Boxoffice (Jun 23, 1951)

—P pe” REIS Sas EES eee aS ear ce < » rt 7 tn t 7 AUHSITON i + pls ae by F 19 WS SAY ABOUT PICTURES An open jorum in which, for the most part, exhibitors report on subsequent-run showings of pictures. One (*) denotes a new contributor; two (**) is one who has been reporting jor siz months or longer; three (***) a regular who has been reporting jor one year or more. These columns are open to all exhibitors. COLUMBIA @AIl the Kimg’s Men (Col)—Broderick Crawford, Joanne Dru, John Ireland. This was a Jetdown at the boxoffice—the lowest gross in months. The Academy Award does not mean anything to us. Played Mon., Tues. Weather: Fair—H. Hoppe, Grand Theatre, Mirror, Alta. Small town and rural patronage, ooe¢ Petty Glrl, The (Col)—Robert Cummings, Jean Caulfield, Elsa Lanchester. Somehow we did not do our usual business on this one, but it’s no fault of the picture. It’s an A picture, good story, beautiful color and is worthy of preferred time. Don’t skip it. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Fine—BSill Leonard, Leonard Theatre, Cedar Vale, Kas. Small town and rural patronage. = 16 Petty Girl, The (Col)—Robert Cummings, Joan Caulfield, Else. Lanchester. This is one of the mest delightful Technicolor pictures that we could report on. Joan Caulfield makes one very happy and I was surprised to learn that there weren’t more people of the same appreciative nature as this exhibiter. It was a grand picture and I saw it two nights. Other people should have their heads read for not coming out in bigger volume to see such a lovely picture. I think they were more appreciative in Belle River than they were in Tilbury. Played Wed., Thurs. at Tilbury, Fri., Sat. at Belle River. Weather: Warm.—Harland Rankin, Rankin Enterprises, Chatham, Ont. General patron age. one Rookie Fireman (Col)—Bill Williams, Barton MacLane, Marjorie Reynolds. This pleasing little action offering is all that kept me from getting run out of town. I had it on the other leg of a double bill with “The Texan Meets Calamity Jane.” This has a good cast and a fire-fighting story made this a pleasant change for the Fri.-Sat. fare. Weather: Fair, —Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. Small town and rural patronage. “28 Stage to Tucson (Col)—Rod Cameron, Wayne Morris, Kay Buckley. Here is a little life-saver. I co-featured this with “Grounds for Marriage’ (MGM) and thank goodness. There isn’t a dull moment in this picture and {t is ideal for Fri-Sat. Weather: Clear.— Don Donohue, Novato Theatre, Novato, Calif. Small town and rural patronage, aie Whirlwind (Col)—Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Gail Davis. Autry ts back again in a good action western in sepja. This pleased all who came on Fri., Sat. and business was good. I made a profit. Weather: Good—E. M. Froiburger, Dewey Theatre, Dewey, Okla. Small town patronage. adi ed LIPPERT PRODUCTIONS Baron of Arizona (LP)—Vincent Price, Ellen Drew, Beulah Bondi. This is not a western in the usual sense. It is an interesting story of the pretender to the state of Arizona through a phony land grant, and it is different—Frank S. Sabin, Majestic Theatre, Eureka, Mont. Small town patronage. cds METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER Asphalt Jungle, The (MGM)—Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen. Though I’ye always maintained you have to use something like this once in a while for these that like the type, I still think it ts absolutely the most overrated picture I have ever put on my screen. How anyone could give it a double-plus is beyond me. I thought it the 2 ‘ dullest, slow-movingest thing I had ever put on in my house. However, there were some who stayed with it all the way and enjoyed it, but it’s a waste of playing time if it’s money you need. Played Wed., Thurs. Weather: Good.—Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. Small town and rural patronage. weeis Devil’s Doorway (MGM)—Robert Taylor, Louis Calhern, Paula Raymond. This is a swell action picture—never a dull moment. It has just the right medicine for a weekend. Seven buckets of blood spilled in every reel, but they like it. Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Good.—Bill Leonard, Leonard Theatre, Cedar Vale, Kas. Small town and rural patronage, oss @Father’s Little Dividend (MGM)—Spencer Tracy, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Bennett. This is a very good followup on the original story. Spencer Tracy is his usual good self, with the help of Joan Bennett and Elizabeth Taylor. It is a real entertaining family feature which rakes up the boxoffice sales. Teamed with “The Mating Season” (Para), it did above average in our house. Everyone left happy and well entertained. Played Fri. through Mon. Weather: Fair and warm. —Leonard C. Utecht, Manor Theatre, Chieago, Ill. Northwest Chicago patronage. ~ Pagan Love Song (MGM)—Esther Williams, Howard Keel, Minna Gombell. Business was average Sun., Mon. and showed a slight increase, but the price for Esther, wow! ‘Two people made money on this one—my landlord and Leo. I even had a couple of walkouts. So far the deal with Metro hasn’t been too hot. I have more to play. We'll see. Hey, Joe, I losti—Don Donohue, Novato Theatre, Novato, Calif. Small town and rural patronage. see Two Weeks With Love (MGM)—Jane Powell, Ricardo Montalban, Louis Calhern. This is as fine a musical as one would ever want to see, and in color, too. A small town would be foolish to pass this one up. A certain tall, lanky individual (male) caught the fancy of my patrons, for they asked when he would be back again. Don't let him get away, Leo. Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Hot.—I. Roche, Teachers Urged Matinee For This Giant Film KING SOLOMON’S MINES (MGM)— Stewart Granger, Deborah Kerr, Richard Carlson. Not for many months (and maybe not again soon) have we had anything that even came close to what this giant did. People that never come to shows came to this one; people that seldom come, came twice. People that once in 2 while come back again to some feature, came four or five times. It’s in a class by itself. Schools asked to cooperate with me on this one, Teachers all saw it out of town, of course, but they called up begging me to run a special matinee. They had all the kids pepped up over it and the kids in turn pepped up thelr folks. My campaign on the picture paid off, too. Don't even think of passing this up and don’t Jet anyone tell you that it won’t do double normal business. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Rain, —Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo, Small town and rural patronage, a gg np a oS i ak ’Mrs, Mike’ Not Too Old To Play, He Says H Hoppe of the Grand Theatre at Mirror, Alta., explains why he does not tribute oftener: one usually play here late and I feel that my reports are not of much help to fellow exhibitors, but there are some pictures that are never too old to play te the great satisfaction of both the exhibitors and patrons. One of these pictures is ‘Mrs. Mike’ (UA), which I almost passed up. We played to almost 200 per cent, on Mon., Tues. Ours is a small town and rural patronage.” Small town ad Vernon Theatre, Vernon, Fla. and rural patronage. MONOGRAM Triple Troublé (Mono)—Richard Crane, Gloria Henry, Mary Stuart. I had lots of complaints that this wasn’t as funny as usual, but I couldn’t see a bit of difference in the way they laughed. It got by the slightly above average business for the change. Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Rain —Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. Small town and rural patronage. si ecs PARAMOUNT At War With the Army (Para)—Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Polly Bergen. Was I surprised? I .expected to do average business on this one, as I had never played these stars before. Instead I had good business for three days and made a profit. It is very funny and some came back to see it twice. Played Tues., Wed., Thurs. Weather: Good.—E. M. Freiburger, Dewey Theatre, Dewey, Okla. Small town patronage, bei A Great Lover, The (Para)—Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming, Roland Young. This has plenty of appeal for small town audiences, but you can’t overcome a lousy title enough to make them realize it, so they stay home in great numbers. Those that don’t like Bob seem to be getting more numerous every time we show him, too. Even SO, We squeaked by, making expenses for the run, but needed to make a little over to help out my midweek problem. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Fair—Bob Walker, Uintah Theatre, Fruita, Colo. Small town and rural patronage, °** Let’s Dance (Para)—Bett: Hutton, Astaire, pone Young. This is just eats nary—not up to what you might expect from Astaire and Hutton. The mate Aa dance routines are both below par. The theme of the story is fine but it lacks good music and dancing. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Rain.—Bill Leonard, Leonard Theatre, Cedar ve Kas. Small town and rural patron bs ses Mating Season, The (Para)—Gene Tierne John Lund, Miriam Hopkins. Thelma Ritter the old business we have been ] ing. Played Fri. through Mon, Wealhees woe and warm.—Leonard ¢, Utecht, Manor The atre, Chicago, Ill. Northwes tronage. hwest Chicago pa Mating Season, The (Para , John Lund, Thelma Ritter, aa) ae good as this could die such a death is beyond me. It is ultra-sophisticated comedy so I guess it was over their heads. Even Bank Night on Saturday didn’t help. Business was below average, Played Fri, Sat. Weather: Clear and warm.—Don Donohue, Novato The atre, Novato, Calif. Small town ie ae and rural pa Samson and Delilah (Para)—Hedy Lamarr BOXOFFICE BookinGuide :: June 23, 1951 Om.