The Purpose of this book is to document selected small town movie theatres in Michigan during their most successful years, 1930's to 1960's. Authentic photos show theatres in their final architectural design. The book also focuses on the movie theatre as a primary entertainment venue in a small community.

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.

Most of the time, there is nothing remarkable about a movie theater today; but that wasn't always the case. When the great American movie palaces began opening in the early 20th century, they were some of the most lavish, stunning buildings ever seen. However, they wouldn't last -- with the advent of in-home television, theater companies found it harder and harder to keep them open. Some were demolished, some were converted, and some remain empty to this day. After the Final Curtain: The Fall of the American Movie Theatre will take you through 24 of these magnificent buildings, revealing the beauty that remains years after the last ticket was sold.

In the early 20th century the streets of small towns and cities across America were filled with the lights and sounds of movie theaters. The most opulent -- known as "movie palaces" -- were designed to make their patrons feel like royalty; people would dress up to visit. But as time went on it became harder and harder to fill the 2,000+ seat theaters and many were forced to close. Today, these palaces are illuminated only by the flicker of dying lights. The sound of water dripping from holes in the ceiling echoes through the auditoriums. In After the Final Curtain (Volume 2) internationally-renowned photographer Matt Lambros continues his travels across the United States, documenting these once elegant buildings. From the supposedly haunted Pacific Warner Theatre in Los Angeles to the Orpheum Theatre in New Bedford, MA -- which opened the same day the Titanic sank -- Lambros pulls back the curtain to reveal what is left, giving these palaces a chance to shine again.

Bestselling and award-winning author Lee Strobel interviews experts about the evidence for the afterlife and offers credible answers to the most provocative questions about what happens when we die, near-death experiences, heaven, and hell. We all want to know what awaits us on the other side of death, but is there any reliable evidence that there is life after death? Investigative author Lee Strobel offers a lively and compelling study into one of the most provocative topics of our day. Through fascinating conversations with respected scholars and experts--a neuroscientist from Cambridge University, a researcher who analyzed a thousand accounts of near-death experiences, and an atheist-turned-Christian-philosopher--Strobel offers compelling reasons for why death is not the end of our existence but a transition to an exciting world to come. Looking at biblical accounts, Strobel unfolds what awaits us after we take our last breath and answers questions like: Is there an afterlife? What is heaven like? How will we spend our time there? And what does it mean to see God face to face? With a balanced approach, Strobel examines the alternative of Hell and the logic of damnation, and gives a careful look at reincarnation, universalism, the exclusivity claims of Christ, and other issues related to the topic of life after death. With vulnerability, Strobel shares the experience of how he nearly died years ago and how the reality of death can shape our lives and faith. Follow Strobel on this journey of discovery of the entirely credible, believable, and exhilarating life to come.

A primarily American institution (though it appeared in other countries such as Japan and Italy), the drive-in theater now sits on the verge of extinction. During its heyday, drive-ins could be found in communities both large and small. Some of the larger theaters held up to 3,000 cars and were often filled to capacity on weekends. The history of the drive-in from its beginnings in the 1930s through its heyday in the 1940s and 1950s to its gradual demise in modern-day America is thoroughly documented here: the patent battles, community concerns with morality (on-screen and off), technological advances (audio systems, screens, etc.), audiences, and the drive-in's place in the motion picture industry.