Organist-Led Community Singing in the American Picture Palace, 1925--1933.

摘要

During the 1920s, most urban Americans participated in community singing at least once a week. They did so at the local picture palace, a multimedia venue that combined motion pictures with live entertainment. These stately theaters, found in cities across the nation after 1913, represented the cultural acceptance of motion pictures as a form of entertainment suitable for the middle class. Since 1905, films exhibited in urban nickelodeon theaters had been attracting a working-class audience. To counteract negative associations between the motion picture and its rough clientele, picture-palace exhibitors offered their patrons every luxury, including air conditioning, comfortable lounges, glamorous decor, and complimentary child care. Individual theaters replicated the architecture and ornamentation of famous palaces, opera houses, and hotels, while the attentive service made visitors feel like European nobility.;Among the luxuries in store for the visitor was a diverse program of live entertainment, including an overture, an organ solo, and a stage show. The overture was presented by the house orchestra, while the stage show featured guest artists and local favorites, most of whom performed in costume before an elaborate set. Audience singing was sometimes led by stage performers or band leaders, or by sing-along films (popular throughout the '20S and '3os). Most of the time, however, community singing was led by the organist. The term "organ solo" is the trade designation for the portion of the show over which the organist had complete control. The organist could use his ten minutes in a variety of ways, but in many theaters the organ solo was dedicated to community singing. The organist used lantern slides to project song lyrics onto the movie screen. He also used slides to communicate with his patrons.;Community singing was practiced in theaters across the country, but it was not welcome in "class" picture houses that offered highbrow entertainment. In addition to this, trade-press commentators criticized the practice and listed reasons for which it should be abolished. Apologists noted that, while community singing did not utilize the talents of the organist or the capabilities of the organ, it was loved by audiences and would not disappear until it fell out of favor. An organist who practiced community singing crafted his presentation style based on the theater's location. An organist in a downtown house tried to appeal to a broad audience and did not expect any one patron to attend regularly. A neighborhood organist, on the other hand, had to develop a committed local patronage in order to keep the theater in business. To do so he would encourage community spirit and become involved in local affairs. He might also form an "organ club," which he could use as a basis to admit members, invite requests, and recognize individual patrons as a part of his solo.;Community singing was a popular form of entertainment, but it served other needs of the film and music industries as well. To begin with, it was an important vehicle for song plugging in the 192os and '3os, and music publishers provided organists with free slides to ensure that their latest songs received exposure. This arrangement benefited both parties. The publishers received cheap advertising that was particularly effective, for movie patrons not only heard the songs but actually sang them. The organist in turn was spared a great deal of work in preparing his solo. The attractive slides provided by publishers not only included song lyrics but also narratives, jokes, and illustrations. Exhibitors, on the other hand, used community singing to police the behavior of their audiences. Organists and theater managers noticed that patrons were more polite to one another after engaging in community singing. They also observed that patrons who had participated exuberantly in community singing were more likely to enjoy the remainder of the program, including the stage show and feature film.;The role of the organist, and therefore the role of community singing, changed enormously with the introduction of film sound. Exhibitors began to wire their theaters for sound in the late 192os, and most musicians lost their jobs as a result. Organists were only retained in the largest and most important picture palaces, where they were valued as the last human element in an increasingly mechanized program. Community singing gave the sound-era patrons a rare opportunity to make noise. Participatory culture in the movie theater, however, declined throughout the 1930s.