Variety (Sep 1928)

Wednesday, September 5, 1988 V A R I E T (Reprinted from 'Variety' of Sept. 7, 1927, on this, tfie first anniversary, Sept. 5, 1928, of the passing of MARCUS LOEW) SHOW business is prostrated, in sackcloth ami ashes. And well mi|^ it be. . As it kneels besid|e the bier of Mar- cus Loew it moujms its most staggering and most irreplaceable loss in histoiy. Marcus Loew the outstanding individual figure of the amosement industries of all lime»—substantially, senti- mentally, financially and constructively. Unique in the annjails of all trades, and, strangest of all, in the hectic competition of theatricals, for once the biggest was the best beloved. He died at 57. He died not because he was bid, worn out or worked out He died because he was honest—honest to an almost fana<icai.l.^Welity;i;^^^ to others. One of hU best friends (and on Broadway) «#f^^^-'" such as none of his many imaginative scenario writers would dare He was burned out tiiith V)orr})mg for hts stockhold^^ invested in his enterprisiu, because of their faith injm0^^-^^^^^^^ ,3 vS^^^ ' Born i)l p6t^t Jewish parents in the congested quagmires of Manhattan i hat same friend had warned hun when he first considerc^^ — - ' . - He was, widial. frank and answered inquiries far more openly than any other big man in the trade. He had nothing to hide, nothing to be ashamed of. He Was never known to break a pledge, no matter how high the cost of keeping it Approachable to a remark-. able degree in view of his impoTlanccw with his yelding disposition and his charitable impulses, he committed himself daily to expensive, inconvenient and often embarrassing promises. He made good on them all, religiously, and ofteii gave them his health and his time sis well as his money VN^ien he might have been serving his ov^ti purposes. Thrill and Romance <The story of Marcus Loew is a thrilling and romantic chapter in modern financing of Loew's Enterprises iiito Loew's, Inc.. jihat' it would take 10 years from his life. Marcus Loew replied that if it would help him to justify the trust omers had placed in him, he would willingly give the 10 years. And so he did. Marcus Loew*s life was a sermon in practtcal idealiim such as the records of ages scarcely can parallel. The great conqueror of Broadn>a\), the theatre realm, the motion picture i»orld, the vuudemU empire; the multi'miUidnaire imracle showman, the Wall Street giant, the trims-continental and trans- oceanic i»ielder and possessor of poi»er that^would make- fnany a crovfntd king enoy,^ ttas a gentle, kindly, scrupuUmtlysihonorable, soft-spoken,_ soft-' hearted little-big man i»ho built and lived and di^. for itnselfifh and altruistic service. " ' The greatest friend the actor ever had, : he stood: as; be- tween them and oppression, degradation ami <dbvei^:'^^^^^^H against all those instruments shrewdly manipulated to blind< «na:r^ and con-* fuse them. Every .xtrong, crooked scheme had to stop:: n>Aen^ it reached the hordt^s of Marcus lA)ei»*s domain. He rvas a squme d^ler t^fy fftt^ inside md those outside his control. ' ^ To his stockholders he gave a measure of devotion and preelection which makes his premature pialfsing almost an apt of martyrhood. one of the gigantic corner-jugglerS'of high finance attempted to ertgirteef a pool in Loew's, Inc., stock, through whkh Marcus Loew might haVeieasityi made milliiMut and' remained entirely within the law and the accepted ethics of such things^ he' threatened to fight the man himself for the stockholdeTV^^'i'i^d :dte::pQ6l never started. ' ^ Island, downtown; on 8th street, during the generation of poverty anci limited opportunities, h* left school at the age of 9 and went to work in a map print- er's shop at 35 centi a day, He peddled newspapers and did odd jobs, and gravitated into the fur business as a salesman. It was there ^larcus Loew met Adolph Zukor, similarly situated, whom he later gave the lifts thai 'made possible his great ascendancy, a factor which Mn Zukor cheerluUy aftd ^en tearfully relates. Marcus Loew^a start In the theatrical business came widi his acquisition of the Cosy G)rner, afterwards the Royal. Brooklyn, a 10-cent crude house •—just like its name; sound$. It vras destined, however, to be the first link in the greatest chain of/^eatres the world has ever known. Previously Mr. LoeMii!;::had: some experteoce V/it^ _ ^ Peculiar genius was :Marcu| Lbew. His foresight was uncanny, his judg- s 'A ' ment dazzling. And'<»on.lh|;:WqjrId knew, as if by instinct, that this bold ^ ^^f' |»oneer with the vast visions waV. honest. So. though his financial vicissitudes ^.?:.l^^,,Vrtwre'i'llftahy and intricate, he:|4eii^^ he a \vizard at, financing, despite his bedrock convictions. as;|i|!si ^me of the methods of promotion and "^"^it manipulation. He could always call oii:iifie ;ij|^ •—his associates. Almost eVierylbne who ever shook hands v^th Marcus Loew is today one of his stockhotderiil—-widows, orphans, traffic policemen, ushers, '-'^'■^ stenographers, neighbors, millionaires, actors, stage hands, bankers, relatives . s Mw^ven rivals—once ttiiy .:!^^^ under the benign but commanding influence ^ jiA thk maq the:y had 0i|i|iitete faith in, not only his ingenuity but his integrity. ' ' "/-/^ I Indescribable Modesty 'Hir personal niodesiliy was indescribable. He lent his own name to his '.f.-W>- No more would he tolerate any pools from ifmdifi' ffe stood on (IWovC"' '' sterling principle of legitimate supply and demand. - The onl^) trn^ he kneiv to raise the price of his stock i»as to build more andihetter iheatf^st to make more and finer pictures, to give greater value in shoivs, iod[i^Adotm>the prices: of admission and increase the volume of patronage, to oper^^ of merit, efficiency and decent economy. Marcus Loew, the Builder Thus Marcus Loew built up a circuit of about 150 theatres;'atleast 125 'A earlylttistitutions and th|reafter could not shelve it, because it had become a trade^mark. But the piliblicity was distasteful. Its only compensation was that in lending his own/rujime to his tremendous interests he felt that he was adding a further assurahcje: of. his own individual responsibilities. When he becarne^ty^-'head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, die great picture produdng combine/hcijlieft hi^...own name otf. "I am in the background,** was one of his fft:Vbrit#^ayings. ' jHe alv/ays insisted that he had been "lucky.** He was lucky^'bnlji^lin finding a generous response in the trust of others for the ]dyalty::>he gayiil In diat they vi^ere the lucky ones. Nothing pleased him of diem de luxe, super-modem houses of the first grade. He was h^MiOW^A^i!^^**''^'^ more tfaaii to s#'' others happy, siiici^eissful. When a competitor produced a . .1 ■ * J> * 11 11 # .11 ' f t '^l-i-'iilrt-tt^' " I Ifc /^''•^'-y* " i ■ " ■ 1 Ik'.- 'it-.l '•It* -1 ■ 1 ■ *». hew ones at the time of his sudden call from earthly activities.: : He budt^d in one year at another time, against hardships of tight financeii::: hostile laiwr conditions and the many other griefs of war-time. > His passion for expansion, creation and ccnstnict^SHaiiraagApace with W zeal for the prosperity and contentment-of iiihos^^:^ had:;hoen confided into his firm but tender hands, ' < , \ Marcus Loew was the first to procure ^eatr^ on Syo^dway, the WT|d*4 great central avenue for motion pictures. iNe. rented the old Bijou 29dt street for films when siich a venture was regarded as <jiuiterical He followed widi the Majestic on .Columbus Or<le, the turning point of New York^i traf- fic And on and On l)e ^ver fou|^t ahead in ^e vanguatd of the new iH-ogreM, The hundreds of miitibiis that poured in to cement ¥s<U these dreams into monumental real^e^ eame m response to ether m^'^ trust in him,i And this he realized more «» n buid^'tQan as an adv^Mitage. ^ He felt that his life belonged now to diese u^ersv and though the dieatre is and must alw*ays be' a highly spefiiils^ tnniti^. ^ regarded dte funds a$ sacredly a* might head of a bank i^ei« penile deii<M5l their savings iot safekeeping. ' When Lb«w*# tiropped to its record low, ^ere 'wa$ one pindb^sdr, revealed in that si^, bought 1,000 d^ares at 10. _ Warfield, Mi^ctti Loew^s boM>m It companion attd partner. With Qh) various biHW)!^ lom 'Wh<» combined in die houses he wat' equally iqsri^t - . ^ , - - - - ^^^%/< Itefused Any Advantage On one occa^tt Matciis ^Loiew*» law «l^artment notified him that $60,000 engineering ^obtr^ct was so laull^r dial he was not: bound to pay 4 cent He asked if dbe work had been done pr^rly aitd was told it had« He ordered die payment>^«Hand im lutl. / ' On another occasion he walked up to^^ ^^tatre ing. To his amazement, a Gf«M!: :Wai at: :w^^ ^ no overtime was provided for. He was fu)rdter surpri$ed the contracting company in personal/charge. ■■i^^MmJ)sj)xmA«^ recognize Loew. The showman asked :|um how this^unusutdi proeedure^i^ come about, and die other told him he had madeva wide nusicalculatioiti itt:>httj bid, was certain to be a heavy loser and therefore wanted to mh it by all means and hpld down his losses. rj, y^^" Marcus L6ew said nothing, but nett day ordered diat an estimate be made by an expert on the value of the work. It proved that the bid was far too low. Mi. Loew ordered a new deal, allowing the man a profit If that ton- tractor reads this it will be his first knowledge of how it came about Marcus JU«iy_alwayj^wen^ Frank, Open and Truthful Marcos Loew never was knovra to make a false or even doubtful ^atement The rq>orters on "Variety** who knew him intimately will all vouch that in all Aeir years of questioning him, Marcus Loew did not once direcdy or inferentially misinform them, even when it might have been to his advantage. fine work, Mltcu^ Loew cheered| He gave richly in sympathy when it chanced otiyiitwise. ■. ' i| . ' To %f'Staff of aides who climbed the ladder beside him, Marcus Loew's unWavermg brodierhood is famotui. He enriched many of them, and his friendship knew no change. They;; were still his \boyft*" :^me of his attachments are^iincredibly sweet for thtsiiday and age and foi!:::his preponderant position and-: his field. ' "'^ <x The Schenck bo}fs, Aaron Jmes of Chicago, Ijfuis B. Ma^er, J. H. WAjdm^ William Randolph Hearsti .Charles M. Schwab, David^fVarfield, 0Adtipi Zukor, Dave Bernstein, .Bd^^^rd Schiller, one or tivo oldf^me'nevs- %M pitfmtnen and several velerm;:yaudeville performers fii/ill so tetUfy todajf ;f /^mgh their tears. ' . ^ / |f ^tmmAmid the tangles of time and the -freaks of fpriune, these jriendships "^y^^tured andjnelloved. ,^ - , -i -. ^ ^-^M. ^^^"^ Loetf tpouldnt h<j(i» tradii the ffiffecthnate- isteem ofaihese bud' f^^mi^f^^oU the theatres on earA andmtt dte othermansions on tfing Island. " ' ^"T ^^lipe helped men concretely and;he mst)ired attd> fascinated them spiritually. ^HltCi^unu'tant ptt^sonalil^v which WMi'on first lifi^t in any circle, grew a contad^!wriWt himi had the privi- away>;fR>m^e;ihar^ enormous: i^Ittties^iii a^^ enormous con- isponsUntii^ ^ :>innter: there to California by those .thei!e;; :;whxcb, resembled a pilgrimage to some ■•■•■■■■■■■'■'■■■If.vA ,^ H«; warW|efuny ^| oj» die coast . For weeks he was in and out of bed 'mAi^'iaa4^<i^^ «{)eeial»riEs and;nurses. . When he was finally carried out on a promised lewher?—-and rcsponsibil- J^vS^'day/m all weadiers^ Marcus Loew was at his desk. Eagerly, IMigly^h^ drove on in his exacting and bewildering building operations, produdng enterprises, organization details^ His friends implored him to rest, if not retire. He shook his head, smiled that game smile that had seen him through his grinding trials and the more gruelling tribulations of success. And so Marcus Loew died, in harness, on the job. **Burned out with iporrying for his stockholders, those ivho had inoci'ed in his enterprises because of their faith in him,** says his best friend, Afittingandmblie^tpiUxphfo^^^ He isorked for others he built for others, he lived for others, he died fot others. Majf his brave, big, beautiful soul rest in peace. martus toew i