Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace

My wife and I had the pleasure of seeking this warm, loving hommage to movie palaces at Classic Cinema's York Theater in Elmhurst, IL -- with the added bonus of Director April Wright there to discuss the film afterwards.

It's a joy. My perspective might be tainted by seeing so many movie palaces of my youth again on the big screen -- and this film should be experienced on the big screen. The Granada, Riviera, Uptown, Music Box (still alive and very well), and the Avalon (aka New Regal) where I drove on a date for the first time. Like so many of the other palaces of then and now from around the nation featured in this film, the Avalon in Chicago's South Shore neighborhood still stand in all its glory. I had occasion to attend Avery Brooks' one man show of Paul Robeson there on the centennial of Robeson's birth, and it was amazing how much smaller this grand theater was -- compared to how huge it seemed when I was a kid.

If you remember the joy of seeing a film with hundreds of other movie goers, and remember the astounding over the top architecture of some of these movie palaces, see this film. If you never had the experience, see this film and you'll see why so many miss the movie palace of yore.

Nice look at old movie houses with plenty of historical info and tours of places that would be awesome to see. It's not going to blow your mind, but it's fine.

That's the title and that's pretty much what this is.... although I balk whenever something claims to be 'definitive'. Half of this is the usual talking heads -- including Leonard Maltin, of course -- and half the movie palaces themselves in varying states of survival. To keep visual interest, a lot of the shots of movie palaces are done with a moving camera.... or, in cases where only photographs survive, a moving photo.

The talking heads are the usual assortment of impassioned, sensible, and incoherent people. The point of this moving picture is, unsurprisingly, the pictures of the lost architectural wonders of the movie palaces. Built to show movies to audiences of as many as five thousand people at a time, when the time came when they could not be filled, they lost their purpose. Today, when even the most rabid movie fans are happier sitting at home, the communal aspect of audiences has been lost. We forget that having hundreds, even thousands of strangers sitting in the dark is not threatening. That they came to laugh or cry or cheer at the same thing, and do, is what makes communities, cities, even nations. When we lose places that can happen, we lose our sense of being a people.

A follow-up to Director April Wright's "Definitive" take on the American Drive-In, this Documentary is more of a survey of movie theaters, old and new, palatial and cozy and, inevitably, active, decaying or long gone. Some of these classic movie palaces were so monumental they are probably beyond the comprehension of generations of filmgoers who have only attended multiplexes. They were works of art just as much as they were functional facilities. To see many of them in a state of disrepair is sobering.

No fan of movie theaters will be disappointed in the photos, vintage films and new footage of these cinematic treasures. As a Doc, it's not terribly scholarly and it flits around from idea to idea, hopscotching around the history. There are some good interviews (the ever ready Leonard Maltin among them) to give perspective, while others seem to be included, just because the filmmakers had access to them.

Of course, nobody is seeing this to witness great filmmaking. It's the theaters that count - and they take center stage.

Available to stream for rent on Apple TV, Amazon and Google Play.

Certain decades are explored regarding the evolution of the movie palace in general, but there are several decades completely omitted. Most notably, the '30s and '40s when they thrived. I think this documentary would have been elevated if it not only focused on the genesis and decline of the movie palace but also on its heyday.

Other than that, I found it an interesting watch; and of course, seeing the amazing architecture in both original and decaying forms is a real testament to the magnificence of the movie palace as a whole, as an experience and not just a place. Although I enjoyed the interviews, it would have been nice to have heard from more than just a handful; but that's nitpicking.

I was left feeling terribly sad not just because of the unfortunate decline of the movie palace, but because it's a depressing reminder that we are more and more becoming a society of autonomous and anonymous individuals rather than a collective of our own race. Recommended for those who love movies and the nostalgia surrounding them.