Motion Picture Story Magazine (Aug 1912-Jan 1913)

m A Modern M. P. Showman By ROBERT GRAU Author of " Forty Years' Observation of Music and the Drama," " The Stage in the Twentieth Century," etc. [o]|c=ioi=3||off m m m m To become a multi-millionaire from one's own efforts, is always regarded as a great achievement ; but to accomplish it within a period of six years is rare indeed. Six years ago a middle-aged man, whose previous career had been along mercantile lines, was operating a penny arcade in Harlem. Tho he had prospered, he began to observe that the craze for Motion Pictures was reducing his receipts, so he quickly shifted his policy, dividing his auditorium into two parts, in one of which he presented Photoplays, at five cents admission. That man was the Marcus Loew of today ; in just six years he has become by far the wealthiest showman in this country. He has converted one-third of New York's playhouses into temples of the silent drama, has completely changed the theatrical map, and has erected several million-dollar playhouses where the Motion Picture is the compelling attraction, and where from noon to midnight the vast auditoriums are crowded to the doors. Marcus Loew owns, leases, or controls, forty theaters in or near the greater city, in none of which is there a seat that costs more than twenty-five cents, while in some of the larger ones ten cents is the highest price of admission. Among the theaters whose problems have finally been solved in this manner, are The Herald Square, The Plaza, The American, The Yorkville, The Circle and The Lincoln Square, and not one of these theaters involves fixed charges of less than forty thousand dollars annually, while the three first named are among the costliest in New York. In the majority of Mr. Loew's theaters, vaudeville is combined with the silent drama, and it is generally conceded that the entertainments provided are not much inferior to those presented in what are called firstgrade theaters of vaudeville. The theaters are all of modern construction ; the audiences are not much different from those we see in the best. The sole item of expense in The Herald Square Theater is a Motion Picture machine and operator, and the weekly bill for films shown on the screen. Seven thousand persons are estimated to enter this theater on Saturdays and Sundays. This means fourteen hundred dollars for two days, one of which is Sunday, when the regular theaters are dark. There are many Broadway theaters housing vast and expensive organizations, whose managers would gladly accept fourteen hundred dollars as their average business for two days, and in some that the writer can name, there was not one whole week during the past season where this total was taken in for eight performances. It certainly required an intrepid individual to erect a million-dollar playhouse in Delancey Street, New York; yet the new Loew house, seating about 2,500, is crowded at least twice daily, while on Saturdays and Sundays the attendance reaches ten thousand on each day. It is quite the same in Greeley Square, where this twentieth century showman has built as handsome a theater as any in New York. Here the crowd begins to come at nine o'clock in the morning, and a show is constantly presented for fourteen consecutive hours. Mr. Loew does not impress one as a great magnate. In his office he is far easier to approach than are some of his employees. He never seems to be busily occupied, and he transacts his business wholly without fuss or ostentation. Every day he. can be seen at Fleishman's restaurant, on West Forty-second Street, taking his luncheon, surrounded by a group of his intimates. Usually, he remains from one and a half to two hours, all the time listening intently to all that is said, but himself rarely uttering a word. 129