Chickadees, the cinetrix apologizes for the lack of new content. The computer from which she illicitly posts during daylight hours has been bombarded by spyware, making it impossible to prop even one browser window open for long. The air is getting close and stale, and it's hard to breathe. [If you'd like to know how this makes me feel, I recommend you listen to that Mamet dance track again, at top volume.]
To tide you over until I can finally unleash and link my bile properly, here's a lovely site devoted to America's Picture Palaces. Learn some history and report back.
I'll leave you with an excerpt from the section on stage shows and the mighty wurlitzer [it's fun to say, isn't it?] to whet your appetite for learnin'.
The organs originally accompanied silent films and often included sound effects to simulate birds, horses, whistles, autos, fire engines, planes, hurricanes, surf, rain, telephones, doorbells, trolley bells, and smashing crockery. The most grandiose organs featured stops reading "Love (Mother)," "Love (Passion)," "Love (Romantic)," "Quietude," "Jealousy," "Suspense," "Happiness," "Hate," "Mysterious," "Ruesome," "Pathetic," and "Riot," lest theatergoers be in doubt about the emotional states of those onscreen.(2) The organ in Denver's Isis Theater even included a lightning machine. In 1926 famed theater organist Jesse Crawford designed what was generally acknowledged to be the "Queen Mother of All Wurlitzers" for the Paramount Theater in Times Square. When John Philip Sousa's band played a week at the Paramount, theater managers stationed trained nurses in the aisles "to assist those overcome by the sheer magnitude of sound when the Sousa Band, the Paramount Grand Orchestra, and Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Crawford at the twin consoles of the Mighty Wurlitzer all joined together in their rendition of "The Stars and Stripes Forever."(3) Crawford's achievement was eclipsed by the triple console organ at the Roxy in 1927, the Moller De Luxe at the Atlanta Fox in 1929, and the massive Wurlitzer at Radio City Music Hall in 1932.
