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A. H. Blank
President
A. H. Blank Theatre Corporation
AH. BLANK is among the foremost motion picture exhibitors of the ® United States. He has been associated with the industry since the earliest "shooting gallery” days. Born in Roumania, Mr. Blank at the age of nine years went straight to Iowa and has lived in the tall corn state ever since.
A. H. Blank has invariably kept step with the motion picture industry since he showed his first picture. From boyhood, amusements appealed to him and back in 1898, at the time of the Trans-Mississippi exposition, he was dabbling in concessions. Variously employed during the Winter months, the young Blank lived for Summertime when he made the rounds of the state and county fairs of the Middle West.
In 1905 Mr. Blank made a serious effort to forget amusements and take up the calling of loans and real estate. In 1912, however, the lure proved altogether too powerful and he became interested in one of Des Moines’ first motion picture theatres, the Casino. He eventually sold a half interest at a good profit, took a long lease on a store building and erected the Garden Theatre in the Spring of 1914. The Garden was a real pioneer theatre, with uniformed ushers, a good organ, a tiny orchestra, a real stage and a cooling system.
The tremendous success of this house encouraged Mr. Blank to build theatres in Davenport, Omaha, and thus he laid the foundation for the theatrical chain which now spreads across Iowa from East to West, from North to South and extends into Nebraska and Illinois, and which flaunts the
well-known ad-line, "Direction A. H. Blank.”
In 1916 Mr. Blank took his first step into distribution, associating himself with W. W. Hodkinson and S. A. Lynch in the Triangle Distributing Company. The same year he represented Selznick pictures in Iowa, Nebraska, Missouri and Kansas. A year later he was one of the original franchise holders in First National Pictures, representing Iowa, Nebraska and Kansas. In 1920 he began his long service on the executive committee of that organization.
Thrilling Des Moines in 1917 with the handsome Des Moines Theatre, Mr. Blank continued building his chain with the Rialto in Omaha. In May, 1926, he sold a half interest in his theatres to the Publix Theatres Corporation, retaining his personal direction of all houses. Huge atmospheric theatres have been built by him in Omaha, Waterloo and Cedar Rapids, serving to bring ultramodern motion picture exhibition to Iowa and Nebraska. His theatres were the first in the section to boast sound installation.
As in all of his enterprises, Mr. Blank has never lagged behind the times in the motion picture industry. He has pioneered every new phase as it has developed; he has taken cognizance of every new development in exhibition and has dexterously weaved it into his manipulation of his theatre chain.
Mr. Blank has made his home in Des Moines and with one son at Brown University and the other just emerging from high school he faces the future of motion pictures entirely confident and quite content with whatever startling chances the years may bring forth.
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