Moviegoing in America : a sourcebook in the history of film exhibition

Moviegoing in America catalogs the social and cultural change that has attended America's favorite pastime from the days of the nickelodeon to the dominance of the multiplex. Bringing together an impressive range of historical scholarship, Gregory A. Waller charts the evolution of film exhibition and reception as a function of changing patterns of American community, identity, and consumption. Pairing notable current research with extensive primary material - drawn from trade accounts, popular magazines, and exhibitor handbooks - Moviegoing in America deepens our understanding of the role of film in everyday life by exploring the movie theater as commercial venue, physical environment, public sphere, community centerpiece, and all-important site where audiences experience the movies and experience themselves as an audience.