The Washington times., 1926-02-17
.Romping Around the
Radio DiaIs
BY GARDINER MACK

III returning 20 THIS section aIICf
some years absence, one finds the
old divisions Of Republicans and
Democrats, Catholics and Protest
ants, Jews and Gentiles. white and
black. have almost entirely. il not
| wholly. disappeared. They've been
swallowed UP in new and much
more universal division-those who
10 or do dot have the. Roxy COM
p!exi
There are subdivisions Of the
grand division, OF course. But the
hcleavage is fairly well defined, One
OF the first questions asked listen
ars In is that pertaining to q lean
ing toward ROxyism or from 1t. In
going over the matter carefully il
seens fundamental to listeners in.
It might be at the bottom OF most
Of the things listeners in like or dig
itke-the real man being simply a
inarkcr for the ebb and flow OF the
tides Of opinion.
All OF which naturally makes
Roxy the most conspicuous radio
figure in this section Of the world
and OF very great interest to any
student of the dials. For about IL
years now. I've had q very distinct
leaning toward Roxy. It was Just
about that long ago that friend
met me in Chicago and told me IN
a Eery terse ard brusque way that
d man had recently opened q mo-
ton picture theater In milwaukee,
who appeared to be the same sort
II danphool was-meaning that
had complex at that time that
the business Of motion picture cx-
hibitofs was to exhibit pictures and
not essay to establish D ed
records by the rapid reeling.
sf so many thousands Of feet
OF film. didn't get to meet
his Milwaukee twin Of spirit. but
a loud laugh among the show peo.
pl1isticated bursts OF merrirnent one
hears on Broadway when an old
lady loses her hat In a gale Of WiIld
or dignified gentleman falls victim
to an icy sidewalk. 1T seemed that
large theater on Broadway hsd
been engaged by a man from Mir
neapOlis who intended to- devote 1T
to motion pictures! So Broadway
laughed. Then It stopped laughing
rather suddenly. The lines OF cash
customers blocked traffic day IN and
day out to see motion pictures in
the new theater!
In the theater the man from Min
neapolis placed symphony Urcles-
ira. One of his early pictures was
weird thing done by Tom Ince
with an errupting volcano playing
the leading role. Just q hint Of
sulphur and birthstone was given
the atmosphere by judiciOus use Of
the blower ventiIating system. The.
next picture. i believe, had some
thing to do with an apple orchard -
and faint suggestion OF the per-
tune of apple blossoms was pumped
Into 1lle aud itorium while the orr
chestra played the Moment Musical"
and such things.
The theater manager was Roxy.
His was the first Broadway motion
picture, wow. And Roxy was the
first Broadway motion picture hero.
Personally + found the Roxy OF
that day just q regular human be-
ing--a very simple human being,
with the most undertaking sense OF
direction and a way Of having PEG.
pie 90 with him where he went.
The creative arts were to Roxy the
really important things in the
world. Music, painting, drama, he
believed belonged to everybody,
were easily understood by every.
body and this idea vibrated in and
from him. The difference between
Roxy and most OF the people /
have met to date is that what
would be grand gesture from the
average person. is simple motion
OF Roxy's toward what he intends
to accomplish. Changing the fig.
ure of speech just slightly, it may
be put this way-that nothing is
mere gesture with Roxy. Every
little movement has a meaninga
distinct meaning to him. Some.
times both the motion and the
meaning pass unnoticed by the spec
tator. But when it does-it is sure
to register finally as part of some
thing that had gone before. In
other words: 1t all builds into a big
thing that crashed in on ones un-