Between the 1920s and the 1960s, American mainstream cinematic architecture underwent a seismic shift. From the massive urban movie palace to the intimate streamlined theater, movie theatres became 'neutralized' spaces for calibrated, immersive watching. Leading this charge was New York architect Benjamin Schlanger, a fiery polemicist whose designs and essays reshaped how movies were watched. This text examines the impact of Schlanger's work in the context of changing patterns of spectatorship; his theatres and writing propose that the essence of film viewing lies not only in the text, but in the spaces where movies are shown.