Canadian Film Weekly (Dec 19, 1945)

December 19, 1945 Canadian FILM WEEKLY Page 25 Story of a Real Showman ae LMOST every town of WelA land’s size has its Main street “regulars.” They are the chaps who carry out a daily ritual of certain calls along the thoroughfare and they become so familiar to the citizenry that even a single day away from the beat on the part of any one of them results in solicitous inquiry. In Welland there’s that chap who visits the news-stands and peers out from behind a black moustache and a venerable pipe as he supervises the pool room. There are also the bank messengers and then there’s Tom Forhan. Tom has been sliding out of the Capitol theatre to the bank, the telegraph office and finally to the Tribune office almost daily for the past 20 years. This characteristic jaunt has just about terminated for the popular theatre manager. A series of Famous Players Corporation transfers are taking place and one of them decreed that Tom Forhan shall leave Welland for Hamilton, there to take over the job of managing the Strand theatre. Coming to Welland to replace Mr. Forhan will be Jack Purves, formerly at the Tivoli in Hamilton. Forhan will be missed in Welland. Kindly, considerate and affable, he came to be regarded as a fixture with the Capitol house here and now that the transfer order has come through, there'll be some consolation for his friends, and perhaps for Tom too, in that he is only moving a bit more than 40 miles away. Tom is a link with the days when the theatre presented their shows “in the flesh.” He has been in the business for 40 years and a trip with him in memories back through the years, such as we have embarked upon with these lines in mind, was nearly on a par with the delightful experience that was ours in watching George M. Cohan’s “Yankee Doodle Dandy,” with a bit more emphasis on the Canadian stage scene, of course. 1 Reese surprise we had was when Forhan asserted that he obtained his first job in the entertainment sphere from Ambrose J. Small, the Toronto theatre magnate whose disappearance is Canada’s ranking mystery. It was as call boy in the old Jacobs and Sparrows Opera House that Tom made his debut. In many of his theatrical enterprises Tom was associated with his brother George who is now manager of the Bell theatre at Belleville. And if he had been able to have his way with his brother at one stage of the game, the Forhan brothers would have become the proprie Earlier this year Tom Forhan was transferred from Welland, Ontario, to Hamilton to temporarily fill the place left vacant by the death of Jack Purves. Shortly afterwards he retired. Tom Forhan has spent several generations in the theatre and he has many happy memories. Some of these were recorded in excellent fashion by T. N. Morrison of the Welland-Port Colborne Evening Tribune. Live them again with Tom in this article. tors of the very first movie-house in Toronto. In the early days, the movie houses were nickel emporiums, Their start in the United States had young Tom Forhan’s eager interest and he gobbled up every bit of news about them that the trade magazine, Billboard, carried. He was finally intrigued by an advertisement by a Philadelphia concern offering to set up movies houses for a fairly modest outlay. He tried to interest his brother in locating one of these new-fangled enterprises in their district of Toronto, but at that time George couldn’t see how the neighborhood film houses could compete with the downtown Stage shows so the idea was dropped. Six months later the movies came to Toronto and with them the means whereby a number of cozy fortunes were established. When Ambrose Small hired Tom Forhan as a call boy it was an entry to a fascinating world for the budding manager. Many odd jobs back-stage fell to the call boy’s lot in those days; in addition to the regular task of carrying water and soap to the dressing rooms. The great reward, was, of course, to be able to stand deep in the wings and watch the renowned performers of the day entertain the multitudes. The minstrel shows were favorites with Tom. His greatest thrill came from watching the soft shoe dancing of George Primrose, but he also remembers with affection L. G. Fields’ minstrels, Doc Quigley, Billy Van the Minstrel Man, and the Guy Brothers’ company. Sir Harry Lauder has also played in theatres with which Forhan has been associated. “Harry’s box-office appeal was so tremendous he would play a matinee in Hamilton, rush to London for an evening performance on the same day and be in Detroit the following day for sold-out houses all along the line,’ Tom remarked. He found Harry a fine fellow and disagreed with the stories that described the great Scottish comedian as being “close” and selfish. “T’ve watched Harry shove members of his cast out from the wings to take repeated ‘bows’ and encourage them in every way,” Forhan remarked. (YM while backstage at the Princess theatre in Toronto with his brother on an errand, a stagehand pointed to a handsome actor entering a dressing room. “That’s John Barrymore,” the stagehand whispered. Barrymore was out of his room again in a jiffy and walked straight to George Forhan. “My good man,” the actor said, “just at the moment I appear to be a trifle short of coin of the realm, and it seems that I can’t procure a bottle of your excellent spirits unless I~ hand over a dollar and a half. Could you advance me that amount as loan?” George did better. He went out and bought the whisky. The account for $1.50 is not being pressed against the Barrymore estate. Tom recalls that Sir Henry Irving was thrilling the carriage trade at the Grand Opera House in Toronto with his Shakespearean works while the renowned Robert B. Mantell was weaving similar magic over the “family” audiences in the Toronto Opera House. Once Tom and a companion were permitted to watch Mantell through the window of an alcove in a stage setting. The audience were unable to see them, but Mantel], as he turned to face TOM FORHAN the exit and deliver the dramatic last lines, was startled to see two faces peering at him through the alcove window. The tragedian recovered quickly, however, and ejaculated: “Ah, two faces in the moonlight!” And the audience never knew the difference. Stock companies were in their hey-day when Tom Forhan broke into the theatre business. The company that Tom had the closest associations with was the Ernie Marks group, which often played Welland. This was a great family aggregation, with the parents and Robert, Thomas and Joseph Marks and all taking part. Another Canadian company Tom engaged, known to many old-time Wellanders, was Harry Lindley’s group. THER stock units came in from the United States and invariably they all used ‘Jane Eyre” or “East Lynne” as their top attractions, reserving these plays for the “pay night” audiences on Friday. Some of the titles of the plays offered in theatres the Forhans handled were entrancing. They included By The Sad Sea Waves; The Female Drummer; Bertha, “the Sewing Machine Girl; Hoss and Hoss; Shaft No. 2; The Girl and the Tramp, and of course, the perennial Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Hit song of that era was “Beautiful Doll’ and it was hard pressed for honors by such ringing ballads as “Break the News to Mother,” and “Dolly Gray.” The performers in the stock companies were remarkably versatile. They would step out of character to present vaudeville turns between acts but sometimes when their repertoire was being strained and they tried the dodge of repeating an old play under a new title they didn’t fare too (Continued on Page 28)