Formerly located at 1 Rue Caulaincourt in the 18^th arrendissement was the Gaumont Palace. The original cinema was built between 1898 and 1900 to be completed just in time for the 1900 Paris Explosition. Though it was built at the beginning of the 20^th century, the building was originally used as an indoor racecourse under the name Hippodrome de Montmartre. The venue hosted a wide variety of forms of mass entertainment such as horse races, circuses, soccer matches, and even naval combat shows. After being sold in 1910 it was renamed Gaumont Palace and would be renovated to become one of the world's first large scale cinemas. It was one of its first of its kind to showcase films to the public. The cinema was, at the time of completion, the largest cinema in the world, a record that it would maintain for several decades, seating more than 6000 people.[1] A visitor to the Gaumont Palace would first enter through the grand reception area where movie goers of all ages and social groups would purchase their tickets, food, and wait for the film to begin. The cinema featured one large theatre with five levels of seating and grand artwork surrounding the screen itself[2]. The Gaumont Palace would continue to show the most influential films in French history for the net 60 years. The Gaumont Palace would become renowned as a centre of French film history. The original building was destroyed in 1973 and was replaced with a Castorama store and the Mercure Hotel

[1] Ferro, Marc. "1917: History and Cinema." Journal of Contemporary History 3, no. 4 (1968): 45-61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/259850.

[2] Arganbright, Brian J. The French Review 77, no. 5 (2004): 1033-034. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25479590.

Arganbright, Brian J. The French Review 77, no. 5 (2004): 1033-034. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25479590.

Aumont, Jacques, and Ben Brewster. "Lumière Revisited." Film History 8, no. 4 (1996): 416-30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815391.

Ferro, Marc. "1917: History and Cinema." Journal of Contemporary History 3, no. 4 (1968): 45-61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/259850.

Jahiel, Edwin. "The French View of the Cinema as an Art." Books Abroad 38, no. 3 (1964): 261-62. doi:10.2307/40118836.

Meusy, Jean-Jacques. "How Cinema Became a Cultural Industry: The Big Boom in France between 1905 and 1908." Film History14, no. 3/4 (2002): 418-29. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815441.

Rossell, Deac. "A Chronology of Cinema, 1889-1896." Film History 7, no. 2 (1995): 115-236. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815166.

This site is an important centre for the history and popularization of French film as well as a centre for several other forms of mass entertainment during the early 20^th century. The motion picture had been invented by the Lumiere brothers in Paris and the first showcasing of the first films by the inventors occurred only a short distance away[1]. The creation of the Gaumont Palace and the largest cinema in the world helped to both increase the amount of popularity and availability of film to the general public of Paris but also firmly entrench the place of France as one of the world leaders in film[2]. The Gaumont Palace, due to its large size had varying levels of seating and prices that allowed people from all areas of life to come and enjoy some of the cutting-edge entertainment that had been developed at the turn of the century like the motion picture. For decades, the French film industry would use the Gaumont Palace as a place to hold premiers of some of the most popular and most influential movies in French film history.[3] A large part of the popularization of motion pictures was that films could be shown repeatedly throughout the day, unlike an opera for example, and the large seating capacity of places such as the Gaumont Palace meant that individual tickets could be sold at a low price, allowing even Parisians from the lower classes to be able to enjoy a night at the movies. The location of the Gaumont Palace, in the Montmartre district was very close to many other entertainment venues such as music halls and cabarets which although were still sometimes affordable enough for the average person, was significantly more expensive than a night at the Gaumont Palace due to the fact that live performers were not needed for every show and that the venues were often much smaller than the grand theatre of the Gaumont Palace, making tickets harder to come by and causing the price of the tickets to rise as a result.[4]

[1] Aumont, Jacques, and Ben Brewster. "Lumière Revisited." Film History 8, no. 4 (1996): 416-30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815391.

[2] Rossell, Deac. "A Chronology of Cinema, 1889-1896." Film History 7, no. 2 (1995): 115-236. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815166.

[3] Jahiel, Edwin. "The French View of the Cinema as an Art." Books Abroad 38, no. 3 (1964): 261-62. doi:10.2307/40118836.

[4] Meusy, Jean-Jacques. "How Cinema Became a Cultural Industry: The Big Boom in France between 1905 and 1908." Film History14, no. 3/4 (2002): 418-29. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815441.

Arganbright, Brian J. The French Review 77, no. 5 (2004): 1033-034. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25479590.

Aumont, Jacques, and Ben Brewster. "Lumière Revisited." Film History 8, no. 4 (1996): 416-30. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815391.

Ferro, Marc. "1917: History and Cinema." Journal of Contemporary History 3, no. 4 (1968): 45-61. http://www.jstor.org/stable/259850.

Jahiel, Edwin. "The French View of the Cinema as an Art." Books Abroad 38, no. 3 (1964): 261-62. doi:10.2307/40118836.

Meusy, Jean-Jacques. "How Cinema Became a Cultural Industry: The Big Boom in France between 1905 and 1908." Film History14, no. 3/4 (2002): 418-29. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815441.

Rossell, Deac. "A Chronology of Cinema, 1889-1896." Film History 7, no. 2 (1995): 115-236. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3815166.