New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-07
By GEORGE s. KAUFMAN

BY GEORGE s. KAUFMAN
TT APPEARS that Jane Cowl is going
Il into the movies. She has enlisted
with the Goldwyn people, and it took
no small amount of persuasion TO IN
duce her to make her film bow. Hav-
ing capitulated, however, Miss Cowl is
really taking the thing up in a serious
way. She speaks as follows, or so the
Goldwyn press sheet has il, and every
word Of it is worth reading:
81 have never had prejudice against
motion pictures, but against the stupid
type Of pictures that many OF the pro-
ducers seemed TO feel it was necessary
to make. ! have always felt that the
film producers moderated the intelli-
gence Of their public. have worked
tremendously hard to gain definite
position in the American theatre, and
because Of the seriousness with which
view my professional work, / have
vowed that would not enter motion
pictures regardless Of the monetary
/ inducements-unti such a time as
felt that my picture future would be
placed in the hands of discerning and
brainy managers with an entirely new
type of motion picture ideals.
"The formation of the Goldwyn Pict-
ures Corporation was the development
necessary to interest me in appearing
on the screen. | am going into
these pictures because I believe every
thing will be done to make them big
and beautiful ard fine. I want TO try
to discover if l can bring TO the
screen something that no one else has
brought. At least, shall have the JOY
of trying
All of that is really fearfully inter
esting. II is so deucedly interesting,
in fact, that somebody with lot OF
time on his hands ought to look up the
facts Of Miss Cowl's actual film debut,
which took place three or four seasons
ago, and write story about 1t.
Perhaps the town contains, at a
rough guess, FIVE million credulous the
atregoers, and not the least of them
are those who really believe that the
engagement Of Maude Adams, at the
Empire, is for eight weeks only"
The Vaughan play in which Ethel
Barrymore was going to appear, and
isn't, will presently be produced by
John D. Williams. "0ur Betters" is
the name Of it.
The Selwyns will put up theatre on
Forty-third Street; Henry Miller has
announced similar intention; some
body else will build one on Forty-eighth
Street and it has all happened within
the past week or so. Whatever the ex-
tent Of this years shortage Of play
houses, the casual and careless OBJ
server is likely 10 believe that New
York will soon be oversupplied with
theatres. And yet, take it from a keen
commentator on theatrical conditions,
nothing Of the sort is going to happen.
His argument is this:
There will be no oversupply Of the
aires because the number Of houses
available for first class attractions IS
not really increasing True, new the
aires are rapidly going up, but it is
also true that old theatres are being
abandoned or converted into film pal
aces with equal rapidly. The past
five years, for example, have witnessed
the destruction Of Wsllack's, the de-
sertion Of Weber's, the abandonment
of Days, the dismantling Of the Her
aid Square. The Garden Is practically
no more and the Savoy is being used
for pictures. The Garrick is French
and the Washington Square Players
have taken the Comedy OFT the list.
There are pictures at the Broadway,
and it is a rare time when at least two
other theatres are not occupied by
feature films. AT present the Lyric
and the Forty-four l Street are in this
class and the Liberty barely out OF it,
Thus one arrives at total OF eleven,
and certainly not more than eleven new
theatres devoted 10 the frst-elass
drama have been opened within the
past five years. In fact, the number is
less than that.
The present construction Of theatres,
while seeminly rapid and i'll eonsid-
cred. marks, according to this man, an
entirely natural and healthy condition.
The same sort Of thing is going on In
all other branches Of trade; why not
in the theatre? Old department stores