What Is the History of the Movie Theater?
Movie theaters began to appear in the late 1800s and became one of the most highly successful entertainment models throughout the twentieth century. Featuring a movie projector that could show a film to a large amount of people, movie theaters replaced personal motion picture viewers known as nickelodeons. Movie theaters had a number of modifications over the years.
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The First Movie Theater
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A vacant retail store was converted into the first movie theater on June 26, 1896. Called Vitascope Hall, it was located on Canal Street in New Orleans, Louisiana. The theater featured a vitascope projector purchased from Thomas Edison's company.
Feature Films
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Following the success of the feature film market, which was established in 1915 with the release of "The Birth of a Nation," a number of theaters began to open throughout the country. These theaters focused on elaborate architectural layout and featured perks such as air conditioning.
Antitrust Lawsuit
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1948 saw a change in movie theater management structure. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the United States v. Paramount Pictures, broke up the major studio control over movie theater chains throughout the country.
B-Movies
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The 1970s saw the rise of two new format theaters: the second-run theater and the porn theater. The second-run theater showed films that were older or B-quality for a discounted price. Porn theaters became highly popular during the decade until the cost-effectiveness of the VHS market changed the industry.
The Megaplex
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The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the rise of the megaplex theaters. These movie theaters featured stadium seating and multiple screens that used digital audio--and occasionally digital projectors--to give the audience a larger-than-life experience.
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