Detroit's Downtown Movie Palaces

Images of America: Michigan

by Michael Hauser, Marianne Weldon

The spokelike grid of wide grand avenues radiating out from downtown Detroit allowed for a concentration of theaters initially along Monroe Street near Campus Martius and, after the second decade of the 20th century, clustered around Grand Circus Park, all easily accessible by a vast network of streetcars. In its heyday, Grand Circus Park boasted a dozen palatial movie palaces containing an astonishing total of 26,000 seats. Of these theaters, five remain today, fully restored and operational for live entertainment. Detroit, more so than any other North American city, illustrates how demographic and economic forces dramatically changed the landscape of film exhibition in an urban setting.

Genres: Architecture

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 30, 2006

Reviews

[Steve Hanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what you expect from an Images of America title: hyper-local historical eye candy with a trove of trivia treasures. Detroit’s movie palaces — and the city itself — follow the same familiar arc: boom and opulence, deterioration and ruin, rebirth and renaissance. Enjoy!

[Susan Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the history of legitimate theaters, movie palaces, newsreel houses, vaudeville, burlesque and other fascinating performance venues. Well researched and lots of photographs.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great! And nice to see these haven't all been torn down, like most of the places in the book about Chicago movie palaces I read. One theater was even moved several blocks!