The Roxy Theatre was perhaps the greatest movie palace of the 1920s. Check out my blog: unpublishedhist... Follow me on Instagram: www.instagram.... Follow me on Twitter: / the1920schannel
The Roxy was a destination as much as a place to see films. Part of the experience was the building when patrons were treated as kings. When did humanity decide beauty was no longer needed? When did we start to accept the soulless public buildings we face? Going to a modern multiplex is like a rat skulking into a box rather than being treated like you are special truly our ancestors were lucky to experience theatre, railway stations, shops, work places that were things of beauty that enhanced life and raised spirits- the architecture we now settle for says so much about our world now
Second comment. Just caught the fact that this theater actually had a functioning "hospital," complete with operating room, within its walls. (Along with gymnasium, showers, club and meeting rooms, etc., etc.) Incredible.
It’s the same in my country we had some stunning cinemas built before WW2. They took the queue from America and had some incredible cinemas so many now gone.
Thank you for that particular segment. I really appreciate all of your segments but this one in particular really touched me as my late father used to go to the Roxy back in the 1930’s and up to early 1942 before he joined the Navy. It truly was a magnificent building and it gives me an insight into what my Dad saw and enjoyed. Thank you very very much for that glimpse into the past of my father.
I just love this. Thanks so much for posting! It's so consummately Twenties. (By the way, I loved your preservation of so much of your great-grandmother's diaries and photos. What treasures you have there.)
There exists a fantastic foto of Gloria Swanson standing in the rumble of the theater after the Wrecking Ball did its destruction. She had premiered some of most famous films in the Roxy.
This is truly a beautiful work of architecture. I would guess the amount of elevators for various purposes and the latest technology. The Roxy theater then would have been the equivalent of a Las Vegas, Cirque de Soleil theater today. I was wondering if the theater was used solely for motion pictures or did they have live stage theater as well?
And when I heard it mentioned in "Annie" I just thought of it as a normal theater. The Roxy was so elaborate it might as well have been developed by Warbucks himself in their universe! Leapin' Lizards! :-)
What’s playin’ at the Roxy? I’ll tell ya what’s playin’ at the Roxy: picture about a Minnesota man so in love with a Mississippi girl that he sacrifices everything and moves all the way to Biloxi… Dat’s what’s playin’ at the Roxy!
Roxy ran out of money during the construction. William Fox supplied the cash necessary to complete the building but that cost Roxy control of his masterpiece.
It will forever cause me pain to know that monumental, gorgeous theater was razed. What a sin. My parents went there to see Johhny Ray and Louis Prima/Keely Smith in the early '50's and rave about it. Well, they gutted the Paramount and were actually days away from razing Radio City Music Hall in the '70's, so I guess it's not a shock. So sad.
Just like when they tore down the beautiful Pennsylvania Station. People realized their mistake when it was too late. Very sad to see history destroyed.
@@TheJd195555 A sad note about Penn Station is that it was actually realized very soon after it was built that it was way too much money and work to maintain the building. That's why when you look at it in later years, in and out it was soot black. the place's days were numbered. Today, with efficient means to do maintenance, it would probably not be nearly as much of a burden.
wow thats huge, so that is what the roxy looked like, grander then even the ornamentation of some of the pictures of european theaters I have seen, grand is the only world that suites it, a shame it was torn down without reguard all in the name of progress, at least though we have radio city, the music box and the new amsterdam still, and people have learned to look and say wait this is grand, this is part of our ethos and soul of the city, we need to save this. another historic loss was penn station that was torn down without reguard and some say the main force to prompt saving the grand old buildings I have heard said, from a time when we used to build things with form and theme, and something that had meaning, not the cement boxes of the post modern era, and at least they started putting some ornaments and at least nice brickwork or printed facodes back into buildings though not all of them, some are still glass monsters, but at least some style is starting to come back, or old buildings repurposed or old elements reincorporated into the new buildings that replaced what was torn down or rennovated. but hardly a photo could be found about the old roxy theater.
The atmosphere was, like 3d film, If the movie was bad, then at least the surroundings were pleasant. But guess what happened out of this palace of a theater? A small little screen was used to show the movies.
Yes but, along with that small little screen (which didn't seem small to audiences of that era), one also got a 110 piece orchestra, an organ manned by three organists simultaneously, a stage show featuring the Roxyettes, The Roxy ballet troupe, and the Roxy soloists; typically for about $15.00 or so in today's money.
Why is every picture of it's construction devoid of people? Something so massive built in a world shatteringly short space of time would not ever have a day with no people working on it. It's clearly an old building. Had to be removed.
So typically American........ *OBSCENE OSTENTATION!* The cinema theatre here tries to be the feature itself when it is the movie currently screening that people come to see. This is not to say that a cinema theatre should appear reasonable in its aesthetics but theatre itself is not, and never was the "star of the show".
The Pantages and El Capitan, in Hollywood, beautifully restored by Disney, give we moderns the ability to see why such elaborate decor made sense. Cinema and Theater are akin to dream. And a dreamlike place is a beautiful setting in which to experience such imagery. It’s great to enter a place with active beauty of its own to catch the eye. There is a time and place for maximalism and entertainment benefits from the feeling that this place is built for your imagination, not practicality.
I believe it was Marcus Loew who was quoted as saying, "People don't buy tickets to the movies, they buy tickets to the theatre." At the time, radio in its infancy, no TV much less cell phone to entertain; the escape was at the movie palace, and this one was gargantuan. Note, Roxy was the original creator of Radio City, until he was forced out. So, to counter your suggestion that the theatre was never the star of the show....oh yes it was, over and over again through the 1920's as they built bigger and bigger, and more decorative and/or outlandish movie palaces. I live in Atlanta, Thanks to all those who saved the Fox.
![[TH] 2024 PMSL SEA Finals D1 | Fall | ยิงต้องโหด ให้เหมือนโกรธกันมาก่อน](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/OnTdfGySmds/mqdefault.jpg)
The Roxy was a destination as much as a place to see films. Part of the experience was the building when patrons were treated as kings. When did humanity decide beauty was no longer needed? When did we start to accept the soulless public buildings we face? Going to a modern multiplex is like a rat skulking into a box rather than being treated like you are special truly our ancestors were lucky to experience theatre, railway stations, shops, work places that were things of beauty that enhanced life and raised spirits- the architecture we now settle for says so much about our world now
Second comment. Just caught the fact that this theater actually had a functioning "hospital," complete with operating room, within its walls. (Along with gymnasium, showers, club and meeting rooms, etc., etc.) Incredible.
How truly sad this magnificent theater and so many others in once-vibrant downtowns were so carelessly destroyed!! Great video!
Not many 'Picture Palaces' from the 1920s left these days.
@@prudencepineapple9448 You're quite correct. And it may be partly due to the abysmal quality of contemporary Hollywood movies!!
@@louislamonte334 Hard to argue against that. Hollywood quality is poor at best.
Better to be destroyed than to rot without being used
@@d4c_reznor470 Not really. If it still exists it has the potential for restoration and resuse!
I would love to see these theater pic's colorized! I can only imagine how Grand they'd be in color
It’s the same in my country we had some stunning cinemas built before WW2. They took the queue from America and had some incredible cinemas so many now gone.
Thank you for that particular segment. I really appreciate all of your segments but this one in particular really touched me as my late father used to go to the Roxy back in the 1930’s and up to early 1942 before he joined the Navy. It truly was a magnificent building and it gives me an insight into what my Dad saw and enjoyed. Thank you very very much for that glimpse into the past of my father.
Wow, cool!
Thank you.
Joni Mitchell once said 'you don't know what you got till it's gone'.
I just love this. Thanks so much for posting! It's so consummately Twenties. (By the way, I loved your preservation of so much of your great-grandmother's diaries and photos. What treasures you have there.)
Seattle's Crystal Pool Natatorium was quite the place here in 1916!
There exists a fantastic foto of Gloria Swanson standing in the rumble of the theater after the Wrecking Ball did its destruction. She had premiered some of most famous films in the Roxy.
This is truly a beautiful work of architecture. I would guess the amount of elevators for various purposes and the latest technology. The Roxy theater then would have been the equivalent of a Las Vegas, Cirque de Soleil theater today.
I was wondering if the theater was used solely for motion pictures or did they have live stage theater as well?
And when I heard it mentioned in "Annie" I just thought of it as a normal theater. The Roxy was so elaborate it might as well have been developed by Warbucks himself in their universe! Leapin' Lizards! :-)
What’s playin’ at the Roxy? I’ll tell ya what’s playin’ at the Roxy: picture about a Minnesota man so in love with a Mississippi girl that he sacrifices everything and moves all the way to Biloxi… Dat’s what’s playin’ at the Roxy!
Roxy ran out of money during the construction. William Fox supplied the cash necessary to complete the building but that cost Roxy control of his masterpiece.
It will forever cause me pain to know that monumental, gorgeous theater was razed. What a sin. My parents went there to see Johhny Ray and Louis Prima/Keely Smith in the early '50's and rave about it. Well, they gutted the Paramount and were actually days away from razing Radio City Music Hall in the '70's, so I guess it's not a shock. So sad.
Just like when they tore down the beautiful Pennsylvania Station. People realized their mistake when it was too late. Very sad to see history destroyed.
@@TheJd195555 A sad note about Penn Station is that it was actually realized very soon after it was built that it was way too much money and work to maintain the building. That's why when you look at it in later years, in and out it was soot black. the place's days were numbered. Today, with efficient means to do maintenance, it would probably not be nearly as much of a burden.
The1920sChannel, will you do anything on the Royal Family during the 1920s? RIP Queen Elizabeth II
A truly sad loss.
Must have cost an absolute fortune!
Wow 6000 seat theater they must have had plays, music ect as well as movies. It seem 1920s design was over the top in the best way.
Or that they are all false narratives to explain old buildings that were stolen and repurposed.
I'd love to know what happened to the theater's music library after the Roxy was sold and demolished. Anybody?
How did he honestly think he was going to recoup his investment on this?
wow thats huge, so that is what the roxy looked like, grander then even the ornamentation of some of the pictures of european theaters I have seen, grand is the only world that suites it, a shame it was torn down without reguard all in the name of progress, at least though we have radio city, the music box and the new amsterdam still, and people have learned to look and say wait this is grand, this is part of our ethos and soul of the city, we need to save this. another historic loss was penn station that was torn down without reguard and some say the main force to prompt saving the grand old buildings I have heard said, from a time when we used to build things with form and theme, and something that had meaning, not the cement boxes of the post modern era, and at least they started putting some ornaments and at least nice brickwork or printed facodes back into buildings though not all of them, some are still glass monsters, but at least some style is starting to come back, or old buildings repurposed or old elements reincorporated into the new buildings that replaced what was torn down or rennovated. but hardly a photo could be found about the old roxy theater.
The atmosphere was, like 3d film, If the movie was bad, then at least the surroundings were pleasant. But guess what happened out of this palace of a theater? A small little screen was used to show the movies.
Yes but, along with that small little screen (which didn't seem small to audiences of that era), one also got a 110 piece orchestra, an organ manned by three organists simultaneously, a stage show featuring the Roxyettes, The Roxy ballet troupe, and the Roxy soloists; typically for about $15.00 or so in today's money.
@@biggerock Yes back then they paid their employees and entertainers and projectionists starving wages
@@michaelmcgee8543 Please let me see your data on that.
Why is every picture of it's construction devoid of people? Something so massive built in a world shatteringly short space of time would not ever have a day with no people working on it. It's clearly an old building. Had to be removed.
Didn't you have this before? Next time talk about the famous Market girls later known as the Rockettes.
Didn't even last 35 years.
I'm sure it lasted much longer. We certainly didn't build it.
So typically American........ *OBSCENE OSTENTATION!* The cinema theatre here tries to be the feature itself when it is the movie currently screening that people come to see. This is not to say that a cinema theatre should appear reasonable in its aesthetics but theatre itself is not, and never was the "star of the show".
The Pantages and El Capitan,
in Hollywood, beautifully restored by Disney, give we moderns the ability to see why such elaborate decor made sense. Cinema and Theater are akin to dream. And a dreamlike place is a beautiful setting in which to experience such imagery. It’s great to enter a place with active beauty of its own to catch the eye. There is a time and place for maximalism and entertainment benefits from the feeling that this place is built for your imagination, not practicality.
I believe it was Marcus Loew who was quoted as saying, "People don't buy tickets to the movies, they buy tickets to the theatre." At the time, radio in its infancy, no TV much less cell phone to entertain; the escape was at the movie palace, and this one was gargantuan. Note, Roxy was the original creator of Radio City, until he was forced out. So, to counter your suggestion that the theatre was never the star of the show....oh yes it was, over and over again through the 1920's as they built bigger and bigger, and more decorative and/or outlandish movie palaces. I live in Atlanta, Thanks to all those who saved the Fox.
What an ugly building! I hope it was demolished.
Oddly mean spirited ...... but this is the internet 😆
Think about the building in terms of the 1920’s . This channel is about that period in history . Blithe revisionism is not well received.
@@lowerclassbrats77 Well obviously it was ugly enough to demolish in 1960 apparently.
@@harryhanz1690 What?
@@shereesmazik5030 Whatever period it’s from, a mixture of Egyptian, Art Deco and Italianate architecture is ludicrous.