United Artists Theatre

[Gistok]

One point about the Flickr images linked to in my previous post...

The Detroit Unted Artists got a remodeling job in the 1950s... And part of that remodeling was to change the "ashlar stonework" look of many of the theatre and lobby surfaces to a flat painted look. This was because opulence was out of vogue in the 50s and beyond, so they toned down the theatre quite a bit, including removing the exotic "Hindustan" or "Rajastan" murals on the balcony sidewalls, and adding the curtains over the organ grilles and procenium.

So that "tromphe l'oeil" [[fool the eye) feature, as well as the taming down [[with flat paint colors) of the inner and outer lobby, sort of gives the lobby spaces a bland look... [[as in the image of the Indian Maiden) when they were originally really quite richly and colorfully appointed [[hence the theatre's nickname "Jewel Box").

Although I've posted this image before... this image of the [[smallest of the 3) United Artists Theatre in Chicago [[pounded to rubble in 1990) shows how the look of stonework, metalwork, and terra cotta... all in plaster [[as well as colorful jewelled lighting) once permeated the United Artists Theatre in Detroit [[where no good color images of the theatre before the 50s remodeling exist)....