An Acre of Entertainment for the Entire Community: Rapp & Rapp’s Paramount Theatre in Charlottesville, Virginia

Abstract

JAMES TIPPECONNIC FOX Figure 4 Rapp & Rapp, Paramount Theatre, Charlottesville, Virginia, 1931, Main Street facade ca 1964, example of a stand-alone movie palace (Photograph courtesy of the Theatre Historical Society of America) 38 ARRIS I VOLUME NI NETE EN 2008 JAMES TIPPECONNIC FOX AN ACRE OF ENTERTAINMENT FOR THE ENTIRE COMMUNITY: RAPP & RAPP'S PARAMOUNT THEATRE IN CHARLOTTESVILLE, VIRGINIA JASON TIPPECONI\JIC FOX T he 1931 opening of the Paramount Theatre in Charlottesville, Virginia, brought the small college tovvn a luxurious and modern standard of moviegoing previously only available to audiences in the region's largest cities. Designed by C. \V & Geo. L. Rapp of Chicago and New York ("Rapp & Rapp"), one of the nation's foremost firms specializing in the type, the Paramount is representative of the careful adaptation of the movie palace typology to local conditions. This process , which is frequently overlooked in studies of the type, was integral to the proliferation of movie palaces across the country. Rapp & Rapp accomplished this by balancing a strict adherence to the typology's proven functional and stylistic formulas with deliberate responses to local circumstances and culture. In Charlottesville, this practice is illustrated by the Paramount's response to three themes: function, architectural taste, and culture. Functionally, the Paramount relied on established formulas employed by movie-palace architects across the country-profitably adapting the typology's complex requirements to the community's size and built environment . The Paramount established an immediate connection with Charlottesville audiences by foregoing the Art Deco designs characteristic of the chain's contemporary movie palaces in favor of the locally popular Colonial Revival. Culturally, the Paramount strove to reconcile the "democratic" ideals associated with the type to the city's racial segregation. THE MOVIE PALACE·Movie palaces emerged between the mid-191 Os and the early 1920s in response to the functional requirements unique to the emerging medium of film. Shaped by economic concerns, movie palaces bad to continually attract large crowds of moviegoers and accommodate them in a complex assortment of spaces squeezed onto irregular plots of prime real estate. 1 The type emerged from the work of a number of architects, notably Thomas vV. Lamb in the Northeast and Rapp & Rapp in the :Midwest, working on behalf of rival exhibitors. vVithin the context of the careers of these architects, who, along with John Eberson, founded the three most prominent firms specializing in the type, movie palaces reached the height of their construction during the 1920s before falling out of favor in the United States after 1932.2 vVhile there is no standard definition of what constitutes a movie palace, such theatres typically shared a number of characteristics in relation to decor, function, service, and amenities.3 These elements distinguished them from other types of motion-picture theatres and together defined a distinct moviegoing experience. Architecturally, movie palaces were characterized by ornate decor in varying exotic, historicist, or modern styles meant to attract patrons and convey an atmosphere of escapism. Functionally, they accommodated at least 1,000 patrons and contained luxurious lobbies, foyers, VOL UM E I ~.ETE.E 2008 I ARRIS 39 JAMES TIPPECONNIC FO X and lounges to comfortably hold waiting audiences. Their auditoriums featured unobstructed sightlines and good acoustics and provided for live performances. The experience of the movie palace went beyond the building itself to encompass the services of teams of uniformed ushers, the sounds of theatre organs, a variety of live entertainment programs, and amenities such as museumquality art and furnishings. These attractions, as noted by David Naylor, made movie palaces not only sources of entertainment but also community gathering places.4 CHARLOTTESVILLE'S MOVIE PALACE On December 11, 1930, Charlottesville's newspaper, the Dai£y Progress, announced that a deal had been finalized for the construction of the town's first movie palace.'> Local investors Hollis Reinhart and Percival H. Faulconer spearheaded the effort to construct the theatre, which would be part of the Paramount-Publix Corporation's Publix theatre chain. They hoped to capitalize on Charlottesville's need for a motion-picture palace of the type found in the region's larger cities, such as Norfolk, Richmond, and \'Vashington, D.C. Reinhart and Faulconer assembled a half-acre site bordered by :Main, 1\tfarket...