PICTURE SHOWS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1561, 3 October 1912, Page 4

PICTURE SHOWS.

"THE GREATER J. D. WILLIAMS." AN IXTERKSTING INTETtVIKW. Among tlio passengers to arrive from Sydney by the Manuka yesterday was llr. .1. D. Williams, of picture fame, lie is head and front of the limiler .1. JJ. Williams' Amusement Company, Ltd., of Sydney and Melbimnio, and tilmobt every other town whore pictures form a sub- , bliiiitml part of the recreative life of ihu people. He has como to New Zealand, seized of the tact that for ir.s si/.e and population the Dominion is probably Ihe bert on which the sun. shines. Less than throe years ago he arrived in Sydney from America. J'enplc in Sydney with a reputation for shrewdness in .such' matters, u.-ked where ho was Roiug to get tiles for picture show?. He replied by getting Item there and then right whore the crowds arc thickest in George Street. He lloatcd a company and advertised as pictures or other shows hud never advertised before. Then, finding the business grow-li-I and growing, he reached out, and founded The Greater .1. 0. Williams Company (with a capital of J;iOO,l!00) which controls at present three picture theaires and the Crystal Palace ill Sydnc-. and two of the busiest picture houses in Jlelbouruo. • Taking Over tho Adclphi. "I've como over to New Zealand," said ilr. J. D. Williams, when imerviowc<l, "to seo what, sort of people you arc and to sec if you like good pictures as much as they say you do. Were coins to give you a run, anyhow, and "if you have any idea hoiv wo manage our theatres in Australia, yon will know that wo are all out to please the public—not by just showing them pictures, but by attending to (heir personal comfort ami that of their children. Wo want to make every Williams theatre a homo I" every mother in Men - Zealand—where they cau rest and receive those little attentions, trifling in thorns-elves, which mean so much, and cost so little. "Wo have acquired your Adolplu Theatre, down there in Willis Street. It is just about the right size lor our purposes, and when we get into it we will show tho public what the Williams idea is in picture business. We take it over on October 19. Tho theatre will be fully staffed with lady ushers and attendants, whose duty will Iμ? to'attend to the comfort of patrons—not only take tickets nnd brush away the Hies. "Later we intend to buy or acquire suitable theatres in Christclitirc.li, AucKland, and Dunediu. Already we have two under ofl'er in Auckland, ami others in Christcbtirc.li. If the theatres, t'itt-s, and prices tire right, we will not lose any time—we're nil getting older every day. "Our film business is one of tho biggest south of the Line. I have picked up some exclusive agencies for this part of the world—one is the American Biograph —the celebrated 'AM.' films. We tflke on the sole agency for that beautiful stuff —the finest in the world, I believe—from November, with lots of others. A Corner in Picture Houses ''We have not so long ago built what 1 know to be the best picture theatro on earth—the Britannia Theatre in Bourko Street, Melbourne. It is a cameo in picture houses inside and out. It seats 1000 people, and we charge popular prices always, but the Britannia always rcciiik to be full. All Melbourne gees to the 'Brit'—they can't help it. "The Crystal Palace in Sydney is n hupre success. It is an entirely new; idea— really a liig department shop in the amusement line. It embodies the finest restaurant, winter garden, and picture show in Sydney. But that is only tho beginning. There are great soda fountains, nnd an Arcade of Wonders, w«H packed with novel side-shows of all kinds, which are always being added to with latest inventions' from America, England, nnd the Continent. We generate our own electricity with a 400 horso-pow<»r plnnt. and the whole place is so beautifully ventilated that it is cool on the hottest of summer days. We get l<lo.ooo to tho Palace in a wwk now—and it is growiiin all the time. Lntcr on I intend to establish n miniature Crystal l'alaco in WolAskeii'if hc'HiouiilS-rtiß'crafflJ'ifor pictures would last, Mr. Williams looked at the reporter in amazement. ."Will it last! Why it's only in its infancy. Five years ago people said them was nothins: in it, aiyl threw away chances at every turn. Ihey re all thinking now. Oh, ye*, it's going to last all right. People, have always been fond of pictures—even before the lwnemnlogroph -flnd they arc not goin; to drop the habit of liking them because they nre alive, I guess. Pictures nro going to teach the world the thins* the world wants to know -in the schools, in the hospitals, in tnc studio, in the laboratory, and always in the heart of tho public the living picture must nlwiiye retain its piaw. Mark m> words!" •