Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1923 - Mar 1924)

March 8, 1924 EXHIBITORS HERALD 89 MIDDLE WEST EVEMS EXHIBITOR MAKES THEATRE FACTOR IN HIS COMMUNITY I-inds Ditty Docs Not End With Good Shows and Music (Sf'cciai to Exhibitors licald) ST. LOUIS, MO., Feb. 26.— Motion picture exhibiting is something other than putting good hhn on the screen, accompanied by nice music and in agreeable surroundings. At least that seems to be the principle underlying the success of Spyros Skouras, head of Skouras Brothers Enterprises and the St. Louis Amusement Company of St. Louis which combined have control of some eighteen of that city's leading amusement places. Skouras knows humanity He arose from the ranks of the workers, fighting tlie battle from a comparatively lowly position to the dominant place he now holds in the motion picture industry. But that he has not lost sight of the bigger things in life is apparent from his policy in conducting his theatres. They have always been something more than places of amusement — in a word they have been an integral part of the community. Today St. Louisans are conducting a drive to raise $500,000 for a new building for the St. Louis Maternity Hospital. The Rockefeller Foundation has promised a large endowment to the institution if the necessary building is erected. St. Louis is out to make good and as always Skouras. his brothers and his associates, prominent among whom is Harry Koplar, will uphold their end. On Monday, February 18, 20 per cent of the gross receipts of sixteen of the Skouras houses was turned over to the hospital fund. The theatres participating were: Grand Central. West End Lyric, Capitol Down Town Lyric. Juanita. Lafayette, Lindell, Maffitt, Manchester, Novelty, Arsenal. Pageant. Shaw, Grand Florissant and Shenandoah. * * * Samuel S. Harris, well known Little Rock, Ark., exhibitor, has leased the New Conway theatre, Conway. Ark., being erected by S. G. and Theodore Smith and will open the house probably on March 15. * * + Circuit Judge Frey of St. Louis has taken under advisement the suit for a receiver for the Garrick Theatre operatives the Jewel Amusement Company. The plaintiffs W. A. Koons and W. W. Strack alleged that they formed a partnership to operate the theatre on September 11. 1923. with Joseph Oppenhcimer. C. C. Collier and Everett Taylor, who were named defendents in the suit. They claimed that the defendants had conspired to exclude them from the management of the company and its profits. The Garrick Building Company has brought an eviction suit against the Jewel Amnsemeiit Company, contending that I Ford and Enid B«nnett in "Fool's Awakening" (Metro) tiie buriesQue shows being given has damaged the rental value of the property. This case is pending in the Circuit Court. From Macon, Mo., came a rare one (if true). Recent dispatches from that city stated that the patrons of a motion picture there had been given an added thrill when a dog that had accompanied his master to the show made an attack upon a tramp flashed on the screen during the comedy "Moonshine." With lusty barks and growls the animal rushed from a point in the rear of the theatre toward the screen but was stopped before he crashed through the screen, * * * Verne Victor Barnes, field representative in St. Louis for the Palmer Photoplay Corporation, celebrated his fortyfourth birthday on February 14. His many friends throughout the territory remembered the occasion while the St. Louis Times honored him with a place in its birthday column, using his photo in conjunction with a brief account of his career. * * * R. C. Seery, district manager for First National was a recent St. Louis visitor. * * * Louis Landda, owner of the Washington theatre. Granite City. III., is confined to his apartments in the Gatesworth Hotel by a fractured leg. He had the misfortune to slip on the ice. * * * Jack Hoeffler of Quincy. 111., was at the local First National office the past week. * * * Tlu-atres in the St. Louis territory that have closed recently include: Liberty theatre, Strasluirg. 111.; Princess theatre. Bolivar, Tenn.: Rex theatre. Jackson. Tenn.: Elite theatre Queen City. Mo.; Roosevelt theatre. St. Louis (closed for repairs) and Grand. Searcy, Ark. FAMO US ABANDONS LOCAL THEATRICAL BUILDING PROJECT Market Circle Realty Company Sells 99 Year Lease (Special to Exhibitors Herald) INDIANAPOLIS, IND., Feb. 20.— 'I'lic project for the development of the west half of the English hotel block in Monument Circle by the erection of a five-story motion picture theatre and office building on the site was abandoned today with the sale of E. O. Hunter, of the firm of Rubush & Hunter, architects, 430 American Central Life Building, and a group of business associates, of the capital stock in the ninety-nine-year lease on the property held by the Market Circle Realty Company, a holding company for the Famous Players-Lasky Corporation. The new owners of the company plan to remodel the building for office and store uses. .Although architectural plans have not been worked out, Mr. Hunter said that in the rehabilitation the remodeled half of the building would retain its symmetry as related to the other part, which is occupied by the Enghsh Hotel and theatre and several store rooms. The transfer of the ownership of the capital stock of the realty company also involved the transfer of the ownership of the lease. William E. English retaining the title in fee simple to the property. The realty company is capitalized at $9no,000, of which $600,000 is in an authorized preferred stock issue, and $300,000 in authorized common stock. None of the preferred stock had been sold by the bond department of the City Trust Company, which contracted to handle the issue, although the realty company had started tearing down parts of the building, following its vacation by tenants in August. The Famous PlayersLasky Corporation, represented in the .Market Circle Realty Company, obtained the ninety-nine-year lease from Mr. English in 1919. * * =i: The Regent motion picture theatre. 43 South Illinois street, has been purchased by the Central .Amusement Company, owners and operators of the Apollo. Ohio, Isis and Lyric theatres, and will open todav under the new management, it became known last night. The theatre was bought from the Indianapolis .Amusement Company, which operates the Colonial theatre. The purchase price was not made public. The Regent has a seating capacity of TOO. Charles M. Olsen. president of the Central .'\musement Company, said the present policy of the theatre will be continued for the present. * * * .\ fire starting in the projection room at the Royal theatre at Newcastle. Ind.. caused daniaee estimated between $500 and JL.iOO. The fire started when a comedy film caught fire from the arc lights in a proiecting machine. The picture was about half finished, when the film broke and caught fire. The