chronicle of a time when twenty-five cents was the price of an afternoon of entertainment and a soda., Disused small-town and neighborhood movie theaters are to photographer Putnam what the decrepit churches and storefronts of the rural South were to Walker Evans: objects that, austerely photographed in their decline, can cause us to reflect... As you study Putnam's well-composed and well-lit photographs of abandoned theaters, a pang for the lost past inevitably afflicts you. Even more saddening is his record of conversions--theaters turned into evangelical churches, bookshops, banks, restaurants, a swimming pool., A haunting portrait of the gradual decline of cinemas in small-town America. Putnam's book is a superb example of a documentary project's ability to arrest particular, concrete situations--and their attending emotional counterparts--and thereby illuminate the social and economic movements that engender them., Disused small-town and neighborhood movie theaters are to photographer Putnam what the decrepit churches and storefronts of the rural South were to Walker Evans: objects that, austerely photographed in their decline, can cause us to reflect... As you study Putnam's well-composed and well-lit photographs of abandoned theaters, a pang for the lost past inevitably afflicts you. Even more saddening is his record of conversions -- theaters turned into evangelical churches, bookshops, banks, restaurants, a swimming pool., "Evocative enough to make a viewer nostalgic for places he has never been." -- Kevin Riordan, Cherry Hill Courier-Post, Several years after The Last Picture Show , Larry McMurtry hoped for 'some present-day Walker Evans' to document the abandoned theaters of his youth, and [Michael] Putnam has answered his wish., "Several years after The Last Picture Show, Larry McMurtry hoped for 'some present-day Walker Evans' to document the abandoned theaters of his youth, and [Michael] Putnam has answered his wish."-- New Yorker, "Michael Putnam's strikingly beautiful photographs document American movie theaters and the passing of that era in American culture. They penetrate the barrier that traditionally separates significant aesthetic achievement and historical events. Such is the contribution, historically, of great documentary photography."--James L. Enyeart, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Haunting, edgy, black-and-white photos... accompanied by commentary on love, loss and change by Larry McMurty, Peter Bogdanovich, Andrew Sarris, Molly Haskell, Chester H. Liebs and John Hollander., Takes us back to the wonderful world of the small hometown theater -- not as they were but what they have become. A wonderful chronicle of a time when twenty-five cents was the price of an afternoon of entertainment and a soda., "These poignant and often distressing pictures of boarded-up neighborhood bijous speak volumes about main-street moviegoing in decades past, as opposed to the multiplex experience of today."-- Playboy, A haunting portrait of the gradual decline of cinemas in small-town America. Putnam's book is a superb example of a documentary project's ability to arrest particular, concrete situations-and their attending emotional counterparts-and thereby illuminate the social and economic movements that engender them., Takes us back to the wonderful world of the small hometown theater-not as they were but what they have become. A wonderful chronicle of a time when twenty-five cents was the price of an afternoon of entertainment and a soda., "Haunting, edgy, black-and-white photos... accompanied by commentary on love, loss and change by Larry McMurty, Peter Bogdanovich, Andrew Sarris, Molly Haskell, Chester H. Liebs and John Hollander."-- Publishers Weekly, "A haunting portrait of the gradual decline of cinemas in small-town America. Putnam's book is a superb example of a documentary project's ability to arrest particular, concrete situations -- and their attending emotional counterparts -- and thereby illuminate the social and economic movements that engender them."-- DoubleTake, ""Michael Putnam's strikingly beautiful photographs document American movie theaters and the passing of that era in American culture. They penetrate the barrier that traditionally separates significant aesthetic achievement and historical events. Such is the contribution, historically, of great documentary photography."", Disused small-town and neighborhood movie theaters are to photographer Putnam what the decrepit churches and storefronts of the rural South were to Walker Evans: objects that, austerely photographed in their decline, can cause us to reflect... As you study Putnam's well-composed and well-lit photographs of abandoned theaters, a pang for the lost past inevitably afflicts you. Even more saddening is his record of conversions-theaters turned into evangelical churches, bookshops, banks, restaurants, a swimming pool., A haunting portrait of the gradual decline of cinemas in small-town America. Putnam's book is a superb example of a documentary project's ability to arrest particular, concrete situations -- and their attending emotional counterparts -- and thereby illuminate the social and economic movements that engender them., "The boarded-up movie theaters in Michael Putnam's Silent Screens wear their faded glamour like battered hats. Putnam's photographs, taken with an 8 by 10 view camera, are starkly formalistic: the boxy, Art Deco theaters are largely shot head-on and centrally placed in the frame, making the viewer conscious of minute variations in detail and texture. The stylized neon marquees that read 'Ritz,' 'Lux,' or 'Judy' contrast with the blank peeling facades, as if we can see the dream palace that once was and the shell it has become."--Eric P. Nash, New York Times Book Review, "Disused small-town and neighborhood movie theaters are to photographer Putnam what the decrepit churches and storefronts of the rural South were to Walker Evans: objects that, austerely photographed in their decline, can cause us to reflect... As you study Putnam's well-composed and well-lit photographs of abandoned theaters, a pang for the lost past inevitably afflicts you. Even more saddening is his record of conversions -- theaters turned into evangelical churches, bookshops, banks, restaurants, a swimming pool."--Richard Schickel, Wilson Quarterly, The boarded-up movie theaters in Michael Putnam's Silent Screens wear their faded glamour like battered hats. Putnam's photographs, taken with an 8 by 10 view camera, are starkly formalistic: the boxy, Art Deco theaters are largely shot head-on and centrally placed in the frame, making the viewer conscious of minute variations in detail and texture. The stylized neon marquees that read 'Ritz,' 'Lux,' or 'Judy' contrast with the blank peeling facades, as if we can see the dream palace that once was and the shell it has become., "Takes us back to the wonderful world of the small hometown theater -- not as they were but what they have become. A wonderful chronicle of a time when twenty-five cents was the price of an afternoon of entertainment and a soda."-- Route 66 Magazine, Michael Putnam's strikingly beautiful photographs document American movie theaters and the passing of that era in American culture. They penetrate the barrier that traditionally separates significant aesthetic achievement and historical events. Such is the contribution, historically, of great documentary photography., These poignant and often distressing pictures of boarded-up neighborhood bijous speak volumes about main-street moviegoing in decades past, as opposed to the multiplex experience of today.

Dewey Decimal791.43/0973

Table Of ContentPreface Acknowledgments Introduction Chapter 1. The Plates Chapter 2. From Film Flam Chapter 3. Old Dreams Chapter 4. A Remembrance Chapter 5. Demolitions Noted Chapter 6. The Pekin Theater Chapter 7. A Wake Chapter 8. Conversations Noted Chapter 9. Silent Screens in a New Century Chapter 10. From "Movie-Going" Conclusion Contributors

SynopsisThe single-screen movie theaters that punctuated small-town America's main streets and city neighborhoods since the 1920s are all but gone. The well-dressed throng of moviegoers has vanished; the facades are boarded. In Silent Screens, photographer Michael Putnam captures these once prominent cinemas in decline and transformation. His photographs of abandoned movie houses and forlorn marquees are an elegy to this disappearing cultural icon. In the early 1980s, Putnam began photographing closed theaters, theaters that had been converted to other uses (a church, a swimming pool), theaters on the verge of collapse, theaters being demolished, and even vacant lots where theaters once stood. The result is an archive of images, large in quantity and geographically diffuse. Here is what has become of the Odeons, Strands, and Arcadias that existed as velvet and marble outposts of Hollywood drama next to barbershops, hardware stores, and five-and-dimes. Introduced by Robert Sklar, the starkly beautiful photographs are accompanied by original reminiscences on moviegoing by Peter Bogdanovich, Molly Haskell, Andrew Sarris, and Chester H. Liebs as well as excerpts from the works of poet John Hollander and writers Larry McMurtry and John Updike. Sklar begins by mapping the rise and fall of the local movie house, tracing the demise of small-town theaters to their role as bit players in the grand spectacle of Hollywood film distribution. "Under standard distribution practice," he writes, "a new film took from six months to a year to wend its way from picture palace to Podunk (the prints getting more and more frayed and scratched along the route). Even though the small-town theaters and their urban neighborhood counterparts made up the majority of the nation's movie houses, their significance, in terms of revenue returned to the major motion-picture companies that produced and distributed films, was paltry." In his essay, "Old Dreams," Last Picture Show director Peter Bogdanovich recalls the closing of New York City's great movie palaces--the mammoth Roxy, the old Paramount near Times Square, the Capitol, and the Mayfair--and the more innocent time in which they existed "when a quarter often bought you two features, a newsreel, a comedy short, a travelogue, a cartoon, a serial, and coming attractions." While the images in Putnam's book can be read as a metaphor for the death of many downtowns in America, Silent Screens goes beyond mere nostalgia to tell the important story of the disappearance of the single-screen theater, illuminating the layers of cultural and economic significance that still surround it. "These photographs and the loss of which they speak signal the passing of a way of being together." --Molly Haskell List of Theaters by State Alabama - The Lyric, Anniston - The Martin, Huntsville Arizona - The Duncan, Duncan Arkansas - The Avon, West Memphis California - The Town, Los Angeles - El Capitan, San Francisco - The State, Santa Barbara Connecticut - The Dixwell Playhouse, New Haven - The Princess, New Haven Florida - The Gateway, Lake City Georgia - The Judy, Hartwell Idaho - The Ace, Wendell Illinois - The Pekin, Pekin Indiana - The Rem, Remington - The Ritz, Rensselaer Kansas - The Cameo, Kansas City Kentucky - The Crescent, Louisville - The Ohio, Louisville Louisiana - The Madison, Madisonville - The Sabine, Many - The Jefferson, New Orleans Massachusetts - The Strand, Westfield Michigan - The Liberty, Benton Harbor Mississippi - The Magee, Magee - The Star, Mendenhall - The Mono, Monticello - The Park, Pelahatchie Missouri - The Star, Warrensburg Nebraska - The Grand, Grand Isle New Jersey - RKO Proctor's Palace, Newark New Me, The single-screen movie theaters that punctuated small-town America's main streets and city neighborhoods since the 1920s are all but gone. The well-dressed throng of moviegoers has vanished; the facades are boarded. In Silent Screens, photographer Michael Putnam captures these once prominent cinemas in decline and transformation. His photographs ......

LC Classification NumberPN1993.5.U6P885 2000