As we start to see and feel the first hints of spring, the mind of the film geek inevitably turns away from nature and towards the multiplex and the event films of the summer.  Films are our shared cultural stories and the summer blockbuster, whether or not they are good or bad, are seen by millions and millions and millions of people and therefore the most watched of our stories.  The multiplex style of movie theatre is the critical infrastructure needed to even have the evolution of the ‘summer blockbuster’ in the first place.

In part one of this two part series, we’ll take a look at the inspiration, programming and physical construction of the first movie theatres that would come to be know as the multiplex.  We cover a forward thinking Nickelodeon in Moncton, James Edwards Alhambra Theatre in California, The Patricia Theater in South Carolina, the Elgin Theatre in Ottawa, The Duplex in Cuba and Stanley Durwood’s Parkway Twin in Missouri.