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Biography

A young Edward L. Hyman, from the magazine Motography, published in 1918.

Born in 1894, Edward L. Hyman began his career as a theater manager for the Victoria Theater in his hometown of Buffalo, New York, in 1916. He gained popularity for his elaborate productions of film during the silent era, most notable for his musical accompaniments that included: overtures, prologues, interludes, and countless other vocal and dance numbers. His success at the Victoria not only transferred, but increased when he was hired to work at the prestigious Strand Theatre, Brooklyn in 1920.

Victoria Theatre (1916-1920)

Hyman became the manager for the Victoria Theatre in 1916, when he was just 21 years old. As the manager, he gained a positive reputation for actively communicating with his patrons about what films they wished to see the most. From this dialogue with his patrons he was able to construct his programs with the audience's desires in mind, which filled the house to capacity on most nights. He realized that the standard audience member was bored by the routine screening, and thus sought to include a variety of elaborate stage productions with each screening. Here, he first identified the importance of musical accompaniment, and spent the rest of his tenure as manager improving the sonic qualities of film exhibition.

He was one of the first exhibitors to treat his orchestra as an integral component of the production. Through discussions with his patrons, Hyman realized that musical performance was one of the most compelling theatrical draws. The sentiment was rather clear, the audience had much more interest in films that featured a strong musical accompaniment. In the past, exhibitors neglected the musical wants of their performers and audience, resulting in an unpleasant atmosphere for both parties. Orchestra members felt they weren't being utilized to their full potential, and audience members were frustrated and distracted by the lackluster performances. Hyman sought to establish a friendly relationship with his orchestra, and increase their role in the exhibition. As a result, the orchestra members produced more enjoyable music that accompanied the on-screen images. Giving the orchestra members a say in exhibition helped enhance the relationship between audio and visual elements in cinema at the time.

One innovation Hyman developed at the Victoria related to the exhibition of advertisements. Rather than spend considerable amounts of money on official advertisements, Hyman simply cut out film advertisements featured in Motion Picture News, hired a photographer to take pictures of the cutouts, and then projected these images onto his screen during intermissions. As a result, the Victoria had high-quality previews produced at a fraction of the standard cost.

Strand Theatre (1920-1927)

Musical Novelties

Prologues

Before the start of his features, Hyman would often produce an elaborate musical or dance number on stage. Prologues were frequently used in theatrical productions, but it was rare for them to be used in conjunction with motion pictures. His productions were universally liked by his patrons, which caused him to realize the importance of music in his programming. Additionally, many silent films were hard to follow, so the prologues helped explain the plot to the audience. Pictures of his prologues are included below along with original text published in the Exhibitor's Trade Review.

Again only two performers were used by Hyman to produce a Gypsy scene in conjunction with First National's "The Midnight Bell"

Hyman used a Russian ballet with appropriate setting to exploit "Wedding Bells"

Edward Hyman, of the Strand, Brooklyn, used only two people and a special drop to prologue "Experience". The scene is a duplicate from the film

Overtures

Different from a prologue, an overture also takes place at the beginning of a film, but refers to the piece of music played before the opening credits. Overtures originated in European operas, but Hyman and other exhibitors adopted this practice to set the mood of their motion picture for their audience.

Century Circuit (1928-1937)

After working at the Strand, Hyman managed theaters and was active in film acquisition for the Century Circuit corporation, a now defunct movie theater chain.

Paramount Theatres (1941-1965)

This photograph of Hyman was distributed in 1941, alongside the announcement that he was working for Paramount.

After he resigned from his position at Century Circuit, little is documented about Edward Hyman's life, but he continued writing publications in trade journals. That is until 1941, when he became affiliated with Paramount Theatres.

Merger Between American Broadcasting Company and United Paramount Theatres

During the eighth year of Hyman's tenure with Paramount, the company completed a merger with the American Broadcasting Company. The company experienced great economic successful after the merger, but separated again in 1989 to form the American Broadcasting Companies and ABC Television.

Vice President of American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc. (1950-1965)

In 1950, Edward Hyman was named the Vice President of AB-PT. As the VP, Hyman was responsible for identifying the most valuable films held by distributors, and connecting them with theaters in a timely fashion. He held the position until he retired in 1965, at the age of 71.