Edward Hopper, New York Movie 1939

<span class="paragraphSection">A solid end-wall with an ornate leafy column separates the star of the show (an usherette) from the show of the stars (the movie). Two horizontal brass hand-rails complete the critical division between the subdued but luxuriant glow of fantasy land and the harsh glare of the real world. On the left, three glass lanterns suspended in echelon from the lofty ceiling cast a soft light over plush red velvet seats, where a solitary man and woman ambiguously occupy separate rows in a dark, empty, cavernous auditorium. They stare featureless at the large black and white cinema screen. She wears a floppy wide-brimmed hat and a fur-collared coat, while he is bare-headed but neatly trimmed and suited, his white shirt collar conspicuous in the gloom. On the right the unforgiving lumens from a triple candlestick wall-light (complete with pink shades) capture the pensive form of a tall, beautifully coiffured young woman, stylishly tailored in a military-styled uniform. The smart royal-blue suit has brass buttons, epaulettes, red stripes down wide bottom trousers and complementary red flashes on the cuffs and collar. A pair of black, strappy, high-heel sandals completes the ensemble. Her face is clouded, her eyes closed; she seems deep in thought, her chin resting on her right hand, supported by her left, which clutches a torch (flashlight). She rests her back resignedly against the dado rail of the half-panelled wall behind her. In front, tied-back burnt-orange curtains reveal grey-blue carpeted stairs, which lead up and out of the cinema into the threatening world beyond. The <span style="font-style:italic;">grisaille vignette</span> on the cinema screen displays snowy Himalayan peaks from Frank Capra’s 1937 blockbuster movie <span style="font-style:italic;">Lost Horizon</span> [<a href="#CIT0001" class="reflinks">1</a>], a story about Shangri-la—a lost sanctuary of peace and safety [<a href="#CIT0002" class="reflinks">2</a>]. Yet the usherette chooses not to watch the film. It provides her with no escape from the <span style="font-style:italic;">theatrum mundi</span>.</span>

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