Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1948)

(Continued from preceding page) ous Players' Shea's theatre. The pick of the new pictures comprised "The Velvet Touch" at the Imperial, "Julia Misbehaves" at Loew's, and "An Innocent Affair" at the Uptown. "The Lost One" rolled on to a seventh week at the suburban International Cinema. . . . The dense fog added a further complication to the power crisis and the Hydro-Electric Commission put a second compulsory blackout into effect each day commencing November 1 in the Toronto area, with the Ottawa district starting its first daily blackout of one hour on the same date to conserve power. A third daily blackout is promised for Toronto during the evening hours. . . . Famous Players plans the erection of a television tower on top of its headoffice in downtown Toronto as soon as a transmitting license is forthcoming from the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. . . . Odeon Theatres (Canada) Limited has closed the Nola, a small theatre in Ottawa. . . . Famous Players has closed its three drive-in theatres in Ontario for the season. . . . Advertising trailers for industrial products are being introduced in Ontario theatres by the Canadian Screen Publicity Co., Toronto and Winnipeg. . . . New Odeon theatres were opened at Fort William and Port Arthur, Ont, on October 29, with Steve McManus as supervising manager at the twin cities. VANCOUVER The first run theatres here settled down to routine following last week's Thanksgiving Day holiday and midnight shows. Best in town are "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," at Strand; "Rachel and the Stranger," at the Orpheum, and "Melody Time," at the Capitol. "The Babe Ruth Story" was disappointing at the Vogue. . . . Many members of Projectionists' Union 348, headed by president Douglas Calladine, were in Seattle to attend the 40th anniversary dinner of Seattle Local 154. . . . The third annual Film Industry ball, sponsored by Famous Players Theatre Managers Association of British Columbia, will be held November 28. . . . Leone Stephens is a new addition to International Distributors local office. . . . One more old B. C. showman, Jake Dawson, passed on this week. He was a member of Canadian Picture Pioneers and theatre operator. At one time Mr. Dawson owned and operated the Plaza, Kitsilano, Royal, Paradise, Lyric and Lonsdale in Vancouver, and the Plaza and Rio theatres in Victoria. At his death he held an interest in the Plaza, Vancouver, and Plaza, Victoria, both now leased to Odeon Theatres. Mr. Dawson was 59. A second theatre is being erected at Camrose, Alberta, by a local milling company. The present theatre in Camrose is operated by veteran exhibitor, Stan Bailey. . . . The Cascades Drive-In Company have been granted a permit and will build a second outdoor theatre a few miles from their present Cascades in Burnaby. WASHINGTON Business was fairly good, with new openings reported at RKO Keith's with "One Touch of Venus" opening a day in advance of regular opening; "The Loves of Carmen" at the Warner; "Red River" at Loew's 195 New Houses Built in Canada In Past 2 Years Palace ; "Isn't It Romantic" at Loew's Capitol, and "Alan Eater of Kumaon" at Warner's Metropolitan. Loew's Columbia opened "Apartment for Peggy" on a Saturday, carrying its double bill, "Night at the Opera" and "Secret Land," for two extra days in addition to the week's run. "Apartment for Peggy" previously played a week at the Palace. "Red Shoes" continued in a healthy vein at the National theatre and "Hamlet" at the Playhouse and Little was doing very well, with a long run predicted. . . . Speaker at the Ad Club luncheon on November 2, at the Statler, was Maurice Wolf, of MGM, who spoke on "Motion Pictures Are My Business." . . . Loew's Capitol, Palace and Columbia theatres held midnight shows on October 30 for Hallowe'en. . . . Newest member of Variety Tent 11 is George Stath, owner of the Lido theatre. . . . Jimmy Whiteside, Columbia Pictures booking dept., was promoted to salesman. . . . Fred Kogod, chairman of the Variety Welfare Committee, held a meeting on October 27 to go over Variety welfare activities. Katzman Signs 7-Year Columbia Contract Sam Katzman, producer, has signed a new contract for seven years with Columbia under which he will make four features and four serials a year as Kay Pictures, Inc., and Esskay Pictures Corp., respectively. The features will have action and semi-documentary backgrounds and will be on an increased budget. Selection of the first property will be made next week. Mr. Katzman also has a five-year contract as the producer of the "Jungle Jim" series starring Johnny Weismuller. Kansas-Missouri Allied to Discuss Industry Problems A general discussion of industry problems will head the agenda of a membership meeting of Allied Independent Theatre Owners of Kansas and Missouri December 7 in Kansas City, it was decided at a board meeting last week. A delegation of 15, headed by O. F. Sullivan, president of the KansasMissouri unit, was named to attend the Allied States national convention in New Orleans. Montreal Bureau A survey by the Canadian Film Weekly reveals that 195 film theatres containing approximately 80,000 seats have been constructed in Canada since the Dominion Government ended its wartime controls in 1945 on this type of building. Included in the theatres constructed are eight drive-ins. It is estimated that approximately 20 more theatres will be added to this total by the end of the year and it is also pointed out that some of the 195 theatres mentioned are in communities having a motion picture house for the first time. Ninety-nine theatres are now under construction throughout the Dominion and 103 more are planned. The following table indicates the province-by-province score. The first column signifies theatres opened, second column theatres under construction, and third column those planned : 67 34 39 Quebec 46 37 16 British Col 14 10 25 Alberta 6 7 8 30 5 4 Manitoba 14 3 1 Nova Scotia 1 1 3 6 6 3 P.E.I 1 195 99 103 It is estimated that when the current construction is finished Canada will have about 300 theatres and if half of the projected building is accomplished the number will increase to 350, a rise of about 25 per cent since the war years. A significant point of the building currently taking place and projected in Canada is the fact that J. Arthur Rank's Canadian exhibiting circuit, Odeon, is planning about $7,000,000 worth of construction within the next year or so. It is reported that Famous Players-Canadian, top Canadian circuit, has budgeted a like sum. There were 826,237 seats in 1,606 theatres provided for Canadian theatre-goers during 1947. In 1944 seats numbered 704,814, but in 1945 the figure jumped to 727,041. By the time the theatre building boom eases off in Canada, it is estimated that between 125,000 and 150,000 will have been added. Famous Players themselves have erected 14 theatres, with 10,856 seats at a $3,000,000 cost since the building bans were lifted. Fifteen more theatres are now being built at a cost of $4,000,000. Offers Buying Service A purchasing information service is being established in Detroit under the direction of Charles W. Snyder, business manager of Allied Theatres of Michigan. The service will provide information to its members on the product it screens, and exchange of information on the sale or lease of theatres. 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 6, 1948