Cinema: Early Tycoon

In the flickery days of the nickelodeon, a little (5 ft. 5 in.) Hungarian immigrant named Adolph Zukor decided that the way to lure customers into his second-floor emporium in Manhattan was to give them a thrill. Zukor installed a glass stairway under which a waterfall tumbled down over electric lights. It was the movies’ first lesson in spectacular salesmanship, and it was Zukor’s key to success.

As the years passed, Zukor bought up hundreds of theaters; he imported Sarah Bernhardt’s film. Queen Elizabeth, and made an unheard-of profit of $20,000. Then he began plugging away at moviemaking, hiring famous stage stars to act before the cameras. His movie company, Famous Players, later became Paramount Pictures Corp., and Adolph Zukor became one of Hollywood’s first tycoons. For the past 15 years, as chairman of the board, he has been content to spend most of his time in Paramount’s Manhattan offices. But last week he was the toast of filmdom.

It was Zukor’s 80th birthday, and Hollywood associates and friends decided to celebrate. They whisked the old man off to the West Coast, where he was whirled through luncheons, press conferences and interviews. At Grauman’s Chinese Theater, Zukor arrived by limousine to place his footprints in wet cement near those of such immortals as Betty Grable and Ava Gardner; the event went off without a hitch except for a slight delay when Zukor insisted on removing his good black shoes and substituting an old pair.

Climaxing “Adolph Zukor Day” was a $75,000 dinner for 1,000-odd guests at Hollywood’s Palladium. Songstress Rosemary Clooney sang (a microphone concealed in the bosom of her dress) Happy Birthday to You; William (Hopalong Cassidy) Boyd rode into the ballroom astride Topper to shout “Happy Birthday, Mr. Zukor!”; Oldtimer Mary Pickford made a teary speech and Oldtimer Mae Murray did a scampering dance.

Biggest surprise of the evening: Pioneer Zukor’s speech, in which he put in an enthusiastic word for Hollywood’s most feared enemy. Said he: “Rather than lose the public because television is here, wouldn’t it be smart to adopt television as our instrument . . .?”