It was the first to survey the origins and architecture of America's movie palaces, the palatial cinemas built between the 1910s and the 1940s to showcase the films of Hollywood's major studios.
Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Ben Hall resided in Manhattan, near the Hudson River, at 181 Christopher Street in Greenwich Village.
He attended Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., and graduated cum laude from the University of North Carolina School of Journalism.
Hall was the author of the book "The Best Remaining Seats," a history of the golden age of the movie palace, published in 1961.
"As pallbearers, Mr. Robert T. Eskew, Mr. Alex M. Hitz Jr., Mr. Joseph Patton [sic], Mr. Charles E. Freeman, Jr., Dr. Marvous Mosteller, and Mr. George C.