The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • 27

t. SPECIAL THEATER SECTION Vol. xlii. FRIDAY M0RNING, JANUARY 26, 1923. THE PLAY WW 3 POLI tm rvTii I'M -A awans.

i us a I 1 1 .1 aWm 1X11 vi.b!aT'.s jr: a frSAUf-n jxji ft s. warn mm mmmm 'ma: i KT" I i Jlr' HTRUGGLE FOR SUCCESS 0 SEES FULFILLMENT T10UR MILLIONS SPENT ON UNIQUE CONSTRUCTION New Picture Playhouse Culmination Theater Building is Revelation of a.eggB3HBB'''-v 11 wgrater irara oiltsOwneraEnterprheiHis Early Career BT GRACES KEffaSIJCY If Sid Grauman's mother weren't just the kind of a woman she is, and If Sid hadn't gone to that party when he was 14, maybe we should never have had Sid Grauman, showman genius, and the amazingly beautiful theaters, homes of pictures and music, which this city boasts. For even genius must have the Use of Concrete in Architecture BT EDWARD LEAF After three years of work, Grauman's new Metropolitan Theater, occupying the site where the old Methodist Church stood at the northeast corner of Sixth and Hill streets, has been completed, and the structure stands a monument to the genius the architect and the builder. At an expenditure of $4,000,000 a building has been erected which, in design, is believed to be a unique achievement in the art of theater and office-building construction, and of a beauty, it is believed, is unexcelled by any structure of its kind in the United States or Europe. its chance and its Inspiration.

If Sid Grauman's mother Interior of Film Palace Ontcrt Stage aod praessnloai area, sbewiBB' deeorattre schem. t7par laft head esmeri Fsyer and Ala liway. Belewi Doantmy ea unMtM Seoe, Vsswr risht kaad eeraeri Pare, mt mezxantM fkwo. Below AboUmt vkw la fore Ins-srwslisis 9t aew tlwtee by Cbartaa H. Oweae, Tha lines staoT srHsti Since the new Metropolitan Theater was started three years ago remarkable changes have taken In the district surrounding Pershing Square, and realty values have risen enormously.

A block westward on Sixth street, the new Pacific Flnancfc Building has been erected, the new Pacific Mutual Building, at Sixth street and Grand avenue has been completed, and rapid progress is being made on the great Bi It more the audience, and when the movable section is elevated, It Increases the depth of the stage, making it one of the largest in the world. A. similar plan has been followed for the organ console, which can be raised or lowered as desired. Back of the stage there are for ty dressing rooms for prologue and accompaniment performers, and underneath the stage are preview rooms, a large and well-equipped carpenter shop, electric-wiring systems, the ventilating system, and the motors which control the elevatora The ventilating system. Installed at a cost of requires fifty-one motors for Its operation, and through this system circulation of cool air In summer and warm air winter is provided.

Special consideration was given the pipe organ, a specially built unit orchestra Instrument, said to be the largest In the world, and Installed at a oost of MO.OOO. IilGHTTXQ EfXOVATIOKS The electric wiring system. Installed by Holmes and Sanborn, electrical engineers under the supervision of William Lee Wool-lett. architect for the theater por-Uon of the building, is of the most modern type, and the multi-colored light effects are controlled by a new stylo of switchboard, especially developed for the theater. This board, only thirteen feet In GRAUMAN PROVES FAITH IN THE AMUSEMENT ART BT EDWUT SCIIAIiLERT Nothing so forcefully Illustrates the broadening of the horizon of the picture industry as the growth of the photoplay theater.

From the tiny nickelodeon, with its score of casual guests, to the cinema temple, rising in monumental grandeur up to this achievement, which Is representative also of years ot hardship and struggle that' have gone before. Up to the time that Rid Grauman went to the party I have mentioned he had led a roving life with his parents. His father, the late D. J. Grauman, worked at many things.

He was a railroad man at one time, and the family went about from place to place. Sid went to school In Chicago. In Boa-tn, in every big town In the country. They lived In Washington, a part of the time. And It was here that Sid saw his first show.

He was s4ne years old at the time. The show was a grand opera. He was telling librettos, but ha almost forgot his job In watching that wonderful, bewildering, beautiful show on tha stage! "After that, whenever I was missing from home," explained Sid the other day. "mother always looked for me around some stag door." From Colorado, the family went to Alaska in 1897, at the time of the gold rush. They went through the ChUeoot Pass, undergoing- all torts of hardships and dangers among which was the shooting of the White Horse Rapids in a cow.

They settled in Dawson. COIXED MONEY OX PAPERS Here the young Sid went in for all sorts of enterprise! He aided hts father in mining, and In his off time he sold papers from Kan Francisco and Los Angelee at a dollar apiece. Even the local paper, which the newsboys called the "dear little Nugget." and which was about as big as a good -sized theatrical program, sold for 2S cents. He ran a roller-skatinc rink. He sold pies and flowers.

Sid's first theatrical enterprise was the giving of a benefit for the Dawson City newsboys, who were having a hard time of It one winter beoauae the papers from outside were not coming in, due to the impassibility of the mountain ways. He secured some very good talent for the benefit. Inasmuch as some of the miners were erstwhile theatrical folk, beside which there were some theatrical women In the danoe haihv There were aa suitable eostumee for the show. Everybody soared up the beet clothes he or she oowld. But tha Hotel, at Fifth and Olive streets.

While the Grauman Interests were practically the pioneer theater operators to enter the district. Hill street, since the time construction work on the Metropolitan Theater wu started, has made remarkable progress as a shopping street and theater section. Two of the best theaters tn the city, Pantages, at Seventh and Hill, and the Junior Orpheum at Eighth and Hill have been erected, and other theaters are projected, notably the new playhouse to be built In connection with the Biltmore Hotel. This activity places Grauman's new Metropolitan Theater In the very heart of the city's fine shopping and theater district, and the erection of the great playhouse at Sixth and Hill streets permanently establishes the district; it is the pivot around which future activity wiU center. weren't Just the kind of a woman she la, and if Sid hadn't gone to that party when ho was 14, maybe we should never have had Bid Grauman, showman genius, and the amazingly beauUful theaters, homes of pictures and music, which this city boasts.

For even genius must have its chance and its inspiration. It was up In a lltUe Colorado mining town. Sid was a young Ida and had never been to a party. His father was Interested In mines and had no time for parties. His mother took oare of her big family, and had no time for parties either, Partis were scarce, too.

But when a certain girl announced she was going- to give a party, Sid suddenly discovered that he simply must attend. Then, the morning before the party be realized with a sinking of his heart that he hadn't the right clothes. For one thing, he was sUll In short trousers, and a fellow of 14 can't go to a party in short pants, now, can he? slid told his mother that he had set his heart on that party, and she. womanlike, thought, too, of his clothes. But there were no good stores In that little town, and there wasn't muoh money In the family to buy clothes with, anyhow.

So Sid's mother, wonderful woman that she was, set her head to work to think up a plan. There was an old suit of her husband's, away down In the bottom of the trunk. It was pretty badly worn and most people wouldn't have thought they could do a thing with it. But Mra Grauman was resourceful. She ripped It, she washed ft, she Ironed and sponged, cut and sewed it.

The party was the very next night. And she sat up all night sewing. In the morning Sid put on the clothes, looked in the mirror. IiOl his clothes looked as well as any boy's in town! He kissed his mother, told her aha was a fairy godmother. Sid went to the party.

There was some good muslo by a visiting artist. Sid was entranced. His mother was a pianist, though she found little time In her busy life for practice. Sid inherited her love of musio. At first he had been bashful, at the nartv.

but the musio made him and attracting the multitudes of amusement-seekers, the trail of the celluloid has stretched ever onward. Greater and greater has been the space demanded for the shadows and the lambent light. Far and wide has their spell been flung. And with each rising tier of seats, each soaring archway, each climbing proscenium, the prominence of cinema achievement has been built spectator demands something cinating march, of the times. Metro- the curious paradox of coal-black higher and more secure.

polltar. or cosmopolitan, whatever it may be termed, this picture edl- HTGE ALCOVE" SUPPORT length, as compared with the old From a structural standpoint. glass in some window looking toward the outside world. In spite of all the seeming riot ot the vast interior, there is purpose and objective. Everything Is done to hold the spectator and enthrall nlm while he is within the doors of the auditorium, and eventually everything contributes to bringing his attention to the enactment of the play, with Its accompanying music, and lyric poetry of dance and miniature preluding drama.

The picture theater for the people must offer more to the eye than just its drama of the screen. The screen drama la the essence of she entertainment, to be sure. But the nce is impo" beyond any that you have heretofore seen. Vertibly it is a pyramid on the banks of that onward flowing Nile of amusement's progress. STRANGE CONTRASTS I have but briefly sketched the lure of this new home of picture exhibition.

There are revelations vast and intimate hidden behind Its every door and archway, yne moment you will find yourself faced with a hundred tlkenesses of yourself in some mirrored passageway, the next you will observe more. His taste requires that he be lifted out of the mood of every day events, so that his Imagination may be free to roam and his heart to enjoy. This Is accomplished by completely capturing his fancy for the beautiful, long before he has actually lost himself in the story on the silver sheet. For this reason the utmost variety has been sought for in the Metropolitan Theater. From the moment a person enters he will have his eye intrigued by some object of Interest.

Each separate work of sculpture or decoration Is a symbol. The meaning of each requires study, but the effort will be repaid, and even If the audience member, does not care to penetrate A CASCADE OF COLOR thus deeply Into the significance of the various symbols they will ex cite in his mind an impression of Grauman's Metropolitan Theater, which will open here tonight, is locally the apex of the movement toward the palatial home for the photoplay. Its glowing and golden rooftree is the symbol of a dream that has reached fulfillment. Its richly decked arches and cornices, and gleaming portals. Its maze of frescolngs and myriads of lights give shape and form and life to high ambition.

It is the wealth and breadth of entertainment, probably unequalled In the lavish domain of film playhouse architecture, and It Is at once a testimony and a tribute to the success of the Industry and the art which it wiU exploit. When you enter this theater you will no doubt be captivated by the riotous disclosure of richness and color. Tou will feel subconsciously the impression of construction's mass. You will, mayhap, observe in detail the huge deep Inlays In the giant walls, gaxe upon the great ribs of the structure overhead, heavy as the walls of a feudal castle, and the gigantic golden disc that conceals the many-colored Illumination of the ceiling, and then be puzzled and fascinated by the curtain on which is outlined a satire of history. There la a curious mingling ef moods and fantasies in the gilded patterning.

There is the this and that of beauty, of harmony and dissonance, and dissonance and harmony, modulating into a weird modern cacaphony and concord that may reach out and grasp you It mystifies, if you are keenly uscepUbla to tha febrile and fas beauty. The picture theater is popularly show was a great sueaa It it type of mors than fifty feet, can be operated by one man, and will give the same degree of efficiency as the old style. Special dimming; apparatus allows- the use of a wider range of lighting effects than any other system now In use. The electrical system enters the theater through a double system of transformers, six to each system. This arrangement makes two sources of current available, either of which is sufficient to supply the needs of the theater.

The building proper was designed by Architect Edwin Berg-strom. Foundations were installed for a thirteen-story building, which will permit the- addition of seven more stories at any time the owners wish. The building contains about 100 office rooms, a large number of which will be occupied by the various departments and officials of tha theater business branch. Tha building has a frontage of 155 feet on Sixth street, and 247 on Hill. Both street frontages are occupied by shops, with the exception of the theater entrances.

The Sixth-street side of the building has been set back ten feet from the building line, giving an un- forget himself. When the affair 4 'WO- netted about 11209 tor the ne the new Metropolitan Theater Building Is of unusual Interest to contractors and builders throughout the country. Constructed entirely of concrete, the building possesses features which have been the subject of wide comment. The great balcony, which seats 2000 people, is supported by the longest concrete girder ever built, a girder ninety feet above the level of the foundations, and with a dear span of 127 feet. Because of the fact that this was i a new type of construction for buildings of this character, the balcony and the great supporting span was subjected to severe tests In the early stages of construction.

Nearly 2,000,000 pounds of weight, or more than seven times the combined weight of all the people who will ever be seated In the balcony, were piled over the great span. In or-der to make certain of its safety. Several novel features have also been Incorporated In the design and construction of the stage, and through tneae unusual and -Interesting; effects can be obtained. The entire front section of the stage, fourteen feet in depth, can be lowered out. of sight by means of elevator machinery, operated by immense motors.

This arrangement permits the lowering of the entire orchestra out of sight si boya began to slow up, as country parties will, he found himself helping to keep things going. He came home flashed with success and a vaa-ue sense of leadership. Perhaps that was the beginning perch upon the topmost not as If all the world Is conquered. Now the music is quieter It la gray music. There are odd napes on Uie walls, weird shapes.

The wail of a plaintive viola comes from afar. There is coolness in the air but see, a glowing radiance from above warms again, but the musio Is Just a whisper now. carefully! it is core. The orchestra It has vanished as if by magic, and a gauzed nymph is picking bright colored leaves from the stage. There Is a haunting, unseen, almost unheard melody, and she dances, on and on, like fairyland come true.

It may be unpoetical to wax ef his real' showmanship. At least, it seems to have been, FTTLFmjS ASfBITTOX Todar we have Grauman as most successful as a rule when It Is pictorial. It also wins acclaim when it is democratic. There is nothing of snobbishness tn the new Metropolitan. Logo seats differ not in quality from the other.

They vary only In location. But every individual Is similarly provided as to comfort, according to the designation of the management The motion-picture theater Is for the public. One can trace the large popularity ot the picture art In this one Idea. The box has been practically eliminated. Occasionally there is a star box.

but this Is seldom used except on the occasion A crimson chord, an opalescent run, arpeggios of delicate blue, and golden amber melodies color mmlc that is what Grauman's Metropolitan Theater will offer to the publio. From behlud shadowed tapestries comes the cUnglng tone of the violin playing a seductive melody; a ray of yellow light rests softly on a glided cornice, a gleam ot scarlet crosses It, the melody gains in volume, now a bit of purple is added a hundred colors, a flute is heard, lights lights the whole world Is a blaze of color. A large orchestra has risen from the depths of the stage. A tempestuous composition Is being played, the tempo Increases there Is a blare of trumpets and the violins sweep up the whole chromatic scale and And no teas a aereoa than Jack London took ear ot Um publicity and sold tickets, Ptd was always eavdTsssTy aftv, endlessly lnduntrloua though awvav very strong physically. When the family left Alaska aa4 came to San Franctsoo, la lilt, the late Grauman, add hto so Sid.

inaugurated the first contln. ous performance show in Amev loal Also the first real picture house. The theater was sailed tfe Unique. It was ea'ebliahed iaj what was called the Hoodoo Stare, an Impresario of pictures who Is probably second to none tn the country, and who la now realizing the fulfillment or many long-cner-lshed ambitions in the magniflcient cloture theater that he Is to open tonight as Grauman's Metropoli a Kansk Faftm) tan. Stea ay sta hi fOoaatmoed oa Thirteen in Pas.) (Cou tinned on Tenth Fag) (Continued on Tenth Page.).