Newspaper Page Text
The Southern Israelite
Page 19
' he Napoleon of the Movies
(Continued from Page 6)
1 to furnish a musical
intermission between the
ii>, he became the ad-
cventually the manager
iie Great, Napoleon of
Routing, booking and
of the show business
nliar to him. He decided
iered far greater oppor-
k returns than the so-
stage, and induced Herr-
Thus Jesse L. Lasky
t | lL . , ian at a thousand dollars
v previously unheard of.
. big hit, and left Lasky
vuth little t- , ,
lastermind of the movies
i could book Herrmann at
not others?” And he
lccessful activity in the
-mess. He formed a part-
[;. A. Rolfe, and the firm
Knife, backed by Henry B.
wn theatre owner, started
i! ville history. They never
n un and frequently twenty
.11 tlu mad. In two years, the for-
, > i the Royal Hawaiian
>ed a fortune of a hundred
>u»and dollars and was draw-
u steady income besides,
think that we are now near-
t i,t i.asky’s beginnings and
r commencement of his suc-
But you are wrong. For
a>kv decided to make a trip to
n tn search for vaudeville novelties,
there made up his mind that the Con-
1, hall <>r cabaret idea would
icrative undertaking for America,
return, therefore, he combined
i Mr. Harris, and, to use his own
"We introduced New York to the
aharet,' a word that since has be-
• ver\ common through usage. We
tin- holies Bergeres. The theatre,
t the handsomest in the city, was in
Street, near Broadway, ro
lled the Fulton Theatre. We
Hogan ‘more Parisian than
it was. That opening oc-
\pril 24, 1911. It was an in-
I he lower floor was devoted
id chairs; the upper floors had
It was a glorious success,
here Mr. I^asky sighed—
i dly it was a bust. We were
- ahead of the cabaret vogue,
tosed the Folies Bergeres I
' Gat broke once more.
' the most distressful period
I i rk nee. My dreams came
I’ 1 'tit my head. One day a
•ducer, head of a great enter-
' < xt with not a dollar in my
no prospects. New York
a desert without an oasis. I
audeville again.”
later occurred Lasky’s
1 Cecil de Mills, the now
ie director, but then merely
><’U of Mrs. H. C. de Mille,
d a very enterprising dra-
I he Lasky-de Mille
w a by-word, was knitted
her they wrote several
n’h as "In the Barracks,”
k- Shop" and "The Little
bortune smiled, and success
t<> the two young men.
t representative of a motion
rn approached me to buy, for
dollars, the use of my name,
y 'filet h:i
Wa ' an
it time had come to mean
the entertainment field. It
hng offer, yet I refused. I
he film business myself and
then went to Cecil de Mille and said:
Cecil, let s go into the motion picture
business. And do Mille answered -
‘Let’s.’
“If one asked de Mille to go to Mexico
or Terra del Fuego on short notice he
would simply answer: ‘Let’s.* He was
and is an ideal companion, never demurr
ing, always ready to start—and start with
a smile.”
Thus started the Lasky studio in a barn
at Vine and Selma Streets in Hollywood,
rented at two hundred dollars a month.
The stage was fortv by eighty feet, and
the first picture was “The Squaw Man,”
with Dustin Farnum, stage star, as lead
ing man; the latter rejected Lasky’s offer
of a quarter-interest in the Lasky enter
prise, preferring to take five thousand
dollars in cash instead and thus missing
his chance to become a millionaire.
The rest is motion picture history.
After a number of successful Lasky pro
ductions the great combine between
Zukor, Lasky and Cecil de Mille was
made under the Paramount banner. The
business developed to such proportions
that Mr. Lasky had to specialize his ac
tivities to some extent, and devoted his
energies and genius to production and
negotiating with stars and writers. Artis
tically inclined himself, he realized that
a director must be given plenty of free
dom, and made it his policy never to force
a picture on any director. He is the one
who has gained the co-operation of the
biggest European and American literary
figures.
As an executive he does not believe in
saying “you must” or “' r ou shall." He
does believe in enlisting the intelligent
co-operation of his people, selling them
the idea and then letting them “go to it."
Today everybody knows that Jesse L.
Lasky is one of the main factors in the
continual improvement of the quality of
American motion pictures and in the tre
mendous boom which the movie industry
enjoys regardless of supposedly had or
good economic conditions in this country.
A pioneer who blazed trails where others
followed—one of the most scintillatinirh
colorful personalities in the history of the
American motion picture industry.
(Copyright 1930 for S. A. F. S.)
Geneva.—“In Zionism I see a move
ment of great moral value and of great
importance not only to the Jewish peo
ple but to humanity in general." de
clared Hjalmar Procope, for the past
two years rapporteur on mandates to
the Council of the League of Nations
and new foreign minister of Finland.
In a statement to the Jewish Tele
graphic Agency, M. Procope said that
in the two years he had devoted him
self to a detailed study of the man
dates and had had an opportunity to
express his opinion at the recent ses
sions of the sixth or political com
mission of the Assembly of the League
of Nations when he emphasized the
principles and obligations of the Brit
ish Government under the Palestine
Mandate.
Bucharest.—Talking to a delegation
of Bukovinian peasants who had come
with a petition for remission of agri
cultural tithes, King Carol rebuked
them for their part in anti-Semitic
demonstrations during the past tew
months. He declared that the riots
have cast shame upon Bukovma and
discredited all of Rumania. The peti
tion was denied.
Ship via
I SOUTHEASTERN EXPRESS
1
City Savings Bank
& Trust Co.
UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT
Announces the Election of
Henry S. Cohen,
PRESIDENT
And Additional Directors
The Name of the hank Is Changed to
City Bank & Trust Co.
Space has been leased for banking quarters in the new
No. 10 North Pryor Street Building
Just one block from FIVH POINTS.
Contracts for new and modern bank
ing fixtures and vault have been let and
we will move into our -new location
prior to November 1 5th.
TEMPORARY LOCATION
No. 58 Marietta Street, N.W.
COMPLETE BANKING SERVICE
HENRY S COHEN
President, City Savings Bank
A Trust Co.
DR. FLOYD W. McRAE
Surgeon
TRAMMELL SCOTT
President, Trammell Scott
A Co.
C. H. BECKER
Vice-President, Goidsmith-
Becker Company
DIRECTORS
HENRY B. TOMPKINS
President, Robinson-Humph-
rey Co.
A. B. CHAPMAN
Vice-President, Lipscomb,
Weyman, Chapman Co.
S. N. EVINS
Jones, Evins, Powers A
Jones, Attorneys
RUTHERFORD LIPSCOMB
President, Lipscomb-Wey-
man-Chapman Co.
HUGH I. RICHARDSON
Ca pi tali it
GEO. F. WEYMAN
Vice-President, City Savings
Bank A Trust Co.
J. T. WALLACE
Vice-President, City Savings
Bank A Trust Co.
Checking Accounts
Savings Accounts
