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THE COMEDY THEATRE
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preachers in the German metropolis. Another leisurely look at Paris, and with the first touch of autumn he returned to New York entirely refreshed.
That is the surface of the matter. But underneath, in the depths of his wide-thinking, in-taking mind, Zukor had worked out his problem and mapped his future. The moving picture might have infinite possibilities. Though its mechanical devices and methods were still crude, they were improving constantly. He had seen a great advance, even in his own brief experience. Artistic improvement seemed just as inevitable. Some day — and perhaps soon — production would work its way out of the hands of mechanics and into that of showmen. Then — ^well. The Great Train Robbery proved how audiences would respond. In that day the moving picture might displace the spoken theatre. On paper, it was a simple problem in arithmetic. The “legitimate” stage charged a dollar and a half for an orchestra seat; it could not charge much less and continue to exist. The moving-picture house charged five cents, or at the most, ten. ... He sailed for Europe in a state of uncertainty over his future. Hitherto, he had been merely an opportunist. While his natural bent had something to do with turning him from a fur manufacturer into a showman, accident had made him a specialist in motion pictures. From now on, however, the way lay clear and marked before him. He intended to play this one card, and to gamble on it everything he had. Also, it would