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Movie Palace Moguls:
Harry Crandall, building of the Tivoli Theater, was "the man who brought movies to Washington," according to The Washington Star. An extraordinary entrepreneur, Crandall (1879-1937) rose from rags to riches by capitalizing on technological innovations in the film industry. A night operator for the fledgling telephone industry while in his teens, then owner of a livery business, Crandall realized automobiles would soon replace the horse and buggy. Foreseeing great financial opportunity in the movie business, he opened his first theater, the Casino, in 1907, spending $800 for improvements to open in an existing building at 4th and East Capital Streets, SE. At the height of his career, during the Roaring '20s, Crandall was far and away the city's biggest movie operator, owning twelve District-area theaters, including the Lincoln, Metropolitan, Knickerbocker, Savoy, and Tivoli.
Crandall's preferred theater designer was local architect Reginald Geare, who designed the Knickerbocker, Metropolitan, and Lincoln Theaters for the movie impresario. Geare's preparatory designs for the Tivoli were scrapped after the Knickerbocker's roof collapsed on movie patrons during the blizzard of 1922, and Crandall hired world-famous theater architect Thomas Lamb to design the Columbia Heights theater. Responding to the Knickerbocker tragedy, Lamb combined his signature style -- elegant exterior and sumptuous gold, crystal and marble interior -- with structural integrity provided by a durable steel frame and double-width brick walls. The Tivoli was the first neighborhood movie palace in Washington and was praised for having "downtown features at neighborhood prices and convenience." |