A look at the demolished White House movie theater’s cultural history : NPR
Former President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama wear 3D glasses at a Super Bowl party at the White House Family Theater in 2009.
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It was sometimes used by presidents to rehearse important speeches such as the State of the Union address; and at other times, as a place where visitors can drop off their hats, bags and coats. But for more than 80 years, the White House movie theater was primarily a place where the first family and their guests went for entertainment.
Demolition broke ground this week on the White House Family Theater — along with the rest of the White House East Wing where the cozy, shoebox-shaped auditorium was located — to make way for a new $300 million ballroom. This marks the end of an era in the history of American cinema.
An excavator works Thursday to clear rubble after the demolition of the East Wing of the White House in Washington, DC. The historic White House Family Theater was destroyed as part of President Trump’s efforts to make way for a new ballroom.
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Since its transformation into a dressing room by Franklin Roosevelt in 1942, this 40-seat private theater has screened everything from newsreels and documentaries to westerns and musicals. It has undergone several renovations, most recently ditching the cream and red floral curtains, and beige walls and seating for everyone.red palace cinema” adorned with gold moldings and dark woodwork following a renovation overseen by first lady Laura Bush in 2004.
“The best thing about the White House isn’t Air Force One or Camp David or anything else, it’s the wonderful movie theater I have here,” President Bill Clinton told film critic Roger Ebert in 1999. interview.
April 14, 1989: President George Bush and First Lady Barbara Bush host a screening at the White House Cinema. The first lady shares a seat with her grandson Jebbie Bush.
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George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
Jimmy Carter was also a big fan. In a single term, the 39th president elected at least 400 films between this place and Camp David, beginning with All the President’s Men – a film about the Watergate scandal – shortly after his swearing in. Richard Nixon saw Pattonabout controversial World War II General George S. Patton, repeatedly during the Vietnam War. The many screenings of Barack Obama at the theater ranged from Mandela: a long road to freedom And Selma has Julie and Julia And Star Wars Thief One. President Trump’s picks include Finding Dory And Sunset Boulevard. John F. Kennedy, who loved James Bond films, saw From Russia with love the day before his assassination in 1963.
U.S. First Lady Melania Trump (R) and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos host students for a screening of the film “Wonder” at the White House Theater in 2018.
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Not all American presidents were movie buffs. According to a 1997 study New York Times interview Along with Paul Fischer, who served as a White House projectionist from the 1950s to the 1980s, Lyndon B. Johnson slept through most of the screenings. (Fischer carefully kept records of all films shown at the theater. A sampling of Kennedy’s years in the White House can be seen here.)
“It was a place where the president could watch what America was watching,” said Matt Lambros, author of several books on historic movie theaters, in an interview with NPR. “To destroy it is to bulldoze a piece of American history.”
The White House did not respond to NPR’s request for comment or confirm reports from other media on plans to build a new cinema as part of the redevelopment of the east wing.
“We are not honoring their word that a theater will be rebuilt,” Lambros said. “I hope that’s the case and that the next hundred years of presidents can benefit from it.”
