Showmen's Trade Review (Jul-Sep 1945)

oo SHOWMEN'STRADEREVIEW July 7, 1945 REGION A visitor here. Lou Hensler and Bob Cox, Lexington, were visitors at Schine's local office. Mrs. William Hastings, secretary to Florence Kipp, Lyric, is back at her desk after a honeymoon at Cumberland Falls. Observing Paramount's One-Third of a Century Drive, a special meeting will be held at the local exchange July 7, when J. J. Donahue, Allan Usher and Ray Milland are expected to be present. Joe and Mrs. Oulahan have returned from a visit to Great Lakes, where they visited Joe C. Oulahan. Ray Frisz, Chakeres Circuit, is still hospitalized following a recent operation. Paramount's Mrs. Louise Vinson is spending her vacation with her parents in Pennsylvania. Mildred Johnson, assistant manager, Lyric, announced her marriage to Jack Bundeman. Hardie Meakin, RKO-Midwest, has returned from a business conference in New York and on his way back stopped ofif in Washington to gather up his family and belongings and move them to Cincinnati. Jimmy Geers, former assistant manager of the Paramount, Peebles Corner, now of the Navy, is in the Pacific where he has been assigned to active duty. MGM's Pep Club held a successful picnic at Mehle's. The committee comprised Joan Lasance, Estelle Schilferth and Kathering Mersch. Vacationists are Ross Williams, RKO and MGM's Virginia Kenney and Joan Lasance. Exhibitors booking on the Row this week were Mrs. A. N. Miles, Eminence, Ky. ; Bert Hukle, Huntington ; Bill Luibel, Chakeres Circuit; Frank Mandros, Charleston; W. D. Smith, Columbus and James Howe, Carrolton, Ky. Bertha Eckstein and Larraine Grieco of Monogram are on vacation. INDIANAPOLIS Katherine Pruitt, stenographer at the Monogram exchange, and Ensign Robert Maxwell, were married June 29. The ceremony took place at twilight in the Sweeny Chapel, Butler LTniversity. Grace Monroe is the new stenographer at the Monogram exchange. Republic's exchange is being streamlined and redecorated. One of the new features in the office is the new booking desk. Sheldon Fogleman, assistant shipper at Republic, has resigned and will become head shipper at Paramount. The genuine imported brand of GI talk is falling on civilian ears with new impact these days. L Continued LUNCHEON FOR WAYNE. A trade and fan magazine luncheon for John Wayne was held by Republic last week at the Astor Hotel. Seen in the photo above are (1-r) Herbert J. Yates, president of Republic Productions, Inc.; Joseph Kane, associate producer-director; James R. Grainger, president and general sales manager of Republic Pictures, and John Wayne, star of the company's 10th Anniversary film, "Flame of Barbary Coast," on which Kane functioned. The cashier at Loew's was confronted by a trio of ribboned vets one night during the week who said : "Three dog-face tickets, please." Paul Leatherby, RKO office manager, is enjoying a vacation with his wife and family. John Servaas, who heads S. & S. Theatres, is spending a week fishing in the northern lakes of Indiana. Sol Greenberg, Warner office manager, is vacationing at Lake Wawasee, and Laura Baker, inspectress at Warners, is spending her vacation with her daughter in Detroit. Marine Pfc. Ralph E. Summers, former employe at RCA, has been sent to a Naval hospital in Idaho. He is suffering from combat fatigue. Boyd T. Sparrow, manager of Loew's Theatre, has announced the promotion of Mrs. Ida McCulley from office assistant to assistant manager following the transfer of Ted Childers to Loew's Orpheum, St. Louis. Another appointment is that of Gene Wooley as Loew's new floor manager. Mrs. Jack Ford relieved her husband at the Riley, Greenfield, Indiana, last week by operating the projection machines, while her husband was pinch-hitting at the Alhambra, Knightstown. Exhibitors visiting Film Row during the week : Morris D. Reinking, and B. W. Breht linger, Idaho and Swan, Terre Haute ; Henry Smith, English, English; W. D. Kohlhorst, Fairy, Napanee ; J. P. Griffis, Boswell, Boswell; Max Factor, Alliance, Chicago; A. H. Borkenstein, Wells, Ft. Wayne ; Robert Sherer, Wayne, Ft. Wayne; K. T. Sink, Strand, Angola; Wm. Studebaker, Logan, Logansport; and A. McCarty, Roxy, Pendleton. Mrs. Frank Walters, wife of the Hartford City and Dunkirk exhibitor, died June 29. Milton Ettinger, Universal sales representative, has returned from his vacation. George Landis and Richard Frank, in charge of the Variety Club golf tournament, have announced the Broadmoor Cotintry Club has been selected for the afifair to be held August 27. L. J. McGinley, Universal exchange manager, was a business visitor in Chicago during the week. Pete Mailers, Ft. Wayne circuit operator, and his wife are vacationing at Atlantic City. Sconce Theatres Circuit has closed its offices in the Fletcher Trust building and moved its headquarters to Edinburg, Ind. Rex Carr, general manager, Marcus Enterprises, made a flying inspection trip visiting company holdings in Anderson, Dayton and Cincinnati last week. JERSEY CITY The recent death of C. L. ("Pop") Dooley, Warner Paterson-Passaic district manager, will shortly bring some shifts and promotions in the Warner North Jersey zone. Frank O'Rourke, assistant chief of staf¥ at the Stanley, has entered the Navy. Walter Shyman and Eugene McTiernan former ushers at Loew's Jersey, are both reported in the Pacific theatre of the war. Mrs. Elizabeth Sidlow, assistant manager at the Jersey has just returned from a brief visit to Wilmington, Del. While there she spent some time exchanging information on show business with Edgar Doob, manager of Loew's Aldine. Warners' U. S. Theatre, Hoboken, will be closed for five weeks commencing some time in August for a complete remodeling job. Some 250,000 persons crowded Journal Square Friday night for a giant open air War Bond show. Sponsored -ointly by the New York JournalAmerican and the Skouras Theatres, with the co-operation of the War Finance Committee, the all-star program presented outstanding personalities of the stage, screen and radio. Notis A. Kommenos, Skouras zone manager, was the prime mover in the event. He was asisted in arranging the program by Miss Daphne D. Skouras, daughter of Spyros Skouras. George H. Dumond, veteran manager of Loew's Jersey, is expected back from his Florida vacation about July 9. Frank Freudenthal, former relief manager for the Rosenblatt & Welt circuit in North Jersey, has left for overseas, under a year's contract with OWL Freudenthal is an accomplished foreign linguist. COLUMBUS Last week's heat wave cut theatre attendance, with Sunday matinees particularly hard hit. Several local theatres are having difficulty with their cooling plants, adding to the attendance drop. Senate Bill 312, clarifying the sales tax's application to film rentals, was signed by Governor Lausche last week and will become effective Sept. '28. The amendments are as follows : With respect to the sales tax, the following is added to section 5546-1 of the Ohio General Code : "The transfer of copyrighted motion picture films for exhibition purposes when the amounts paid or received for admission to such exhibition are subject to any tax imposed by this state shall not be construed as a sale as herein defined." With respect to the use tax, the following is added to Section 5546-25 of (Continued on Next Page) RANK FETED ON COAST BY EXHIBITOR-PRODUCER LEADERS. J. Arthur Rank, British film magnate, talked shop with exhibitor and producer leaders last week in Hollywood. Photo at left shows Rank (center) talking exhibition with Ernest TurnbuU, managing director of Hoyts Theatres, Australia, and Charles P. Skouras, president of National Theatres. In photo at right, B. B. Kahane, Motion Picture Producers Association first vice-president. Rank, and Louis B. Mayer, MGM vice-president in charge of production, discuss production at a Hollywood luncheon tendered by the association during Rank's visit to the movie capital.