The Exhibitor (Aug-Nov 1948)

TELEVISION New York — Allen B. DuMont Labora¬ tories last week issued a 63-page book entitled ‘ ‘The Cathode-ray Tube and Typical Applications.” This book, prepared by the DuMont instrument division, offers a non-technical discussion of the cathoderay tube and its functions, and is espe¬ cially intended for high schools, technical schools and colleges, particularly in con¬ junction with the DuMont wall chart on the cathode-ray tube. A copy of both the wall chart and the book may be obtained by any instructor requesting same on school stationery. To others interested in the subject, the primer will be furnished at cost, or 50 cents per copy. Bulk quan¬ tities for school use will be furnished at $2.50 per dozen copies. A RECENT SURVEY of set owners in Mil¬ waukee revealed some interesting facts. Twelve per cent of the city’s 3,780 receiver owners were queried in the poll. Figures indicated that approximately 75 per cent used their private sets every night there was a televising, while public sets were also in use on an average of 75 per cent of the time. Over 90 per cent of those queried indicated that they would rate current WTMJ-TV programs as good or better than they expected when they pur¬ chased their set. It was shown by the poll that 251 of those queried had had children view the televising, while 56 had not. Children’s reaction was overwhelm¬ ingly favorable. The percentage of women viewing television in home installations came to 31.8 per cent, men, 56.3 per cent, and children, 11.9 per cent. At public in¬ stallations, the percentage was, women, 20.1 per cent, and men, 79.9 per cent. Fri¬ days and Sundays were indicated by small margins of percentage as the nights most people had their sets in use. The TELEVISION BOX SCORE as of July 26 indicated that 30 stations were operating, 81 CP’s had been granted, and 299 appli¬ cations were pending. Dallas Suit Filed Dallas — H and B Theatres, Temple, operating the Strand, last week filed suit against the major producers and distrib¬ utors for $41,000. The suit was placed for hearing in Federal Judge William H. At¬ well’s court. Listed as defendants are Interstate, Robb and Rowley, Paramount, RKO, 20th Cen¬ tury-Fox, Warners, Columbia, Universal, and UA. Benefit Aids Ball Players Duluth, Minn. — Families of three base¬ ball players and their manager, fatally in¬ jured in a bus -automobile collision last month, were recipients last week of funds raised through a special showing of “The Babe Ruth Story”. With tickets ranging in price from $5 to $100, a midnight showing of Roy Del Ruth’s Allied Artists cinema biography of the ‘Bambino’ was held at the Norshore. Mrs. Giroux Passes Hollywood — Mx’s. J. F. Giroux, mother of Gecrge R. Giroux, field representative. Technicolor, passed away last fortnight. Interment was in Chicago. THE EXHIBITOR House Committee Readies Hearings WASHINGTON — It was learned last week that when the House Small Business Committee begins its hear¬ ings during September and October in various western cities exhibitors are expected to testify on alleged mon¬ opolistic practices. To be held in federal courthouses for the most part, the schedule lines up as follows: Sept. 3 — Butte, Mont.; 8, Casper, Wyo.; 11, Salt Lake City; 15, Kansas City;, 17, Omaha; 20-21, Minneapolis; 23, Madison, Wis.; 27, South Bend, Ind; Oct. 1-2, Detroit; 5, Louisville, Ky.; Oklahoma City, 8, and Houston, Tex., 12. Others may be scheduled later. "River" Bow Readies New York — Mori Krushen, exploitation manager for United Artists, left for Dallas last week to complete details for the fourstate exploitation and publicity campaigns for the day and date openings of Howard Hawks’ “Red River” in more than 300 situations. Krushen will direct the activi¬ ties of fieldmen Claud Morris, Ben Hill, William J. Healy, Julian W. Bowes, and William Howard Waugh, who inundated Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, and New Mex¬ ico with “Red River” publicity and ex¬ ploitation material. While in Dallas, Krushen meets with Interstate Circuit and other exhibitors on the opening of the film scheduled for Aug. 26. 25 PRODUCTION Hollywood — Walter Winchell will nar¬ rate a prologue for Paramount’s “Sorrow¬ ful Jones,” Bob Hope starrer, as a tribute to Damon Runyon. . . . The growth of U.S. naval aviation will be the subject of War¬ ners’ “Task Force,” Jerry Wald reining, and Delmer Daves directing. . . . Cham¬ pion Productions, releasing through Allied Artists, bought “Battle Cry” for a largescale western. Winston Churchill’s daughter, Sarah, was signed by J. Arthur Rank to a fea¬ tured role in “All Over The Town.” . . . Pedro Armendariz, co-star of RKO’s “Fort Apache,” along with Emilio Fernandez and Gabriel Figueroa, director and pho¬ tographer, respectively, on “The Pearl,” formed a company to make films in Holly¬ wood and Mexico City. . . . Irene Hervey resumes her film career in Paramount’s “One Woman,” Alan Ladd starrer. . . . Ron Randell portrays the “Lone Wolf” in Columbia’s “The Lone Wolf And His Lady.” Columbia signed Vera Vague for a series of comedy travelogues. . . . After dying in “Hamlet,” and suffering in “The Blue Lagoon,” Jean Simmons turns comedienne opposite Stewart Granger in Rank’s “Adam And Eveline,” Two Cities production. . . . James Mason’s long awaited first American film will be for Enterprise in “Wild Calendar,” MGM re¬ lease, with Barbara Bel Geddes and Rob¬ ert Ryan also appearing. . . . The femme lead opposite Bob Hope in Paramount’s “Easy Does It” went to Rhonda Fleming. A. Blumenfeld Blumenfeld T hea t) ‘es, San Fraficisco, Cal., says: “THE SERVICE ALTEC PERFORMS ACTUALLY PRESERVES MY ASSETS” ffThere has been a lot of improve¬ ment in what sound does to give the product we show better en¬ tertainment value, and the direc¬ tors on the Coast are exploiting sound more all the time. The re¬ search work the Altec scientists are constantly doing pays off in the new methods the Altec in¬ spector is provided with for get¬ ting the improved sound off the sound track in my theatres. In times like the present, when an exhibitor has to make every effort to keep his patrons from JILTEC Stny/cc COWPORilTlOW 161 Sixth Avenue New York 13, N. Y. being lui-ed away by non-theatre entertainment, the service Altec performs in my theatres actually preserves my assets. It adds to my assurance to know that Altec devotes its efforts one hundred percent to improving my busi¬ ness, and does not spend its energies in other fields.59 Altec Service, knoivn for it ft Rervice “over and above the contract” is a vital ingredient of yonr thea¬ tre's ability to meet successfully the competition of other forms of entertainment. An Altec Service contract is the soundest long term investment an exhibitor can make today. THE SERVICE ORGANIZATION OF THE MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY August 18, 1948