By 1921 the city of Los Angeles began to seriously grow, and the expansion was not simply due to the arrival of performers and extras and all manner of craftsmen that are required to launch a film production - but the city was also bringing in the sorts necessary to support a wealthy urban environment. Every thriving city needs a support system, and Hollywood imported tailors, milliners, chefs, architects and various other tastemakers who in turn attracted realtors, merchants, contractors and entrepreneurs.
The journalist who penned the attached article (Charles Hanson Towne) opined that the films produced in that city were generating wealth in other parts of the nation; a wealth that was manifested not merely in the form of various Hollywood-oriented magazines, but in the construction of lavish and ornate theaters in which the audiences could sit comfortably in large numbers to enjoy the films. Gone were the days when hardware stores were rented in order that people could pay a modest fee to sit on crates and watch a film - the age of the film exhibitor had arrived. Money was being made in Hollywood and everyone was going there; even those who swore that they never would. |
