Canadian Film Weekly (Jan 24, 1945)

a a re lo They Call Him FITZ’ By HYE BOSSIN NCE upon a time there O was a famed theatre ex ecutive named Sam Katz —there still is—who started from scratch. Scratch in his case was being born in another country, playing piano in a Chicago nickel show after school and so on. At 16 Sam Katz had his own theatre and in the years that followed he became the famous Katz of Balaban. That’s just about enough about Sam Katz for, to tell you the truth, he doesn’t mean two things here. He means one though. I am quoting Mr. Katz’ accomplishments to show that his judgment of people is worth something. Being one of the best examples of the “started-fromscratch’ boys, he should be a pretty good authority on anyone who started even further back. Mr. Katz was president of Publix, a leading USA chain, in 1929. One of his lads, Jack Fitzgibbons, had been promoted to special company activities from his post as New England Division manager. This met with a popular response which just had to be expressed with more than mere applausive nodding of noggins. That’s how it was that 350 associates, friends and prominent citizens gathered to honor John J. Fitzgibbons at the Somerset Hotel, Boston. ‘Mr. Fitzgibbons,” Sam Katz told those who had come to cheer and stayed to cheer, “represents the highest standards of Publix. In developing the amicable relationship between Publix and the public; in nurturing this friendliness of the public; in looking after its welfare and safety; in extending it the utmost courtesy and consideration at all times, he has symbolized the character of our organization.” While Sam Katz was in no way kidding, yet he was measuring the guest of honor in terms of Publix. He might have even been prejudiced in favor of a rags-toriches fellow-traveller, for Jack Fitzgibbons early home had been an orphanage. Canadians, though not particularly skeptical, are traditionally ‘conservative. The words of Sam Katz took on special significance when in 1930 John J. Fitzgibbons came to Canada as director of theatre management for Famous Players during the period when Arthur Cohen was president of the company. : : They soon found that this Sam Katz was a pretty smart fellow JOHN J. FITZGIBBONS and when he voted for a man, that man was okay. In Canada the question wasn’t what kind of a Famous Players man John J. Fitzgibbons was but what quality of human being. The answer to that was provided in Publix Opinion, organ of the Katz organization, although naturally not of interest on this side of the border at the time it was printed. “His pronounced personal characteristics,” it wrote about Jack Fitzgibbons, “are kindliness, keen alertness and rare ability to make quick, effective decisions.” Since those decisions are many and they deal with the welfare of so many persons, the quality of kindliness is a blessing. Having mislaid my rose-colored glasses, I might say here that, because the theatre industry is so highly-competitive, the conduct of certain of its members now and in the past has drawn much vivid verbal condemnation from other members. I am not saying who is right -and who is wrong but merely commenting on the existence of this backbiting which, I am sure, is not confined to the motion picture industry. I have never heard any personal criticisms of the character of John J, Fitzgibbons, On the contrary, he is spoken of with affection by everyone in the Canadian theatre industry from the menial worker to the operators of competitive circuits. And almost all, whether they know him or not, refer to him as “Fitz” when he isn’t present. He is, in fact, one of the friendliest fellows in the business. In answer to a query of mine as to why Fitz was spoken of so highly, the reply was: “You can trust the man.” Which proves, I guess, that the bigger you are, the bigger you are. joes Joseph Fitzgibbons was born in Meriden, Connecticut, in 1890, and was more or less adopted into the theatre business when William Slack, operator of the Bijou Theatre of that town, became his foster father. Young Fitzgibbons started in the Bijou in 1907. As soon as he was old enough he became a news cameraman for Pathe and later he entered the field of commercial photography. After a while at that he became an itinerant exhibitor, among other things, until 1919, when he acquired an interest in four theatres in Long Island, He applied himself to making these theatres successful in every way he knew how—and he knew how. Two years ago at a Republic convention in Toronto James E. Grainger, president of the company, was honored with a dinner which followed the business sessions. “Uncle Jimmy,” recounting the experiences of other days, recalled when he had to climb a ladder to get into the projection trap where “Fitz” was working in order to try to sell him films. But six years after his invasion of Long Island, Paramount appointed him director of theatre management for Hastern United States. From 1925 to 1930, which year he came to Canada, he performed many important tasks for Paramount and its Publix unit, including the building of most of the deluxe houses in Florida. In his years with Paramount it became one of the theatre leaders of the world. Elected vice-president of Famous Players Canadian Corporation in 1936, he became its president in 1941. John J. Fitzgibbons, always a fighter when there was fighting to be done, is already in the thick of the developing battle for domination of the Canadian theatre industry. [pee man they call “Fitz’’ is tan gled up in so many humanitarian and patriotic causes that it is hard to figure out where he gets the time to run the Dominion’s largest theatre chain. As chairman of the Canadian Motion Picture War Services Committee he has to deal with dozens of matters between Victory Loan campaigns, such as_ recruiting aid, fuel conservation and so on. His own company, among other things, runs a gratis show for men and women in the armed Services each Sunday in four cities. As the representative of one of Canada’s leading industries and business enterprises his advice and presence are required by those in official capacities. He serves on inter-industry committees and organizations, such as the Motion Picture section of the Toronto Board of Trade, of which he has been president, and is chairman of the National Advisory Council. He is chairman of public relations for the Canadian Picture Pioneers and one of the leaders in the proposed organization of a Variety Club in Toronto.. (Continued on Next Page) ee re