Detroit's Theatre Architect C. Howard Crane

[Gistok]

And here is a video clip of "visitors" to the United Artists Theatre and Building.... and shows the surviving ornate plasterwork...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4MHZHpU-is

[Gistok]

... and here is the theatre interior since a new roof was added about 3 years ago and has sealed off further corrosion... as well as the building being sealed to keep out trespassers.

[Gistok]

Is there hope for the United Artists Theatre/Building? Apparently Ilitch Holding spent a lot of money to mothball the complex... albeit after much decay under their ownership. Some have suggested that maybe Dan Gilbert may want this space in the future... or that it will be tied into an arena complex nearby. All speculation at this point.

We don't know. But because of its' comparative small size [[2,000 seats), to bring it back to life would not be as monumental of a task as was the Detroit Opera House [[twice the theatre's size), where 90% of the plasterwork was replace. But there has to be a "need" for another venue, before that can happen.

Next up... C. Howard Crane's masterpieces... the Detroit, St. Louis and Brooklyn Fox Theatres....

[Gistok]

When William Fox head of 20th Century Fox Studios started his own theatre chain, he wanted to make a huge statement by building a group of over-the-top flagship theatres. Of these 5 flagship theatres, C. Howard Crane got the commission to design 3 of the 5, with the San Francisco Fox going to New York architect Thomas Lamb, and the Atlanta Fox going to a small local architectural firm.

These 5 theatres opened between 1928 and 1929. There was the 4,651 seat San Francisco Fox [[opened in 1929) by Thomas Lamb [[razed 1963, the largest theatre ever on the west coast).

There was also the 4,678 seat Atlanta Fox [[opened in 1929) by Maryre, Alger & Venour [[performing arts, the largest theatre ever in the south).

There was the 4,088 Brooklyn Fox [[opened in 1928) by C. Howard Crane [[razed 1971, largest theatre in the NYC outlying boroughs).

There was the 4,500 seat St. Louis Fox [[opened in 1929) by C. Howard Crane [[performing arts, the largest theatre ever in America's heartland), a near twin of the Detroit Fox.

And finally... there was the 5,174 Detroit Fox [[opened Sept. 21, 1928) by C. Howard Crane [[performing arts, the largest theatre ever in the Great Lakes region, and largest surviving of all 1920s movie palaces in the world).

[Gistok]

Before I get to Crane's commissions, I wanted to mention a few other facts. A 6th theatre was in the planning works in 1929, but William Fox was in a serious auto accident that laid him up for 6 months, and by the time he was back at work... the stock market started its' 1929 slide towards the depression. This 6th theatre, in Philadelphia, would have likely been the size of the Detroit Fox. Supposedly it was supposed to have 6,000 seats, but all the literature of the Detroit Fox in the late 1920s, also hyped 6,000 seats for our theatre as well.

Also, Manhattan never received a mammoth Fox Theatre because William Fox took over booking for the 5,800 seat Roxy Theatre, the largest of the 1920s movie palaces [[razed 1961).

And in Chicago, the firm of Balaban & Katz had such a firm hold of bookings in Chicago, that Fox somehow never planned a theatre there.

[Gistok]

Of the 5 mammoth Fox theatres, the San Francisco Fox was the first to go... it was razed in 1963. Although it was a great loss... the news accounts of the time somehow weren't that sad about it.... this 8 minute video has the first minute discussing the organ, with the rest the demise of the theatre...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8o90jvKRec

A very sad loss...

The William Swain collection of old San Francisco Fox Theatre images contains colorized versions [[as well as b/w). This shows the overpowering beauty of the San Francisco Fox.

http://www.historigraphics.com/fox/s...llection.shtml

The one valid complaint that theatre architects had about the San Francisco Fox was that the auditorium and grand lobby ceiling were actually curved flat spaces with stenciled designs to make it appear as 3 dimensional opulence. This costly omission freed up extra money for adding over-the-top ornamentation in other parts of the theatre. One can hardly complain...

[Gistok]

Now that we covered the sad almost heartbreakingly beautiful San Francisco Fox, here's a cheerful story about the 4,658 seat Atlanta Fox, which still survives in all its' glory.

Known as the "Xanadu of Dixie" and the "Mecca on Peachtree Street"... the Atlanta Fox started its' history as the Atlanta version of a Masonic Temple. The Atlanta folks, realizing that they could never finish such grand plans, finally got William Fox to be involved with their project, and his deep pockets saw that it was completed. The local architectural firm of Maryre, Alger & Venour designed this beautiful building. This was the only one of the 5 large Fox theatres not designed by a famous national chain... but no one could really complain!

Since it doubled as a Masonic Temple, there were many meeting and lodge rooms in the labyrinthine structure. The predominant styles were Arabic and Egyptian. Here is a Wiki background on the complex...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_The...anta,_Georgia)

The Atlanta Fox is America's largest "atmospheric theatre" [[at 4,658 seats, hundreds more than the runner up San Antonio Majestic atmospheric theatre).

Here are some images of this well maintained theatre, that all of Atlanta is proud of...

1) Aerial shot showing the maze of different parts of the structure.
2) View of the theatre entrance... this understated, almost dwarf-like entrance with only a 3 story vertical blade sign leaves patrons unprepared for the marvels within.
3) The "Arabian Nights" auditorium with the "gem encrusted" curtain that sparkles in the "moonlight" of the atmospheric effect.
4) The "stonework" plaster sidewalls underneath a "nighttime sky" help the illusion of being in a secluded 1000 year old outdoor amphitheatre. Special machinery can cast stars and clouds passing overhead, so great is the effect of illusion that atmospheric movie palaces possess.
5) looking towards the back of the house and the soaring balcony. The awnings above the balcony have 2 functions... 1) make it appear like a real canopy, and 2) hide the ventilation vents of the auditorium.

Now that we've taken a little theatre detour... next up... C. Howard Crane's greatest theatre architectural masterpieces...

[Gistok]

One other thing about William Fox... his wife was Eve Leo Fox, a designer in her own right. She wanted desperately to be involved in the palatial decorations of his 5 mammoth movie palaces. Thomas Lamb, the designer of the San Francisco Fox did everything he could to stay away from her and "kept her at arms length", since he had his own ideas about decorating his French Baroque/Rococo masterpiece.

But it appears that C. Howard Crane [[Detroit, St. Louis and Brooklyn Fox) didn't seem to mind having her involved too much, and it appears that neither did the design team of the Atlanta Fox.

So Eve Leo Fox scoured the flea markets, auction houses and estate sales of Europe, and the Casbah's of north Africa and the Middle East, looking for furnishings and artwork to supply her husband's grandest movie palaces.

So when you hear the terms "all the glories of the east... far and near" when referring to the Detroit, St. Louis and Atlanta Fox Theatre's... it's partly due to Eve Leo Fox's good eye for exotic furnishings to fill the palaces. The "camel back" chairs on the mezzanine level of the grand lobbies of the Detroit and St. Louis Fox Theatre's are some of her acquisitions...

[Gistok]

When William Fox developed his 5 mammoth flagship theatres, he wanted the best organs for his leviathans. So naturally he went to the Wurlitzer Organ Company of North Tanawanda New York. Apparently the Atlanta Fox's organ was already planned before Fox took over the development of that theate in conjunction with the Masons [[and they got the largest Möller Organ in the world).

Fox ended up getting what were known as "Jesse Crawford Specials". Jesse Crawford was one of the most popular organists of the golden era of the 1920s, and eventually ended up at the New York Paramount Theatre [[razed 1964) in Times Square. Crawford personally gave specifics to Wurlitzer for his 4/36 organ back in 1926, and later Wurlitzer produced 4 identical organs for the Fox Theatre's in San Francisco, St. Louis, Detroit and Brooklyn.

Of these 4 organs, the Detroit Fox Wurlitzer is the only one still in its' original form, and perhaps some of our theatre organ specialists can talk more about the Detroit organ.

Only 4 theatre's in the world are known to have had independent lobby organs, and the Detroit, St. Louis and San Francisco Fox theatres are 3 of the 4. They had 3/21 Möller organs. Since the St. Louis Fox sold off its' lobby organ, and only later acquired another one, the Detroit Fox is the only theatre in the world that still has its' 2 original organs.

[Gistok]

The Brooklyn Fox...

Flatbush Ave. is one of the main streets in Brooklyn. And Brooklyn's version of a downtown reminds me of Detroit's New Center... but on a vastly larger scale... but there is, like in New Center, one very tall building [[the 512ft. tall Williamsburgh Bank Building) surrounded by a lot of midrise buildings. Nearby Crane built the 12 story Brooklyn Fox Building, on a triangular piece of land.

This triangular shape made for some challenges in a theatre design for architect C. Howard Crane. However, Crane was already up to the challenge, since 6 years earlier he had a similar challenge with the pie shaped plot of land for the Capitol Theatre on Grand Circus Park in Detroit.

Crane used a similar solution for the Brooklyn Fox, with a lobby that curved around the back of the auditorium, and had a mezzanine bridge cut this space in half, which allowed for better circulation space.

The Brooklyn Fox was originally planned on having 4,305 seats. But the final tally was 4,088. However, like all theatre owners... they liked to embellish their seat count, so they stayed with the 4,305 count.

It's very difficult to come up with a style type for the Brooklyn Fox. Although the auditorium looks a bit like Mexican Baroque, with the twisted columns, and curved opulent surfaces, the lobby spaces almost defy a label... just call it "Picture Palace Gothic"...

Like many theatre's around the country, the Brooklyn Fox was a movie theatre that later turned into a rock concert venue. It remained as a successful performance venue, until closing in the late 1960s. Sadly it was pounded to rubble in 1971, for another office building that still stands today.

1) The commercial heart of Brooklyn, with the Fox Theatre Building on the right.
2) An early design for the 12 story Brooklyn Fox Theatre, on a pie shaped site where several streets converged in the middle of Brooklyn.
3) Main entrance of the former Brooklyn Fox.
4) Curved grand lobby looking towards the entrance.
5) Curved grand lobby looking towards the mezzanine bridge.
6) Lobby ceiling ornate plaster details.
7) Auditorium with Procenium and Organ Grille.
8) Auditorium - house right, view underneath the mezzanine and balcony overhang.
9) Exotic view towards the back of the balcony.
10) Auditorium view from the stage, with mezzanine and balcony levels.
11) The unthinkable... destruction in 1971, to be replaced by a bland modern office building.

[Gistok]

The great 1920s movie palaces had "studio's" or workshops create their ornate plasterwork for the theatre's. Among these was Rambusch Studios, Michaelangelo Studios, and Conrad Schmitt Studios. Some of these firms still exist, and do theatre restorations, church restorations, and even state capitols, city halls and other public buildings from the era of ornate detailing.

Architect John Eberson [[designer of the late Grand Riviera on Grand River, and the surviving State Theatre in Kalamazoo and Capitol Theatre in Flint), who was famous for creating "atmospheric theatres"... was one of the first architects to "reuse" his theatre designs, but in different arrangements. This saved on both design work [[reuse parts of the design), but especially on the cost of creating plaster molds for the casts made of the ornate walls and ceilings in the movie palaces. Eberson's "Mediterranean courtyard" motif was reused and rearranged on dozens of his theatre commissions, with the architectural arrangement different, but reusing the same plaster designs and casts.

By the late 1920s C. Howard Crane used this same process, but on a grander scale. Many of the same plaster casts were used on his trio of United Artists Theatre's, but especially on his 3 grand Fox commissions. Among them, the Detroit and St. Louis Fox theatre's were nearly identical... except for the building they were in, and the treatment of the lobby and facade. This reuse of designs and molds was very economical, and was one reason why Crane was able to pack the side walls and ceilings of his theatres with so much ornate plasterwork.

The biggest mystery among his 3 Fox commissions was that with so much plasterwork and detailing to look at... it's a wonder that anyone had time to watch the movie!

Here is a rare image from the [[still under construction) Loew's Akron Theatre [[opened 1929, today called the Akron Civic) that shows the auditorium steel framework, with the stacks of ornate plaster stacked around the floor waiting for installation... it was like putting together a 3 dimensional puzzle!

[Gistok]

When C. Howard Crane got his commissions for the 2 massive 5000+ seat Fox Theatre's in Detroit and St. Louis, the other big movie palace architects must have had "size envy"...

Rapp & Rapp's largest commission was the 4,381 seat [[closed) on Chicago's north side. Although Thomas Lamb had his 1919 built Capitol Theatre in NYC [[5,200 seats, razed), it was a very tame early classical style theatre, and his next largest commission was the 4,651 seat San Francisco Fox, which he did splendidly. And John Eberson's largest commission was the 3,900 seat San Antonio Majestic.

So C. Howard Crane got his largest commissions at the very height of the late 1920s when "Picture Palace Gothic" ornate architecture was at its' all time finest. His 2 Fox masterpieces are his best work. He took the movie palace "Temple Style" design to a new height with over-the-top fancy plasterwork.

Although the 2 theatre's are nearly twins [[thus enabling Crane to lavish more attention on details, since the plaster molds were reused, thus allowing him to use the savings on even more ornate additions)... the facade's are quite different.

The St. Louis Fox is in a standalone building on Grand Ave., with an understated marquee and a small 3 story blade sign, and a large window [[surrounded by very richly designed terra cotta) over the entranceway.

The Detroit Fox's location in a lavishly decorated 10 story office tower, made for a fancy colorful marquee with an 8 story blade sign that soared along the building facade, and no window or any other architectural indication that a great theatre is behind the office tower [[except of course for the signage, and the 16 doors to the theatre).

Images...
1) STL Fox entrance facade with great window.
2) STL Fox facade along Grand Ave.
3) STL Fox facade at night [[with a new larger blade sign).
4) DET Fox facade with tall blade sign.
5) DET Fox facade at night.

Next... "all the glories of the east... far and near"...

[Gistok]

The differences between the Detroit and St. Louis Fox Theatre entrances on the inside...

With a great window, the St. Louis Fox has a large shade on the inside over the window, while the Detroit Fox [[with office corridors on each floor above the entrance) has faux organ pipes in plaster [[to tie in the fact that there is a 3/21 Möller Organ in the lobby)...

[beachboy]

Thank you for continuing this wonderful series!! Wow!!!!!

When William Fox developed his 5 mammoth flagship theatres, he wanted the best organs for his leviathans. [...] Apparently the Atlanta Fox's organ was already planned before Fox took over the development of that theate in conjunction with the Masons [[and they got the largest Möller Organ in the world).

Actually, it was M.P. Möller's largest theater organ - at 4 manuals and 42 ranks [[slightly altered since installation) the "Mighty Mo" [[as locals affectionately call her) is a combination of Romantically-voiced organ sounds and theater sounds. The console is monumental and heavily decorated with gold leaf:



Details of the organ: http://www.foxtheatre.org/mightmo.aspx

...the Detroit, St. Louis and San Francisco Fox theatres ... had 3/21 Möller [lobby] organs. Since the St. Louis Fox sold off its' lobby organ, and only later acquired another one, the Detroit Fox is the only theatre in the world that still has its 2 original organs.

The Detroit Fox lobby organ is played more often than the auditorium organ. The latter has an interesting history, which is too long for this post. The console is also heavily decorated:



It suffices to say that the Detroit Fox organ remains a controversial instrument more than 80 years after its installation; for instance, it was allegedly not completely finished tonally. The organ curator has been working on voicing, and it sounded better last I heard it [[to my ears, anyway, but others might disagree). A CD of the Detroit Fox organ played by theater organ virtuoso Simon Gledhill [[British organist) is advertised here:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Fox-Album-.../dp/B001ERISGG

This CD is referenced in an online comment from Detroit area theater organist extraordinaire John Lauter, at the following URL:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/51/comments

It had been a habit to call those 4-36 organs either “Fox specials” or “Crawford specials” and it turns out that those terms are nomenclature that organ enthusiasts developed, the factory referred to them as “4-36 specials” The first one went to the Paramount theatre in NYC, they weren’t called “Paramount specials”. Crawford himself refuted the claim that he designed that model, he stated that it was designed by someone at the factory and that he simply asked for certain stops, which they obliged. I played that performance on PHC [beachboy note: Prairie Home Companion, see below] from the slave console, which is located in the balcony colonnade, a half a city block and 35 feet up from center stage, where the guy’s all-star shoe band was playing! thanks to a wireless headset feeding me the show mix, we were all together. The Detroit Fox Wurlitzer is remarkably unchanged and intact, not visited by “Midnight Organ supply” in the least. The Moller lobby organ gets used far more often than the Wurlitzer in the auditorium, we play that for a lot of shows. It is in great condition, thanks to Roger Mumbrue and Dick Smith, the men who care for both organs. In terms of recordings made on the Detroit Fox Wurlitzer, There is the Reginald Foort 10" disc on the Cook label from 1952, Ed Gress on the Prescott[[?-senior moment)label from 1957, Ray Shelley 1960 Columbia LP, Don Thompson’s Pipe organ presentations LP from the 1980s and Simon Gledhill’s CD from 1995.

What John was referring to can be heard at the end of "Segment 2" of the
Prairie Home Companion, where he plays the organ intermission in the background, beginning at 01:04:36, and also responds musically to Garrison Keillor's narration at the beginning of Segment 3, from 01:08:45 to 01:15:48 --

http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/2010/02/27/

The Detroit Fox is truly a great theater. A huge THANK YOU to Gistok for posting this informative and entertaining series of articles on C. Howard Crane!!

[p69rrh51]

Although its not a Fox Wurlitzer, here is an image of the Fisher Theatre's Wurlitzer in the Factory in NY. Nice to see wear they all came from.

[Gistok]

Probably the most wonderful organ piece I can ever remember hearing is this one on the [[original 1928 installation) Detroit Fox 4/36 Wurlitzer Organ, played by Fox organist Dave Calendine.... [[just the first 2 minutes of this)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0rrR1n9l9I

[Gistok]

Several of the Fisher Brothers were organists in their family church, and they commissioned a unique 4/34 Wurlitzer Organ that had some functional features found on a church organ.

This unique one of a kind instrument was mercifully saved by Detroit area organ buffs, and is today in the Senate Theatre.

Here are 2 very colorful images of the Fisher organ console. The colorful Mayanesque design of this console is the way the interior of the old Fisher [[pre-1961) looked in brilliant shades of red, vermillion and gold.

[Gistok]

The St. Louis Fox was saved from demolition by a group of preservationists back in the early 1980s. They were able to raise the $3 million to restore the theatre [[much of the work was voluntary).

The Detroit Fox was also saved, but by Chuck Forbes, who owned it for many years, and finally sold it to the Ilitch family [[Little Caesars). The office tower became their HQ, and the theatre underwent a $12 million restoration in 1988.

The 2 separate restorations of almost identical theatres did provide some contrasts. The Ilitch's had deeper pockets, and did a finer restoration, but the St. Louis Fox also has its' own charm... and some features of their restoration are almost superior to that of the Detroit Fox.

Note: the image of the Detroit Fox lobby shows the doors on the main floor to the orchestra seats on either side of the staircase. The staircase took patrons to the mezzanine level box seats. At the 2 far ends of the main floor grand foyer [[behind the doors) there are stairs leading to the mezzanine and balcony. However, since the mezzanine today consists of private boxes, the way into the mezzanine is blocked... so patrons can only go from the main floor up to the balcony.

At the top of the mezzanine staircase is the entryway to the mezzanine. Above that entryway are windows behind which is the first balcony foyer. Above the staircase are 4 openings, that are grand lobby overlooks from the 2nd balcony foyer. A 3rd balcony foyer is located at back of the auditorium, and would be located above the middle of the lobby ceiling, but without a view of the grand lobby.

Here are 2 images of the lobbies...

[Gistok]

In some Detroit theatre's, such as Crane's Detroit Opera House and State/Fillmore, the largest lobby space was the inner Grand Foyer, which are each 3 stories high.

However, in his twin Detroit/St. Louis Fox designs, the outer lobby is so massive [[at 6 stories high), that it left little space for a large Grand Foyer between the lobby and auditorium. So each of the 2 Grand Foyers are only 1 story tall [[on the main floor level). Above that was a 1 story mezzanine foyer and above that was a 1 story balcony foyer. This arrangement was also found in the former Michigan Theatre [[a Rapp & Rapp design).

However, the twin Fox theatres did have a "figure 8" two story rotunda lobby on either end of the main floor grand foyer, and reach up into the mezzanine. These spaces, usually bathed in subdued light, cause some patrons some disorientation, since the 2 story rotunda's have glass ceilings, thus giving off the effect of a soaring 4 story space. This was another one of Crane's "trickery" that delighted theatre patrons.

[Gistok]

The auditoriums of the Detroit and St. Louis Fox Theatre's are easy enough to tell apart in a color image...

The Detroit auditorium has a more polished and gilded look, but in a rather monochromatic group of shades of yellow... and the side arches are back lit with cove lighting on the turquoise walls highlighting the architecture.

The St. Louis auditorium looks as though it could use a dusting... but I like the color contrasts a bit more than Detroit's, although they're all in darker tones. Those corner blue alcoves make it appear as though they're tent openings where the blue sky shows thru [[as found in the ceiling dome). But the side columns have no cove lighting [[I've seen many images) and behind the columns and arches, it appears dark and foreboding.

[Gistok]

Again, the sidewalls and ceiling are different between the 2 auditoriums, some of this difference is due to lighting, other differences are due to paint scheme.

[Kathleen]

...here's a cheerful story about the 4,658 seat Atlanta Fox, which still survives in all its' glory.

Thanks, Gistok, for the Atlanta Fox story and photos!

I've been there once...back in 1989, Ted Turner hosted the Gone With The Wind 50th Anniversary Re-Premiere at the Fox Theatre, Atlanta's preeminent movie theatre house.

Gone With The Wind originally premiered at the Loew's Grand a few blocks further south on Peachtree St. But that theatre fell into disrepair and suffered a major fire in the 1970s, after which the theatre was demolished. Currently the Georgia Pacific Building stands on that site, with an etched marker commemorating the 1939 GWTW premiere on that site.

The GWTW 50th event at the Fox was a red-carpet event, despite the frigid December weather, with searchlights and a beautiful marquee. We watched the limousines arrive and drop off the GWTW cast members and then went into the magical Fox theatre. Pre- and post-movie parties were held in the various Egyptian-themed rooms.

These days, the Fox Theatre still shows GWTW annually. And they offer tours several times each week.

[Zacha341]

Simply wonderful! I could spend hours just looking at these photos. I've seen the outside of the Atlanta Fox... I want to see the inside soon for a show!

[Lowell]

Wonderful pictures and text. Bravo Gistok.

[Gistok]

Thanks all!

One last comparison of the Detroit and St. Louis Fox...

1) the St. Louis Fox Procenium, sidewalls and ceiling. The plaster details surrounding the stage in St. Louis has a duller finish than that in Detroit, and yet it seems to make each individual plaster image stand out more. The tent ceiling is not as colorful as that of the Detroit ceiling. And as already mentioned the colonnade of the sidewalls isn't back lit, thus showing those details in a dark twilight setting.

2) The Detroit Fox upper Procenium arch. Although more monochromatic than its' St. Louis sibling, it has a shinier, more burnished metal-like appearance.

3) The plaster tent of the Detroit Fox ceiling is much more richly colored than the St. Louis Fox.

4) The St. Louis Fox plaster tent ceiling... much more monochromatic.

5) The back-lighting of the Detroit Fox side auditorium colonnade shows off the color and detailing of the wall surfaces, the columns, and the very colorful undersides of each arch. The St. Louis Auditorium sidewall is not lit in this manner, and detracts from the display of plaster details.