Film History – Drypigment.net

John H. Kunsky had made his fortune investing in movie houses.

In 1950, George W. Trendle recalled that the Kunsky Theatre Circuit had 16 movie houses in Detroit by 1929. It was that year that that Trendle and Kunsky sold to Paramount (Daily News, NY, 5 March 1950, page 562).

In 1922, the “Washington Times” published a definition by John H. Kunsky for the query, “What is the Moving Picture” (Washington, D.C., 13 Feb 1922, page 16). Kunsky had a vested interest in selling the purported benefits of moving pictures. This is such a wonderful example of how the world of entertainment was changing and how silent movies were perceived by the American populace.

“The newest thing of great importance in the world is the MOVING PICTURE. It offers the most direct road into the human brain and thought. What it IS, what it DOES, what it is DESTINED to be – all those questions important to everybody interested not merely in moving pictures, but in EDUCATION and in the human race of the future.

Some will say that the moving picture does instantaneously what the spoken or written word does slowly. Others will say that it is actual presentation of life and emotion before the very eye of the beholder.

A very good definition of the moving picture, as you will agree, is given by John H. Kunsky who has just built the Capitol Theater in Detroit, one of the most magnificent theaters anywhere. Writing for the Detroit Times, Mr. Kunsky says:

WHAT A THEATRE DOES.

By John H. Kunsky.

Throughout history the human race, worried with its problem and its struggles for life, has sought relaxation, a change in the mind’s work that means rest for the brain. The Greeks had their public baths, in which they met and talked; their public squares, their famous philosophical promenades.

The fighting Romans had their great arenas, in which men and beasts, and even ships on real water, fought to amuse the mob.

In the middle ages they had bear-baiting, their dog fights.

The Spaniards still have their bull fights.

The Americas, as a nation, far removed from the brutality of the gladiatorial arena, or the bill rig, find their mental rest and their mental pleasure in the theater. And in the modern theater and its work you find reflected the national personality, its interest, its culture.

WHAT IS THE MOVING PICTURE?

The question is not asked now as it once was when men doubted whether ‘the movies,’ so called would last.

The moving picture is SIMPLY THE SHORTEST ROAD INTO THE HUMAN BRAIN.

It enables the actor to display all of his skill, and the spectator instantly can see all that the story has to tell.

You can do with the moving pictures all that can be done by the living actor, and a thousand times more.

If you say that the voice of the living actor is missing from moving picture, I will admit it, and regret it. But I will answer that the absence of the actor’s voice increases the activity of the spectator’s imagination, and the work that goes on inside the mind of the spectator’s imagination, and the work that goes on inside the mind of the spectator is worth infinitely more that the spoken word of any living actor.

To arouse thought, stimulate the imagination, transport vast audiences as by magic, to all parts of the world, is a great, useful and education work. And that is what the moving picture does. An entire week of work by living actor and of close attention by spectators could not show as much as can be shown by the moving picture in two short hours.

Gigantic crowds of thousands such as no stage on earth could possibly hold are shown and brought before crowds in absolute reality on the screen.

The moving picture is a great educator, and no man can say what good is done to this and to other nations in which the moving pictures with its dramatic story is part, as it were, of the daily mental diet.”

To be continued…

In 1919, Thomas G. Moses delivered scenery to two Detroit movie houses owned by John H. Kunsky. A decade later, the “Detroit Free Press” published an article about Kunsky and his chain of theaters. It provides a good perspective when considering the declining demand for painting scenery during the second and third decades of the twentieth century.

From the “Detroit Free Press,” July 22, 1928, page 11.

Here is the “Detroit Free Press” article from July 22, 1928 (page 11):

“More than 20 years ago, in 1905, John H. Kunsky brought the first motion picture machine to Detroit. It was a cumbersome affair, far from reliable, but it served its primitive purpose, and the first Kunsky theater – formerly a store – prospered.

As the idea of motion pictures took hold upon the public, the firm benefitted. There came into being in 1908 the Theater Royale, the first 10-cent theater Detroit every had seen and the first link in the Kunsky chain. On one occasion a charge of 25 cents was made during the showing of ‘The Passion Play,’ the first ‘super-feature’ of multiple reel length.

In quick succession there followed the Majestic and the Empress. As they too, prospered, there came into being the Garden, located in the then residential section of Woodward and Selden, the forerunner of the chain of de luxe suburban and residential theaters sponsored by the Kunsky Theater corporation.

The Hippodrome, and the Columbia followed, in short order, the latter still being operated by its founders, but none met with the huge success of the Liberty, the first , with its 15-piece orchestra under Eduard Werner, its organ, and pleasant atmosphere, did much to popularize the motion picture with the so-called ‘silks and satins.’

In 1914 the Kunsky chain took over the old Washington theater previously operated by a none-too-successful stock company. This was the beginning of the march toward Grand Circus park, and so profitable was the venture that in 1916 the Madison was erected.

Other followed quickly. In 1917 the Adams came into being followed by the Capitol; in 1925, by the State; and in 1926 by the Michigan.

Meanwhile the suburban field had not been neglected. More and more attention was given to providing entertainment in the residential sections, until now the chain owns and operates the Birmingham, the Redford and the Royal Oak, all opened during the last 10 months; the Strand, the De Luxe, the Alhambra, and the Columbia, in addition to its five big downtown theaters.

Unusual attention has been given to making the anniversary celebration a big one. Jackie Coogan, child cinema star, is appearing in person at the Michigan, with Frank Beaston’s Publix show ‘Sunshine Days,’ while Eduard Werner and Arthur Gutow offer musical specialties and Laura La Plante stars on the screen in ‘Home, James.’

The Capitol brought on Lou Holtz, ‘Scandals’ star, especially for this occasion, to appear with Del Delbridge in a lavish Publix stage show ‘Fine Feathers;’ Samuel Benavie and Don Miller assist musically, while on the screen William Boyd stars in ‘The Cop.’

The Adams offers Norman Keery in ‘The Foreign Legion,’ with Lewis Stone and Mary Nolan, with symphonic accompaniment by the Adams Symphony orchestra, while two talking pictures, ‘The Jazz Singer,’ starring Al Jolson, and ‘The Lion and the Mouse,’ with Lionel Barrymore and May McAvoy are seen and heard at the Madison and the State respectively.”

To be continued…

Category: Film History

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 1019 – John H. Kunsky’s and “What is the Moving Picture?”

Tales from a Scenic Artist and Scholar. Part 1018 – John H. Kunsky of Detroit, Michigan