Motion Picture Herald (1954)

SKOURAS’ DEATH TAKES DYNAMIC TIHADE FIGURE The death last Friday of Charles P. Skouras in his 66th year ended one of the most remarkable motion picture industry success stories within the framework of the American dream. News of his passing, at Cos Angeles’ Cedars of Lebanon Hospital following his third serious heart attack within 18 months, saddened leaders of exhibition and production as well as other national figures. Some 4,000 persons paid tribute to Mr. Skouras at the funeral, held Monday in St. Sophia's Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Hollywood. The assemblage overflowed the cathedral. The eulogy was read in Greek by Archbishop Athenagoras and spoken in English by Dean Leonidas C. Contos. Burial was in the Skouras mausoleum adjoining the cathedral. Tribute Published in New York Newspaper Tributes came from all sections of the country. The New York Herald Tribune, on the editorial page of its October 23 issue, stated that his career “is a very American story, including the fact that it began on a farm in Skourohorian, Greece” and noted : “His charitable works were many; his greatest source of satisfaction was the Cathedral of St. Sophia, largest Greek Orthodox church in America, in the construction of which he and his brothers had a major share. That may well be considered his monument, a symbol in stone of successful striving, coupled with an abiding sense of responsibility and gratitude. America is fortunate to have won the loyalty and the skillful toil of such men as Charles P. Skouras.” Mr. Skouras, president of National Theatres and brother of Spyros P., president of 20th Century-Fox Film, and George, president of the United Artists Theatres, became ill Monday. At his bedside at his death were his wife, Florence; his son, Charles, Jr. ; his two daughters, Mrs. Margi Curti and Mrs. Edith Jungmeyer. Also surviving are six grandchildren. The eldest of the three Skouras brothers, whose careers are identified with the various fortunes which have overtaken the film industry since before the first World War, Charles came to this country in 1908 a pen CHARLES P. SKOURAS niless immigrant from Greece. For several years in the 1940s he was listed by the Treasury Department as the nation’s highest paid corporation executive. Mr. Skouras’ first job in the United States was as a restaurant worker, for a wage of 50 cents a day plus all he could eat. He soon moved to St. Louis where he worked in a hotel as, variously, a bus boy, waiter and bartender. Out of his earnings he saved enough eventually to send for his brothers Spyros and George with whom, in 1914, he purchased the Olympic theatre, a decrepit, 800-seat St. Louis nickelodeon. Within a few years, the Skouras’ first film industry venture had grown into a circuit of 36 theatres throughout Missouri. As the flagship of their fleet they built the multimillion-dollar Ambassador theatre and office building in downtown St. Louis, the first theatre to be built in that locality exclusively for the showing of motion pictures. In the late 1920s the brothers accepted an attractive offer by Warner Brothers and sold their interests in the circuit on the condition that they continue the management of not only the St. Louis but of all the Warner houses. This was the beginning of the big time. Although they received a setback in the 1929 crash, the brothers began anew and in 1931 saw another opportunity to go into business for themselves again. They signed to manage 47 bankrupt Fox Metropolitan theatres in New York. Reorganizing the circuit under the name of Skouras Theatres, of which his nephew Sypros Skouras, Jr., is now president, the operation was so successful that in 1932 the brothers entered into a management contract for the operation of another string of 450 theatres throughout the country. Concurrently Charles Skouras was placed in management charge of Fox West Coast Theatres with headquarters in Los Angeles. In 1942 he became president of National Theatres and subsidiaries, parent company for all of 20th Century-Fox’s theatre properties which, at their peak, numbered approximately 700 theatres, including the Roxy theatre, New York. Following the theatre company’s divorce from 20th-Fox in 1952, Mr. Skouras was continued as president of National Theatres. Only a few days before his most recent illness Mr. Skouras had returned to Los Angeles from a strenuous business trip to New York on behalf of the financial affairs of National Theatres. Mr. Skouras also was chairman and a founder of Theatre Owners of America. Well Known for Civic and Philanthropic Efforts The dynamic executive was known for his philanthropic and civic endeavors to advance the cause of the American way of life and to aid the underprivilged both at home and abroad. For many years he was involved in a wide variety of charitable causes and during the war directed the sale of more than $2,000,000,000 worth of “F” war bonds in National theatres. Among the film industry figures who joined this week in paying tribute to Mr. Skouras were Nicholas M. Schenck, president of Loew’s; Charles M. Reagan, Loew’s vice-president and sales manager; Eric A. Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Association of America ; Leonard Goldenson, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres; Barney Balaban, Paramount Pictures president, and others. IT would take one with the gift of a Homer to tell in full the truly epic role Charles Skouras played in the rise of American motion picture exhibition. Some day the story of his life should be made into a great film. His was an Horatio Alger story — plus plenty. If he had just made a lot of money, his life would have been common to a number of others in the economic history of the United States. However, his life was marked by a most uncommon vision. He was quick to help his brothers come and share with him the opportunities of the New World. He immediately grasped the future possibilities of motion picture exhibition. His faith in the role of the theatre in American life persisted through days of boom, depression, war, television and divorcement. For him the term “rugged individualist” might have been first coined. Yet his closeness to his brothers, his family and friends was likewise notable. While he had caused hundreds of theatres to be built, his understanding of ultimate values was indicated by the fact that the structure to which he was most dedicated was the Greek Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sofia at Los Angeles where his body was laid to rest October 25. His spirit will continue to be a force in the destiny of National Theatres and in American exhibition. — M.Q.Jr, MOTION PICTURE HERALD, OCTOBER 30, 1954 17