The Marine Building is my favourite building ever in Vancouver. It makes me happy just to walk past the doors and marvel at its uniqueness and attention to detail.
The Marine Building was built for $2.3 million by McCarter & Nairne as an office building and upon opening in 1930 it was the tallest building in the Empire (briefly). According to the architects, it was intended to evoke "some great crag rising from the sea, clinging with sea flora and fauna, tinted in sea-green, touched with gold". Originally there was an observation deck too, but that was closed during the Depression and has never been reopened since. Although it no longer dominates the downtown skyline (most unfortunate) the outside and lobby have been refurbished recently.
Hopefully it will become internationally famous when the silly Olympics come in 113 days. Considering how many movies and TV shows are shot in Vancouver, I'm surprised that it's not featured much. Although, it was briefly shown in The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnasus (such a stupendously wondrous film!).
Walking into the lobby feels like walking into a cathedral dedicated to Art Deco.
The five elevators have brass doors, shiny buttons and originally were operated by girls in sailor suits.
The insides have 12 types of local hardwood
There's just so much attention to beautiful details, you have to see it for yourself. And unlike today's modern glass office buildings, one can tell that people actually made this.
Just to show how much the downtown skyline has changed since the Marine Building was built:
1. View from the Nine O'Clock Gun in Stanley Park during the War (from the Library Archives)
2. One that I took from the same place last Saturday
As for the acting and plot bits, it was pretty good too. Peter Sarsgaard's accent hardly ever slipped and he was sympathetic up to a point and a bounder throughout. Carey "Sally Sparrow" Mulligan did a fine job as Jenny and effortlessly built up the character into an actual person. But, I thought that her accent was a tad modern at times and someone kept trying to dress her as AH in Charade (which didn't fit the character).
I did have some problems with the plot (I know that it's based on a true story). I just couldn't believe that a 16 year old girl wouldn't have picked up on the caddish behaviour of David. Yes, he's charming, knows the best clubs and concerts, but he does pick up school girls at bus stops, steal paintings off walls and has a trunk full of typewriters and booze and still Jenny doesn't think that he has something to hide. But other than that aspect, the story has a natural rhythm.
If you get the chance do go see it, it's really quite a lovely film.
