Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

New Picture For Another UA Contest Merle Moriarity, a 20-year-old redhead who is studying for a stage career but has no firm objections to a Hollywood contract, took a big step toward the latter goal yesterday by earning the title of New York’s Miss Exquisite Form in the national contest spotlighting United Artists’ forthcoming “The King and Four Queens,” RussField CinemaScope production starring Clark Gable. By winning the regional crown, Merle qualifies for the grand prize run-offs offering such rewards as a Hollywood test, a Rambler station wagon, a mink coat and vacation stays in Europe, South America and Hawaii. There are also prizes for theatre managers. The contest held in the Park Avenue Room of the Manger Vanderbilt Hotel in New York launched the formal opening of the vast “King and Four Queens” promotion sponsored by Exquisite Form Bra and targeted to find the girl with the most exquisite shape in North America. It applies similarly for the promotion of “Trapeze.” Merle, who lives in Oceanside, N. Y., walked off with local honors, thanks to an overall length of five feet, seven inches, a bust of 34 inches, a waist of 23 inches and a 32-inch beam. The judging of the best of 700 shapely entrants in the New York area campaign for “The King and Four Queens” drew widespread newspaper, wire service and TV newsreel photo coverage. A forty-foot figure of Elvis Presley is going up on the marquee of the Paramount theatre, on Broadway — and this is two stories taller than the figure of Marilyn Monroe that stood in front of Loew’s State theatre, for “Seven Year Itch.” The Paramount will rock n’roll with the teen-agers for the run of “Love Me Tender” — and the theatre is used to it, for they have had plenty of experience. The 44th Street side of the theatre is thick with lipstick signs reading “I Love Frankie” — “I Love Somebody Else” — they usually arrive at 3 a.m. and stay 24 hours to see their favorites. Norm Levinson was in town, with his wife, Claudie, on vacation en route from New Haven and Hartford, which was formerly home, back to Jacksonville, where they now have an apartment. Norm is MGM’s field man in Florida, and he asks us how we like “Leo’s Sunshine Bulletin,” which he publishes — and we do. He announces a contest, for “The Opposite Sex” — and all substantial entries will be submitted for the Quigley Awards. owmen in Mrs. (Mary) Martin George Smith is here from Toledo, on a theatre train, with 120 ladies who are seeing five Broadway shows, several broadcasts, staying four nights in a Times Square hotel, and with railroad and Pullman reservations both ways — all for $92.50 per person. That’s quite a deal — and goes to show you how far people will go to go to the theatre, and at what cost. The party left Toledo on Sunday night, arriving here Monday morning; they leave Friday night, after the theatre, and get home Saturday morning, exhausted, but happy, and all of them have gained weight doing it! ▼ Bob Walker writes from the Uintah theatre, Fruita, Colorado, that he’s going all out for the $35,000 Lustre-Creme Sweepstakes contest, and has the local cooperation of the biggest jobbers in that area. He says, “Somebody is going to win, and it might as well be somebody in Fruita.” Out there in the uranium country, they like to play long-shots. V Our “Movie Book Shelf,” which has been building at the Green Freen Library, in Canton, Pa., is now assuming quite reasonable status for a publicity picture. It occupies a special alcove, and framed in it is the weekly program card of the Rialto Theatre, on Main Street. In addition to the collection of “movie books — and some of them are quite substantial — we have exhibits of black and white and color stills on “War and Peace” and “Moby Dick.” Incidentally, Paramount reports a widespread interest in “War and Peace” from hundreds of school systems — and “Moby Dick” is required reading, made more popular than ever before in 100 years, by the tremendous interest in our spectacular motion pictures. Ray McNamara, manager of the Allyn theatre, Hartford, hosted Marine Corps League members at opening night of “Hold Back the Night,” which premiered in Connecticut. Managers of three New Haven theatres —Morris Rosenthal, Loew’s Poli; Sid Kleper, Loew’s College; and Irving Hillman, Stanley Warner’s Roger Sherman — participated in Downtown New Haven Shopping Days, annual merchant promotion designed to encourage greater shopping in the downtown area. They donated hundreds of theatre passes, for distribution along with gifts from stores, etc., by mystery shoppers. ▼ Fred R. Greenway and Jack Keppner of Loew’s Palace, Hartford, Conn., had a local singer in cowboy garb walk through suburban supermarkets (with management permission) carrying guitar and singing appropiate tunes when he played “Rebel in Town.” Jimmie Thames sends us tear-sheets to show the fine handling of “Oklahoma!” in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, by Robin Wightman, of the Cecil Cupp Theatres. The engagement at the Capitol has made local history for the handling of a big picture in our new dimensions. T MGM Records have “all the music from all the James Dean pictures” on one record, by Art Mooney and His Orchestra — and if we know the teen-agers, they will go for it, by the millions. MGM have some fine movie-music albums with as many as twelve hit tunes that will always tie up with theatre playdates. Grand prize winners in the Edwin "Pete" Gage showmanship drive, conducted by Walter Reade Theatres, include John Balmer, manager of the Mayfair, Asbury Park, who won first prize of $1,000 and Mike Dorso, manager of the Community, Kingston, who won $500 as second prize. In the picture below from left to right are John Guilton, Paul Petersen, Mike Dorso, Edwin "Pete" Gage, Bert Greene, John Balmer, Walter Reade, Jr., president of the circuit, George Kemble, Joe Sommers, Mike Brett, Jack Pardes, and Frank Deane, who won a total of $5,000 in prize money. MANAGER'S ROUND TABLE SECTION, OCTOBER 27 1956 43