Variety (Sep 1928)

48 VARIETY EDIT OR I A L Wednesday, September 5, 1928 Tnidft Mark neRlstorod Published'Weekly by VARIETT, Inc. Sline Silverman, Preaiaeiit 164 West 46th Street New York City SUBSCnTfTlON: Annual ;..|iO Foreign.. -'i* SinBlp Copies..\ . ■. ■ -..- ■ .26 Centa Vol. XOIl No, S 50 YEARS AGO (From "Clipptr:')' The Evergreen Mehory of MARCUS LOEW By William Brandt (William Brandt is the independeht picture chain exhibitor of Brdoklyn, N. Y., seinior partner of the Brandt Brothers. Mr. Brandt's contribution to the memory of the greatest man, Marcus Loew, the show business has ever known, was written b - himself, as a tribute to one for whom he holds unbounded affection and admifatipn. Though a business competitor of Lo6w's, that competitive strife never furrowed the close social relations betweien Mr. Lbew and Mr. Brandt.) !r;u(nc LlicjLti'ical custoriis , h.'ivcn't . iiiuitrt'd fio much in GO years, as witness this? par«j?rai>h in a column 111" casual comment: "About this time of the year, look '>ut for conflicting reports of what is in preparation for the the.atre in I Ik; \ys\y: (if liovv playff, etc. i^Iutili of . this must be taken with caution," "Puts • anil oitU.s'.'. was a theatre term iis well as u. stock exchange •plu-aso. "The Clipper" explains Lhat "c.all.s" .are notices bringing companies together for rehearsal, while "put.-^" are notices to people' cngageil to put in an appearance iV)r oonstiltrition or in.'<triu'.tjon. ■ .Mpilern critics of society;, who well on what they call the break- .Idwn of family life in contrast to 'old fdshioned" doniestio customs, •irt; invited to exanune the case of .vii's. Thomas Mountjoy, of WeJjt- ;'Idi Mass., who cau.sed the arrest .111' hei' mother and her hii.sTiand oh i'ii;ii-gos fir adullery. iSliedding some light on events that led" up to th'e liussian revolu- tion, it is recorded that of the 3,- 500,000 roubles obtained by. public subscription to develop a volunteer war fleet, half had been lost through embezzlement of government offi- cials. ^ For the second year in succession the g;i'asshopper peat passed across the bakotas, leaving Vast stretches of fields eaten bare. The .Columbia University rowing crew that had cleaned up all com- petition at the Henley (ICngland) regatta, returned and was feted by the then presiding Jimmy Walker; 15 YEARS AGO {From Variety and "Clipper") Selig, one of the "Film Trust" licensees, introduced the system of screen credits by incorporating the name of script authors into main title. Following ah epidemic of "white slave" plays on the New York stage, the vogue hit the picture producers, t'nivcraal leading with a picture called "A Fight Against Evil.", Dave Ohatkin. now Paramount of- ficial, had been branch manager in Toledo for .Universal, and now took charge of the Huffalo exchange of Warners. : Keith went iiito action again.st the small time which had grown to im- pressive power. Keith's Allegheny opQned in Philadelphia, opposing a •horde of rielghborhood vaudeville houses. LoeW's answer was an im- pressive list of feature booking.«f, including James .K. Ilackett, Ching Ling Foo and now Andrew Mack, Irish singing star. Specialty road shows were being formed everywhere. Among the new ones were organizations headed by Alice Lloyd (Morris), one with Evelyn Nesbit Thaw (ComstOCk & Gest), and Cort's company with Anna Held. Jiminy Pluiikett niarried his sec- -reta r-yv-A nn{^_l>u rGiJl,^wJaixJ:ftminy CJray as best man.. Instead of coddling its film indus- try Europe was planning new taxes against It. Italy already had an impost <»aual to 2 cents a foot on film. Now the German kaiser con- sidered taking over the whole, busi- he.ss as a government monopoly, granting manufacttiring Hcenaes on royalty basis. A year has passed since the earthly remains: of the man, Marcus Loew, were taken away from us. MIc bad not been in best of health, he had worked at a terrific speed and the candle of his life had burnt from both ends; and yet—how sudden, how unexpected was the end! .Strong and usually reserved men. wept at his bier, and sob after sob was heard in the drowsy calm of tlie cemetery. Yet, When I sav that he is .still with us, t am not repeating a stock phrase. Tlie glowing memory of him is his greatest monunlent, however stately, however sumptuou.s and princely his theatrical monuments may be. He was plain, unassuming, quick as mercury,'and burning with a tre- mendous vitality—a! vitality that made hini unmindful-of. his own ap- pearance, a vitality that cast a hypnotic, spell over thp entire theatre world.- ■ ■ I shall never forget how Marcus met President Harding. We were In Washington and suddenly the word came that the President wished to sec. Mai-cus, Loew, .Mr. Loew asked me to joiri him. We went to the Capitol. ■.. " ■'" : :'■ . . ^- I'rcsldent Harding stared at Mf\rcys in amazement, and at, last exr claimed:' '. "So you are Mr. Loew, as well known as the President of the united States I" '• And that was the average reaction to LbeW.. Thos.e .who knew him— and there were literally thou.sands of them—knew what a heart of gold beat within. To the passerby, a. drab looking little man, rushing sonie- whcre on some .strange business. The doormen of his Own numberless theatres would grin incredulously when he told^ them he was Marcus Loew and would they please'let him pass. One of these once actually exclaimed: • • ^ ' "Stop kidding me. Another guy last week tried to; pull that stunt, too. .Tiut this little man played godfather, to hundreds of men and women. The world will probably never know the names of. those whom his munificent hand saved from stai-vation. His. contributions to charity, were tremendous. .But his heart went out:to those who were too proud to stretch out their destitute, hands. I personally know of a list of over 200 people—mcstly his former employees, old actors and others from his former commercial days, who had worked for him when he was beginning his plunge into the theatrical field—200 men and wpmei\ who received a weekly or mohthly allowance from him. His liAnd never failed. His eye was quick to detect faces, characters, personalities that had once upon a time crossed his path. We were once rushing througli Broadway, Marcus and myself, when I saw a shabbily dressed man with a haggard look leaning iagalnst the wall, seemingly trying to avert his eyes from Loew's whom he had noticed in the crowd.* Loew's eagle eye was quick to detect the man. He shook his hand and said: "Hello; George, how are things?" He recognized an actor who had worked for hini 20 years before,at the Grand Theatre and he remembered his name. ,^ , " Mrs.. Loew ,Carries ,On fiad it not been for his sudden death theses 2()0 people to whom he was a godfather would have been remembered in his will. Just a week before he died, while away on a short vacation, I heard him say : to his personal attorney, Leopold Freedman, that as soon as he would come back he would like to have his will changed. With prosperity, he wanted to make larger provisions for charitl.es, and also provide for the numbers of nien and women dependent on him. I understand Mrs. Loew is now following out, the purposes of her unfor- gettable husband. May God help her.in her noble work.- The terrific pace of his whirlwind life, the tremendous tempo' of his activity played ha-voc with his memories and huma:nitarian intentions. For it must be remembered that the life of Marcus Loew was not exactly a path strewn with roses. He had faced many a. hard struggle in the tempestuous field of the motion picture industry and twice was on the verge of failing. It is a far cry from an East Side newsboy to a multimillionaire con- trolling one of the biggest industries. He became Interested in the film business years ago when he saw a moving picture on the second floor of a Cincinnati building. Soon he became absorbed in the great possibilities of this yet undeveloped field. After several years developing a splendid ©"rganization of theatres, despite tremendous opposition, of the Keith Circuit which established, an actor's blacklist as one of the weapons to combat with, he bought the SuUivan and Considlne Circuit in the west, a deal that nearly wrecked hia own company. Despite a rather rough time for awhile, Marcus emerged unscathed, bigger and stronger than ever, adding theatre after theatre to his ch&iri. "Each additioTi gave" him greater national prominence:* To protect his theatres and insure a continiipus supply of good pictures, he went Into producing, and for the second time nearly wrecked the results of all his hard labor. He bought the Metro company. . For lack of capital and internal di.ssension it was practically on the. rocks. The Metro pictures were terrible and for a lOng time after Marcus took con- trol, exhibitors all over the country kept on cancelling contracts, Metro was losing a fortune every week and again the whole Loew structure was shaky. It was in those days that Marcus Lo'eW's courage atid nerve manifested themselves. He gritted hia teeth and held on. Then came a turn In the tide. "Four Horsemen" was released, the big- gest suCcei^s ever made to that date. Metro started to produce good pic- tures and history records the. rest. It was the beginning of Marcus' wealth and reputation, a culmination of , a career that has not its peer in parity of vision, almost prophetic In sight and ,unfiagging energy. Knew People ■ Marcus had an uiicanny gift of sizing up people and choosing the right kind of associates and it w.as to' the devotion and loyalty of these that he modestly attributed his colossal success. He waa eternally pro'ud of "his boys," as he called them, Nick and Joe Schenck, Dave Bernstein, Jake Lubin, Lep Frftcdman, Charlie Moscowltz. and later on, Dave Picker, Ed Schiller, Lou Sidney, Marvin Schenck, Bob Rubin, Felix Feist, Leon Fleishman, Joe Vogel and Nils Granlund. They all grew up with him Und^tho>wloxedJUm^S.JiiME_fMhcr unfair competltio'n. Time and again, when the clarity of his vision made him choose a certain location for a new theatre—and he never went wong—he took in the owner of the theatre already operating in the neighborhood as a partner. He held the key to everybody's heart. And he had more friends in this country than any man I can think of. It was sheer guts, tremendous vision and indomitable energy that drove him on to the pinnacle of fame; it was his OWn golden heart that o^pened all hearts to him, , And now, a year today after his death, we are still stirred with mem- ories. I loved him as my own father and my heart still goes with a new beat When I recall his gonlle face. I wish I could have given part ci Inside Stuff-Pictures (Continued from page 24) and when a reasonable amount of time rolled by and no profits from the office appeared she decided to run the office herself. Before this could be effected she had to clear up a lot of outstanding, debts con- tracted by the original owner. „ ^ ^ The business is beginning to look brighter since the red is all washed up and the Missis handling all the dough and doing the leg work in hustling up jobs for the thoii.qand or more ham and beaners. While transporting a load of scrap film from the Consolidated Labora- torles to Universal City o-n the coast, a ifllni can fell out, causing a short to the truck'q battery. Truck was destroyed, with total loss $500, A story sent out fronilhe coast mentioned the film for two pictures de- stroyed and the loss at $250,000.' A puzzling point to the dialog picture students Is the use of love passages in talking pictures. Sortie are wholly dubious, whilst, others say it will depend upon the principals and the situation. "I love you' Is used in "Glorious Betsy" by Conrad Nagel, and Is said to get over with- out giggles. Word is being passed around Interested, circles in Hollywood that WUl Hays has urged greater attention be devoted to' the making of still plo^ tures. H^ad of the Mi P. P. D. is quoted as saying stills are aarriples of the goods which manufacturers show their customers. Some of the product of still departments In the coast studios would do genuine credit to famoiis portrait galleries. One of the most suc- cessful in getting highly artistic results, when asked how these were secured, explained that when the company had got deeply into a picture, into the spirit, the feel of it, two days were set apart for the taking pf stills pf the star or co-stars and, in some instances, of the more im- portant members of the cast. But particular attention was devoted to; co-stars, love scenes being emphasized. It was-the practice of this producer to set apart, three Interior sets, fully dressed exactly as in the picture. When the remainder of the com-■ pany was shut down or away from stages he desired used for the stills the sets would be lighted according to the ideas of the still photographer —and hot accbrding to the custom followed by the picture cameraman. Then in the atmosphere of the portrait gallery, and not in that of a hurried and harried motion picture set, with the director concerned to get moving on his schedtilo, the photographer proceeded under the direc- tion of a competent director, to take shots e.ipeclally Indicated on the script'' ' ' During the course of the picture stills are taken by, this company, as Is done by other companies, but the compliments that are bestowed upon the still w;ork flow from the shooting pf the two days devoted to nothing One of the reasons ascribed for securing the unusual results Is the , payment to the photographer of about three times the usual sum awarded In that department. Another and an. important one Is that the company never Is harassed to meet a release date. • On one occasion the company referred to' Was asked to send some of Its larger photographs of its team-mates to an art exhibit in London, The wise producer, desiring to establish impression of value, declined to permit their transmission until bond had been posted guaranteeing proper return. • The bond was. posted, the pictures as art art exhibit created a tremendous hit, and, incidentally, the picture fro-m which the stnis were taken got a notable ImpeAis in England. The workings of a London newspaper office are being filmed at the- Paramount studios for a sequence in "Interference." directed by Lothar Mende^t. . .- One of the screen comics, who just returned to the coast after work-^ Ing for a Canadian film company, claims the Canucks have much td learn in the way of making pictures. j wi » • Without prejudice .for nationality, the comic, also a British subject. • claims that the Canadians lack experience, and while they will no»; tolerate advice from those who have, gained experience in the American Held, they go about producing pictures as an amateur whC reads how to make pictures from a textbook. , . \. * The comic said he was taken to Canada for a feature role in what looked to him to be a steal from "The Big Parade." Amo^ng the many absurdities executed by the director was the taking of dramatic scenes. Working up to a serious emotional scene, the director would cut befor* the scene could reach Its full effect and give as. his excuse that he did not want to Waste too much film on tears: On the other hand, the director would give unlimited footage to scenes that did not mean any- thing to telling a story. Bo'ys and girls on one of the Hollywood lots have been amused by the antics of an overnight hit leading man. The conquest took place in a recent picture and led to an engagement in a second important production. Between the date of the signing and beginning work the leading man took unto himself a very young and impetuous bride, kno'wn to the film colony since childhood. As the second picture got under way the bridegroom developed temperament. It would be necessary fOr him to haye a stand-in, a double to take his place while the cameraman' lines up. A stand-in was en- gaged and it quickly developed that the substitute had a decided screen edge on his principal. The lead remained away a couple of days. Seems that in a scene it had b?fth"H^essary-to use a whip on his shoulders, made harmless and. painless for the camera, but it was taken for granted the bride had ordered the rest. " _ The third day the leading man came back and so did the bride. There were to be fervid love scenes with the leading woman. Before every entrance In front of the lens the bride called the bridegroom aside, hugged him and reluctantly pas.sed him on to the leading woman while with blazing eyes and cheeks she stood on the sidelines and watched. A juvenile actor in Hollywood whoi has been fortunate in working steady enough to keep his young wife, a former picture star, supplied with many luxuries, turned producer long enough to get a feature pic- ture well started when his capital of $47.98 became exhausted. Deal was typical of the many Hollywood co-operative kind where the actors, director and cameraman agree to work in the picture without salary and cut the profits when the picture is released- In this particular event the actor promoted studio space at one of the local acting schools by the same arrangement. His only need for im- mediate cash was to buy film. After a few of the major scenes for the picture had been completed a number of the actors In the cast, in- cluding the star-producer, received calls for work from other studios, which required production to' stop until the cast would again be avail- able. Meanwhile the director was losing time while the actors were receiving money for other work. He tolerated this for several weeks -untiL-he-hecame discourag ed,, along,wit h the_3-tudio , _whI^^ ^^^ sets removed. my Own life to have had his prolo"ngcd; to have him slap me on the shoulder and grin amiably or stroll in the endless gardens or sit on the veranda of his palatial Glen Cove home. Marcus Loew has left behind him monuments upon monuments nj marble, iron and gold, dedicated to the entertainment and happiness oi millions of people. But the memory of his golden heart that had beateii with love and devotion is the most glowing tribute to him, a pledge or lus trtjc ImmortaHty, and an everlasting InsplrAtion id his friends.