Editing Silver screen (section)

==History==
There are descriptions of a silver screen being used in the presentation of films as early as 1897. Film exhibitor [[Arthur Cheetham]] used one for some of his later [[cinematograph]] Living Pictures presentations, "now shown on a new silver screen which brings the pictures out almost as well as electric light."<ref>{{Cite news |date=1897-03-27 |title=MR. CHEETHAM'S LIVING PICTURES |pages=5 |work=Rhyl Record and Advertiser |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/search/results?basicsearch=%22%20out%20almost%20as%20well%20as%20electric%20light%22&exactsearch=false&retrievecountrycounts=false&sortorder=dayearly |url-access=limited |access-date=2023-07-19}}</ref> The novelty of this screen was emphasised by Cheetham, and he later named his the Silvograph.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Berry |first=David |url=https://archive.org/details/walescinemafirst0000berr/page/38/mode/2up |title=Wales and Cinema: The First Hundred Years |publisher=University of Wales Press |year=1994 |pages=38 |language=en}}</ref>

Reports mentioning silver screens don't appear in US papers until over a decade later. In 1909, the Lyric theatre in Smith St., New Jersey was "equipped with a new patent silver-coated screen".<ref>{{Cite news |date=1909-09-04 |title=LYRIC IMPROVED |page=4, column 4 |work=Perth Amboy Evening News |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85035720/1909-09-04/ed-2/seq-4/ |access-date=2023-07-19}}</ref> A 1910 article praises a new, silver screen installed at the Gem theatre in North Dakota, which is described as being "coated with aluminum or silver paint". As a result of this, "each picture stands out a great deal more distinctly than on the old screen."<ref>{{Cite news |date=1910-09-08 |title=NEW SILVER SCREEN |page=2, column 3 |work=Bismarck Daily Tribune |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042242/1910-09-08/ed-1/seq-2/ |access-date=2023-07-19}}</ref>

The phrase's use as a metonym can be observed several years later. The New York Times reported on the "First National Motion Picture Exposition" which took place in 1916 and started with "a parade of the stars of the silver screen".<ref>{{Cite news |date=1916-05-07 |title=FILM LAND HISTORY TOLD IN EXPOSITION |page=E3, column 4 |work=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_new-york-times_1916-05-07_65_21-288/page/n93/mode/2up |access-date=2023-07-19}}</ref>

[[Akron, Ohio]], projectionist Harry Coulter Williams invented the vinyl plastic Williams Perlite screen in 1947. He had started experimenting with creating an improved screen by "painting a stout cloth with silver paint" in 1925.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nichols |first=Kenneth |date=1966-09-09 |title=Film History In Boathouse |pages=46 |work=The Akron Beacon Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-akron-beacon-journal/24557843/ |url-status=live |access-date=2023-07-19 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230705204815/https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-akron-beacon-journal/24557843/ |archive-date=2023-07-05}}</ref> The Williams Perlite was marketed as an all-purpose, tear-resistant screen that was installed in many major movie houses of the day, including the rapidly expanding theaters built by [[Warner Bros]] of nearby [[Youngstown, Ohio]]. Williams' silver-painted screens were adapted for [[CinemaScope]], [[VistaVision]],{{cn|date=July 2023}} and early 3D movies. They were advertised as providing "a brighter picture at all angles" with "top reflectivity at direct viewing" and "extra diffusion for side seats and balcony."<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-04 |title=Kenmore resident made history in the movie business |url=https://www.betterkenmore.org/post/kenmore-resident-made-history-in-the-movie-business |website=Better Kenmore}}</ref> 

Metallic screens increased in popularity during the [[3D film]] boom that occurred in the 2000s to 2010s.