Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

( Continued from preceding page ) Moon’’ set for Christmas Day. . . . The Stanley held a private benefit showing of “The Wrong Man” for the Pittsburgh Press annual Newsboy Fund, proceeds going to the Children’s Hospital. . . .“Hollywood or Bust” staying in the Stanley until New Year’s when “Baby Doll” gets the nod. . . . The Studio art theatre revived “King’s Row” and “Treasure of the Sierra Madre” with “Magic Fire” as the New Year’s attraction. . . . Hank Stohl, KDKA-TV anouncer and entertainer, entertained the children at a special Cinerama Saturday show. . . . Pre-Christmas business has been brutal with only “Seven Wonders of the World” holding up to any degree. . . . The Variety Club held its annual Christmas party in the big Pittsburgh Room of the Penn-Sheraton Hotel, with the toys collected going to the Club’s pet charity, the Roselia Maternity Hospital. Portland “Oklahoma” continues for a sixth steady week at J. J. Parker’s Broadway theatre. . . . Weekends continue big with midweek dipping. . . . Frank Began, formerly assistant manager of the Roxy theatre, is now with American Building Maintenance Co. here. . . . Will J. Conner, John Hamrick executive, was in town for a few days from Seattle to work with Liberty theatre manager Wil Hudson. Marlis Newton is in as head usherette at the Liberty after a few years absence from theatre business. . . . Tom Stanton was promoted to manager of Evergreen’s New Fox theatre in Eugene. He was assistant manager to Dean Mathews, manager of the New Fox theatre here. Providence The recent cold weather, record-breaking for this time of year, has finally forced the shuttering of many nearby drive-ins. First to close for the season was the Route 44 drive-in. . . . E. M. Loew’s Providence drive-in was next to close. Among those staging a last-minute stand against the bitter winds and biting cold are the Cranston Auto theatre, Boro drive-in, and Lonsdale drive-in. . . . The Avon Cinema used record breaking newspaper advertising space to herald the opening of “Rififi.”. . . The Middletown town council granted Harry and Zaven Minassian’s Newport Family drive-in a permit to operate a “kiddieland” in conjunction with the theatre. . . . On Saturday afternoons during the screening of “Love Me Tender” at the RKO Albee, the lobby has been thronged with teen-agers (and some oldsters) buying up Elvis Presley souvenirs. San Francisco The annual Christmas party for the Loyal Order of Moose, their children and friends, was held recently at the Embassy theatre. . . . The Orpheum donated proceeds from a special benefit performance of “Seven Wonders of the World” to the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund. . . . Irving Levin has been elected chief barker of the Variety Club of Northern California, Tent 32, for 1957, succeeding Nate Blumenfeld. . . . Tickets are now on sale for “Around the World in 80 Days” which will open Dec. 26 at the Coronet, with all seats reserved. Opening night’s gala premiere will benefit the World Affairs Council. . . . “The Brave One” opens Christmas Day at the Stage Door. . . .“Rififi,” French suspense film, enters its eighth week at the Larkin. . . . “Baby Doll” begins its run Dec. 26 at the St. Francis. St. Louis More than 25 merchants at Fayette, Mo., joined together with the Fayette theatre to give motion picture shows for children up to 15 years of age on two Saturday days during the Christmas holidays. . . . The RKO Orpheum theatre at Champaign, 111., adopted the plan of selling gift books, priced at $3.00, $5.00 and $10.00 during the Christmas holidays. . . The Esquire theatre at nearby East St. Louis, 111., is admitting children free if accompanied by parents. . . . Paul Beisman, manager of the American theatre and the Municipal Opera in St. Louis, has been elected president of a newly-formed organization of legitimate theatre managers. . . . the selection being made at a meeting in New York City. . . . Mrs. Bess Schulter, operator of the Columbia theatre, St. Louis, for the 31 years, was honored at the first testimonial dinner ever given for a woman by the Business and Professional Men’s Club of the Hill, the Italian section of St. Louis. Toronto A trans-Atlantic telephone call between Kingston, Ont. and Kingston, England, for girls who came to this country from England as war brides is planned for Christmas Eve by manager Ed Burrows of the Odeon, Kingston. He made contact with Pat Lambert, manager of the Odeon, Kingston-On-Thames, England. . . . Overnight the National Film Board contributed a trailer, for use in stimulating theatre audiences to contribute funds for Hungary. . . . The Globe and Mail, Toronto, has dropped reviews of pictures, substituting instead a gossip column of chit-chat by its former reviewer, Alex Barris. Barris also continues with his successful TV variety show. ... A fire recently destroyed J. Ferley’s 220-seat Hi-Way in Winnipeg Beach, Man., which operated from three to six days weekly. . . . Lou Lodge, projectionist at the Casino, was elected over Pat Travers, as new business agent of the Toronto Moving Picture Projectionists Union, Local 173, IATSE. Vancouver Theatre business is tepid here, with storms, fog and Christmas shopping keeping folks away from theatres. The only bright spot was the fourth and final week of “Giant” at Ivan Ackery’s 3,000-seat Orpheum. . . . Ted Bielby, former manager of the FPC Alma theatre, and Harvey Levine, shipper at International Film Distributers, are back from a Honolulu holiday. . . . President A. E. McManus of the Projectionists’ Union is away on a California holiday. . . . The one-man-in-abooth plan by the circuits will take effect late this month when seven veteran booth workers will retire on pensions, paid by the union and the circuits. With the oneman operation reducing jobs, many projectionists are going into other business. . . .“Oklahoma,” in its CinemaScope version, was to be the Christmas holiday picture for the Capitol, a FPC house, is now out. . . . The Strand, in Trail, B. C., was gutted by fire with the manager, Alex Barclay, and his wife escaping in their night clothes. The fire happened at 6:30 in the morning. Damage was estimated at $275,000. . . . Pat Johnson, who resigned from the Orpheum and went to Fairbanks, Alaska, to work in a supper club, is back at the Orpheum in her former job as cashier. Washington Lawrence Laurent, Washington Post TV critic, was the speaker at the District Motion Picture and TV Council luncheon. . . . Harry Bachman, 53, president of the Circle Theatre Corp., died on December 8. He was chairman of the District United Cerebral Palsy Association’s 1954 campaign, a member of the Variety Club, and once was secretary-treasurer of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Metropolitan D. C. . . . Joseph B. Walsh, Exhibitor Service, was married to Ethel Long of Baltimore. . . . New officers of F-13, are: president, Norville Price; vice-president, Walter Donahue; recording secretary, Ethel Curtiss; financial secretary, Agnes Turner; treasurer, Walter Bangs; guardian, Hazel McCarthy; business agent, George Sullivan. Screen Gems Acquires Hy go, Unity TV Films An agreement for the acquisition of Hygo Television Films and its affiliated company, Unity Television Films, by Screen Gems, Inc., was announced this week by Ralph Cohn vice-president and general manager of the Columbia Pictures subsidiary. Included in the acquisition are the distribution rights to Hygo and Unity’s complete roster of television properties, comprised of 450 features, 130 Westerns, 156 cartoons and 406 serial episodes. With the acquisition, Screen Gems emerges as a distributor of TV programming with 10 national network shows, eleven syndicated programs consisting of over 433 half hours, 736 feature pictures, 216 animated cartoons, 706 serial episodes and 200 live action comedies. Coates-Gordon Names Brandt Vice-President Leon Brandt was named vice-president and a director of the newly-formed CoatesGordon Productions to serve as eastern sales and publicity representative, it was announced by William D. Coates, president, and Glen Gordon, vice-president in charge of production. Other officers are David C. Moore, vice-president and general counsel, and Earl C. Manning, member of the board of directors. Present planning calls for filming to start in early January, 1957. The first group of films will be budgeted from $250,000 to $600,000. Studio facilities have been arranged at the Kling California Studios, and negotiations for worldwide distribution through a major outlet are expected to be completed in the next several days. 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 22, 1956