Evening star., 1927-04-17
LOEW PLANS MORE EXPANSION
OF BUSINESS HERE AND ABROAD
Merchant of Happiness Fa-
vorS Holding Admission
Prices Down.
Had Only Six UaprofitabIe
Weeks in the Last Twenty
Two Years.
BY M. S. RUKEYSER.

I HESS
He sells entertainment. vicarious
thrills and emotions on the basis OF
mass production and distribution at
home and abroad. Capital these days
is without prejudice, and will flow
freely into an enterprise that can con-
sistently earn q satisfactory profit.
| Mr., Loew's enterprises are owned by
Loews, Inc, which is listed on the
New York Stock Exchange.
The song and dance men who ap-
pear in his chain of theaters, the ac-
robats, the trained seals and the
movie films--not to speak of real
estate-are the collateral behind his
| securities, which are widely distrib-
uted among spectators and investors
Marcus Loew is one of the most
successful products of the motion pic
| ture industry, which in turn, is TO a
| measurable extent an offshoot of his
commercial acumen and managerial
skill.
Mr.. Loew is a product of the East
| Side of New York. His initial capi-
| tai was simply the energy OF
| youngster, with no clear notion of
the paths along which success lies.
| His early failures, which were nu-
merous, helped to yank him out of un-
profitable blind alleys. If he had
succeeded in his boyhood ambition to
become a headwaiter, he would not
have become a financial and industrial
potentate. If he had not failed as
| furrier, his business future would
have been more limited and circum-
scribed. Chance and David Warfield
lured him into the penny arcade busi-
ness, but there were reverses even in
the amusement field. At one stage
Mr.. Loew sought to sell out his inter-
n;oXa I%t,% h Ia
to do so. If he had been more sue
cessful in inducing his partner to buy
him out, the name LoeW would have
remained just four.letter word with
no special significance to the multi
| tudes.
Left School at 8.
At the age of 9 the president of
Loew's, Inc, left school for good. And
except for some lessons at 81 month
from a tutor that was all the school
ing he ever had.
For a year he worked for map
printing concern, pulling sheets from
under the coloring blocks at 35 cents
a day. After a year he struck for
40 cents a day, and received a dismiss
AL He was 10, and out of a job.
At IL he formed a partnership
and went into the printing business,
publishing a weekly newspaper as
sideline. His interest terminated when
his partner married, and his wife
doubted that young Marcus was an
asset to the firm.
In 1904, Mr.. Loew, at the age of 33,
drifted into the amusement business.
A group, including himself, plunged
| $105,000 in penny arcade on the
south side of Union Square, New
York, where it still stands, and within
seven months the owners had their
money back. This striking success
| induced Mr.. Loew to open arcades
| elsewhere, but they were less i'm
| mediately profitable, and he lost
| nearly all he putin them before they
| started to pay. He tried in vain to
| dispose of his interest. Gradually,
Mr.. Loew devoted part of his stores
to movies, at the time a new CONNER
| cial art, which was still looked down
upon as an ephemeral development.
Consistently Successful.
Mr.. Loew, who is a slight man some
what under middle size, has been
| consistently successful since getting
established in the amusement field.
His hair and mustache are black,
tinged with gray.
Mr.. Loew revealed to me that in
| only six or seven weeks in % years
| had his amusement ventures as a
| whole failed to show a net profit.
And, he said, at least half of the losses
occurred during those weeks of the
| influenza epidemic when his theaters
were closed. Mr.. Loew attributed this
record of consistent profit-making to
| the fact that his business risks were
widely diversified geographically with
| his far flung chain Of theaters.
Mr.. Loew said that he picked all his
| Al 14f iraI4 fhrniI oh
| intuition-and that thus far he had
| not made a single mistake. He indi-
Gated that in his present choices in
| tuition is backed by wide experience.
| In recent years, Mr.. Loew's chain of
theaters has taken on links in France,
| Great Britain, Germany, Egypt, Bra
| zil and Canada. The present parent
corporation was established in Octo-
Der, 1919, and has each year reported
larger earning power. The quickening
rate of earnings in the last two years
was ascribed to the expansion of the
motion picture producing interests.
l asked Mr.. Loew whether the mo-
tion picture industry was approaching
| stabilization.
Anticipate Results Better.
"Yes." he replied, I'VE are getting
to q, stage where we can better an
ticipate results, but ours is still an
| infant industry, with striking growth
ahead. Eventually it will no doubt
reach a saturation point, but, in my
opinion, that is far off. When it
comes, it will be time to stop expand
| ing But when that stage is reached
| in the United States, the rest of the
world will still be open. 1t is our
conservatively.
1.-THE trend is toward bigger and
better pictures. Costs still are rising,
but when they reach peak it should
be easy to defiate by cutting down
| excessive salaries to stars. Actors
who get $4,000 a week will no doubt
be willing to take $4,000 week when
they find that the public will no
longer support inflated salaries
| / asked Mr.. Loew whether his the
aters are adversely affected by gen.
eral industrial depression.
I'VE feel depression late" replied
MFR. Loew, land are the first to re-
cover. A depression must be pro-
longed and severe before we feel it
in our theaters generally. The first
effect of an industrial letdown is to
stimulate our business, particularly by
increasing attendance at the matt
nees. When strikes occur on the East
Side our theaters are benefited. We
know of instances where men go with
out meals in order to be able to buy a
ticket of admittance."
Important Hidden Assets.
AS we discussed the purely financial
aspects of Mr.. Loew's widespread sale
of emotions of pleasure. he disclosed
that his company has important hid
den assets, first in theaters and other
real estate, which have appreciated
with the general rise in real estate,
5 but which are carried on the books at
cost, less depreciation. and, secondly,
in the policy of writing off pictures