Wonderful coffee table book with 100+ color pics of movie "palaces." There's a rather long intro at the beginning of the book that details some of the different theaters that are featured as well as how/why they came about. And we're talking grand theaters, swooping stair cases, lounges as opposed to restrooms, liveried ushers, gilt everywhere. The book originally came out in 1980 and most of the pics are from the 1970s but still wonderful. The author laments the fact that many of these wonderful architectural gems have fallen to the wrecking ball. It seems that most of the ones they have featured have been saved by their various communities maybe for alternate purposes or as multi-purpose venues as opposed to just cinema. Well worth looking at if for no better reason than the wonderful pictures. ( )