The History of the Movie Palace
For the skeptical, these palaces were designed with a proscenium to accommodate both live performances and film. Qualifying features included 1,000 seats, a stage with fly loft, a balcony, dressing rooms, and an orchestra pit. To evoke images of romantic, far-away places, architectural styles were indicative of the Mediterranean, the Byzantine Empire, the Mayan, as well as, Aztec Mexico, Central America and Egypt, among others. The History of the Saenger theater
One of only 7 Saenger theaters built and operated throughout the South by the Saenger brothers, Abe and Julian, the theater was designed by New Orleans architect Emile Weile. It is one of Mississippi’s 2 examples of the movie-palace type and exhibits characteristics typical of the Neo-Classical Revival Style and Art Deco Style. Today, the prized jewel in the theater is its original 778-pipe Robert Morton Pipe Organ, one of the only Robert Morton organs in the United States still in its original position. Upon the completion of a 3.75 million dollar renovation in 2000, the Saenger theater entertains modern-day audiences, much to its original grandeur. |
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In the late-19th Century, silent moving pictures were viewed in small
“nickelodeons.” In 1910, the first large “palatial” theater opened in Paris,
France. Sound arrived in 1927, the same year that the magnificent “Roxy”
opened in New York City. Soon giant film companies had emerged and by 1929,
the formula for the movie palace was established!
To much fanfare, the Saenger theater opened on Thanksgiving Day, 1929.
Admission was just $.06 for children. Dazzling audiences with features like
the pipe organ and the main chandelier above the ground-floor seating area,
this movie palace was something special to behold!