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available was a three-reel version of the Passion Play which had been made in Europe. I purchased, at a rather high fee, the right to show it. The nature of the film presented certain problems. Religious subjects had been shown in the past with success, but now many churchmen were denouncing motion pictures in general for lack of morality. Some even maintained that movie houses were an invitation to license because of the darkness.
For the test I chose our small theater in Newark, which was located where the Bamberger Department Store now stands. If protests were made against the film as sacrilegious, or the audiences refused to sit through it (running time was about forty-five minutes ) , I did not expect to try it in New York. An organ was installed and an experienced church organist hired. The posters for the front of the little store theater were dignified and well printed.
Bright and early on the morning of the opening I was in Newark. In those days we opened early and ran late, grinding out film as long as people would come. I stood outside and watched the women come downtown to shop. They looked at the posters with interest, and they listened to the religious music from the organ. Some were drawn inside.
I followed as soon as the show started. The scene was one of the most remarkable I have ever witnessed. Many women viewed the picture with religious awe. Some fell to their knees. I was struck by the moral potentialities of the screen.