The Perils of Moviegoing in America

1896-1950

Gary D. Rhodes

• Publisher: Continuum
• Year: 2011
• Print ISBN: 9781441136107
• eBook ISBN: 9781441137999
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

During the first fifty years of the American cinema, the act of going to the movies was a risky process, fraught with a number of possible physical and moral dangers. Film fires were rampant, claiming many lives, as were movie theatre robberies, which became particularly common during the Great Depression. Labor disputes provoked a large number of movie theatre bombings, while low-level criminals like murderers, molesters, and prostitutes plied their trades in the darkened auditoriums. That was all in addition to the spread of disease, both real (as in the case of influenza) and imagined ("movie eyestrain").

Audiences also confronted an array of perceived moral dangers. Blue Laws prohibited Sunday film screenings, though theatres ignored them in many areas, sometimes resulting in the arrests of entire audiences. Movie theatre lotteries became another problem, condemned by politicians and clergymen throughout America for being immoral gambling.

The Perils of Moviegoing in America: 1896-1950 provides the first history of the many threats that faced film audiences, threats which claimed hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.

Endnotes

Introduction

1 “New York News: Panic in Theatre Follows a Fight,” Views and Film Index 25 April 1906: 1.

2 “Edison’s Latest Invention,” New York Times 26 April 1896: 10.

3 “Edison’s Vitascope Cheered,” New York Times 24 April 1896: 5.

4 See for example: “Exhibitor Tells How Storm Wreaked Havoc on Florida Theatres,” Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World 6 Oct 1928: 30; “Floods Close Theatres,” Film Daily 15 April 1926: 2; “Dixie Storms Hit 31 Theatres, as Industry Stages Flood Benefits,” Motion Picture Herald 11 April 1936: 44; “300 Theatres are Closed by Flood in Five States,” Motion Picture Herald 30 Jan 1937: 15, 18; “Profits of Wisconsin Theatres Buried Beneath Snow, Snow—and More Snow,” Exhibitors Herald-World 9 Feb 1928: 46.

5 “Storm Scares Patrons,” Film Daily 23 June 1926: 4.

6 “Brother of Local Man Owns Wrecked Theatre,” Stevens Point Daily Journal (Stevens Point, WI) 30 June 1924: 1.

7 From “Scenes in State Theatre Described by Wittnesses [sic],” Lorain Journal (Lorain, OH) 30 June 1924: 1, 3.

8 “List of Dead is Cut Down,” Nebraska State Journal (Lincoln, NE) 30 June 1924: 1.

9 “94 Known Dead in Ohio Storm,” Decatur Daily Review (Decatur, IL) 30 June 1924: 1. (Accurate numbers of the State Theatre casualties are difficult to ascertain. In “Scenes in State Theatre Described by Wittnesses,” Fire Chief David Hatt announced that 22 bodies were found. Other stories at the time—such as “94 Known Dead in Ohio Storm”–reported the number as 20. Later accounts insist the final death toll at the State was 15. See for example: Schmidlin, T. W. and Schmidlin, J. A. (1996), Thunder in the Heartland: A Chronicle of Outstanding Weather in Ohio. Kent, OH: Kent State UP: 256.)

10 See for example: “30 Injured as Theatre Ceiling Collapses,” Motion Picture Herald 26 Aug 1944: 38.

11 “When Panic is Not a Panic,” Motion Picture News 30 Aug 1919: 1796.

12 “10 Patrons Injured When Plaster Falls; Prompt Action Saves 2,000 from Panic,” Exhibitors Herald-World 14 Jan 1928: 12.

13 “Fires and Robberies,” Billboard 3 May 1930: 37. (While the Palace Theatre of Brooklyn was still under construction in 1914, the projection booth collapsed, killing one employee. See “Killed by Falling Booth,” Moving Picture World 10 Oct 1914: 164.)

14 In 1919, for example, some patrons at a theatre in Arizona were injured when the “ceiling over the balcony fell” (“Ceiling Falls on Patrons,” Exhibitors Herald and Motography 19 July 1919: 34). In 1944, “chunks of the ceiling” fell on the audience of Oklahoma City’s State Theatre (“Ceiling Hail Routs Theatre Audience,” Daily Oklahoman [Oklahoma City, OK] 25 Aug 1944: 6).

15 “Wall and Roof Collapse; 11 are Killed Instantly, Number Injured in Crash So Far Unobtainable,” Winchester Sun (Winchester, KY) 11 March 1948: 1, 2; “Death List Now Totals One Dozen,” Winchester Sun 12 March 1918: 1, 2.

16 “Theatre Disaster in Washington,” Ogden Standard-Examiner (Ogden City, UT) 30 Jan 1922: 4.

17 “Hundred, Dead or Injured, Buried Under Ruins as Roof of Knickerbocker Theatre Collapses; Rescuers Battle Storm That Paralyzes City,” Washington Post 29 Jan 1922: 1, 2.

18 Ibid: 2. See also “2 Boys Who Saw Theatre’s Roof Buckle Tell of Crash,” Washington Post 31 Jan 1922: 2.

19 “Horror Hampers Aid as Volunteers Dig,” Washington Post 29 Jan 1922: 1.

20 “Finds Four Sitting Corpses in Seats,” Washington Post 30 Jan 19...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Endnotes
• Copyright