The theatre of science; a volume of progress and achievement in the motion picture industry (1914)

190 Ci)e Cfteatte patrons of the so-called legitimate playhouses where plays and players are presented in the old way. The Paramount Pictures Corporation dedicates its efforts to to-morrow. Frank Gersten, the owner and manager of the Royal and Prospect Theatres, in the Borough of the Bronx, enjoys a reputation unique in the whole of New York. He belongs to a race given to extremes — great figures that shadow over mankind and the lowest trickster. It may have been for this reason that Mr. Gersten, who has forged ahead of the show world, felt a pressing need to maintain the highest ideals by which a man could live. He is a pioneer in all those factors in the Bronx amusement iield that make for achievement. When he first entered that territory there was only one theatre in that part of New York, and that, the Metropolis, played only cheap melodramatic attractions. His showmanship instinct, coupled with sound business judgment, told him that this was to be his field, and as a result he built the Prospect Theatre. That his judgment was unerring was soon proved to himself and to the world, for it was not many years later that he erected the Royal Theatre. Here again his thorough theatrical training and his intrinsic knowledge of locations showed itself, and his discernment in selecting sites for playhouses again proved true. The Royal Theatre to-day is one of the recognized standard theatres of New York, playing only the best attractions that Broadway has to offer. Under Mr. Gersten's able direction, the capacity of the house has been tested continually. Mr. Gersten was born in New York in 1870. When eighteen he connected with Barnum & Bailey's Circus, as a ticket seller. He remained ^mth the circus