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Based
on the discussions of the Paramounts aesthetics it is clear that
the designers wanted to convey the idea that the Paramount was
high-tech and avant guarde. However while the attention to aesthetics
changed over time, the attention to technology in movie theatres
remained consistent. Architectural theatre historians like DavidNaylor, Dane Lankin,
and John Lindsay have all argued that this combination of technology and
aesthetics were what initially attracted people to the theatres.[18]
Before its opening debut, the Imperial’s signs advertised
itself as “an up-to-date picture palace” with “ motion photo
plays” and “the world’s newest and greatest musical sensation”
(the mighty Wurlitzer - the first big movie-house organ in Montreal).
(Fig 3.1) People were clearly interested in what the Imperial had
to offer; in it’s opening week, the Montreal Standard reported “a
dense and continuous crowd of visitors such as has not fallen to the lot
of any other establishment in the city.”[19]
Demand
for the theatre increased as new technologies were installed.
Both the Palace and Imperial theatres made renovations in 1928
and 1929 to become the first theatres in Montreal to present films in
sound.[20]
(Fig 3.2) “So great has been the public’s response.” noted an
article in the 1930 Montreal Star “ that today every picture house of
any note is equipped with sound apparatus or is being wired’ for
it.”[21]
The advent of television created a sharp decline in the demand
for theatres across Montreal. Annual
statistics showing the average number of seats per theatre and average
revenue per theatre signal decline in attendance beginning in the mid
1950's.[22]
Theatre owners responded to waning demand by renovating their
theatres and equipping them with newer technologies.
In 1953 and 1954 both the Palace and Imperial converted their
theatres to the large twenty-one metre curved screen Cinerama /
Cinemascope system. (Fig 3.3) This
technological advance involving three projectors was a novelty intended
to boost sagging attendance. Initially,
the response was enthusiastic - the first film shown at the Imperial -
“this is Cinerama” played for sixty-eight weeks.[23]
However the novelty soon wore off and film attendance continued
to drop. Subsequently
the Cinerama / Cinemascope system disappeared from theatres by the mid
1960's.
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