The Dubinsky Brothers and the Path to AMC

May 26, 1882 was the birthday of the Maurice Dubinsky (1882-1929), oldest of the three Dubinsky Brothers, followed by Edward (1885-1860), and Barney (1895-1949). These guys went from travelling the midwest in tent shows to building an entertainment concern well known to most Americans to this day.

Growing up in Rock Island, Illinois, the Dubinsky Brothers launched their own touring stock company in 1906. Travelling under canvas, they presented melodramas like The Virginian and The Squaw Man, on a bill with vaudeville acts. Their usual m.o. was the Maurice would play the heavies, Ed (known as “Handsome Ed Durwood”) would play the leads, and Barney would play the juveniles. Young Jeanne Eagels got her start with the company prior to becoming one of Broadway’s top stars. Big Tiny Little got his start in the band. The Dubinsky Bros. routes took them throughout all the midwestern plains states as far south as Texas.

In 1920, the brothers decided to shift gears. They purchased a movie theatre in Kansas City and began building a chain throughout Missouri and Kansas. Maurice died in 1929; Barney was badly injured in a 1936 car accident, leaving Handsome Ed Durwood in charge of the empire. Meanwhile, Ed’s son Stanley had come into the business following World War Two. Following Ed’s death in 1960, Stanley took charge of Durwood Theatres. It was Stanley who modernized and grew it, pioneering a much more profitable multi-plex approach, hence its eventual name change in 1969: American Multi-Cinema, or AMC. (It has no affiliation with the tv channel of the same acronym). Stanley died in 1999, and the corporation has gone through many other owners and managers since. Today AMC is the largest movie theatre chain in the world, with nearly 3,000 screens in 1,000 theatres in the U.S. and Europe.

For a similar story, learn about the Balaban Brothers, of Balaban and Katz, here.

For more on the history of vaudeville,consult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, for more on early cinema please check out my book: Chain of Fools: Silent Comedy and Its Legacies from Nickelodeons to Youtube.