Exhibitors Herald (Jan-Mar 1920)

EXHIBITORS HERALD some more," adds the statement of the Metro president. "Our promises have not been idle words, as this arrangement just entered into will attest. The same is true of the Loew enterprises. It is now our plan to grow together; each to profit and grow stronger through the strength of the other. "Metro's aim — and sole reason for existence, we might add — is to lead the field in the production of worth-wihle photo dramas. We believe that leadership can be gained and held in no other way. Metro has always been responsive to the quickening and improvement of the public taste in cinema entertainment. Its idea has been not merely to meet that improvement in discrimination on the part of the people whose money makes possible and supports the motion picture, but to anticipate it. "This arrangement will enable us to do the great things we have planned and aspired to. Relieving us of a great measure of concern about the market for our MARCUS LOEW Ilrad of MnroiiN I.orw. Inc., who hn« formed nn importnnt iifllllntion irltfc Metro Pletara Corp. product, and infusing not only new and vigorous ideas, but additional financial reserves as well, it leaves us free to devote our major energies to pictures that are even better in all respects. Affiliations Are Inevitable "Meanwhile, we wish again to reassure our friends, the exhibitors, that they as well as we are to benefit by this union of business interests on the part of Loew, Inc., and Metro. Affiliations such as these are inevitable, in view of the present-day trend of the industry. But they will help rather than embarrass the man who owns his own motion picture theatre and seeks to bring to his patrons photoplays of the better sort." As part of the preliminaries to the completion of the affiliation the Loew organization has already established closest relations with Metro's extensive distribution system. The Metro exchanges, numbering thirty, are situated in strategic centres throughout the United States from Maine to California and from Canada to the Gulf. In Greater New York there are thirtyseven Loew theatres, while the chain throughout the country is being added to every day. These theatres will be the foundation of a constant and permanent market for the Metro-Screen Classics. Finds Metro Stars Popular. Marcus Loew's previous dealings with Metro have demontsrated to him the wide popularity of the Metro stars and the box office value of the special production in which their talents are displayed. Attendance during the showing of Viola Dana, Bert Lytell. May Allison and Alice Lake pictures has quite invariably reached record figures. As Metro also distributes the productions of Taylor Holmes Productions. Inc., the comedies starring Taylor Holmes will be seen in the Loew Theatres, as will also the Jack London stories in which, under an arrangement with C. E. Shurtleff, Inc., Mitchell Lewis is to be starred by Metro; besides five productions to be made during the year by S-L Pictures, Inc. These productions are, of course, in addition to the Nazimova Productions, of which Metro is the exclusive distributor. The Nazimova pictures are a tremendous drawing card in this country and have also taken the European market by storm. Metro is represented in Great Britain by Jury's Imperial Pictures, Ltd., of which Sir William Jury is managing director. LONDON. OXT — Fears that Ambrose J. Small, Canadian motion picture and theatrical magnate, has been murdered or held for ransom are entertained by E. W. M. Flock, Small's attorney, who stated that a five weeks' search for the magnate had produced no results. Small, who started life as a newsboy, is said to have practically controlled the motion picture, legitimate and vaudeville houses of eastern Canada and to have amassed a fortune rated at $10,000,000. He recently arranged to sell out to an English syndicate. Flock acted for Small, the deal being closed on Dec. 1. Small was paid $1.000.000 deposit and the balance, which is double that amount, is now standing for payment if Small can be found. Disappeared Dec. 2 On Dec. 2 Flock left Small at 5:30 in his Toronto office. Since that time the latter has not been seen. His wife, widely known for her charities, has steadfastly maintained that she knew of her husband's whereabouts, but an acknowledgment that no trace is known of him is coupled with an appeal to his friends throughout Canada and the United States to join in a search. The Loew enterprises and Metro promise further statements of policy as soon as matters shape themselves more definitely in the near future. Report Famous Players Will Build Theatre at Indianapolis Next Year INDI AXAPOLIS, IXD. — Indianapolis will have a new and large motion picture theatre to be built by the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation on the site now occupied by the southern wing of the English Hotel block, as a result of a ninety-nine year lease being signed by the picture corporation and William E. English. The lease calls for vacating of all the rooms by January 1, 1921, and for the completion of the theatre within two years from that date. The lease takes over all of the English Hotel block. A deposit of $100,000 in Liberty bonds hat been made. Eight Toledo Theatres TOLEDO, O. — According to plans of the Community Amusement Company, Toledo will have eight new motion picture houses in different sections of the city within a few months. The first of the chain will be located at Broadway Ave. and Knowle St. It will have a seating capacity of 1.200 and will be modern in every respect. Five detective agencies have searched every hotel, hospital, and private sanitarium on both sides of the international border and have found no clew. Small had banked the million and had little or no cash with him when he disappeared, but none of his bank accounts has been drawn on nor did he have letters of credit with him. Look for Ransom Demand According to Flock, Small was in cheerful humor when the deal was closed. Theatrical men who are close friends of Small believe the first word of his whereabouts will come as a demand for a huge ransom. Small's sale was mooted for days before his disappearance and he had complained to Flock and one of his personal advisers that he was being "pestered" by alleged representatives of financial houses seeking to have him reinvest his funds in other enterprises. He had been associated for years with Klaw & Erlanger. The sale of his properties included theaters in Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto, Ham ilton, Peterboro and London. Small is about 50 years of age, 5 feet 7 or 8 inches tall, and weighs about 135 pounds. He was dark haired and wore a closely trimmed dark mustache Canadian Exhibitor Disappears After Closing Sale of Holdings Fear of Foul Play or Kidnapping Entertained by Friends of Ambrose J. Small, London, Ont., Film and Theatrical Magnate The Greatest NEWS paper of them allEXHIBH ORS HERALD 48