Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1945)

BON VOYAGE TO ERNEST— The Marquee Club, composed of Atlanta newspaper men, press agents and theatre managers, turn out to bid bon voyage to Ernest Rogers, columnist of the Atlanta Journal, just prior to his departure for Hollywood. Rogers will spend several weeks in the film capital and will send back daily stories to his paper in conjunction with his column which is widely read throughout the south. (The beret was strictly for the camera). Nebraska Repeals Law Banning Ascap Society From Midwest Edition LINCOLN— Ascap was almost back in business in Nebraska as the legislature passed a bill which repeals the anti-Ascap law enacted in 1937. The vote was 27-11. The bill was signed by the governor and becomes effective in 90 days. Some other states used to have anti-Ascap laws, but Nebraska was the last state to hold out against the society. Before the new bill was passed, Senator John Mekota of Crete, a strong opponent, moved that the enacting clause be stricken. His attempt to kill the bill failed, 7 to 27. Senator Mekota had charged that Ascap, which he termed a “vicious monopoly,” was conducting a “campaign of fear” to “coerce” music users to support it and the legislature to pass it. Joe Malec, operator of Omaha’s Peony Park, which, with Radio Station WOW, are the state’s largest music users, commented, as follows, after the bill was passed: “In seeking truth and justice in defense of free enterprise under the laws of our Constitution I bow to the organized power of the music Ascap cartel which knows no justice and does not recognize the laws of our Constitution. While our sons fight all over the world to bring freedom to other nations we are losing their freedom here at home to monopolies and cartels. We are heading the wrong way.” The majority of the state’s music users, including the theatres led by Robert Livingston of Lincoln, had written letters to the senators supporting the bill and asserting that they must have some agency to deal with for public performance of music or be subject to numerous and costly copyright infringement suits. Milburn Stone to Spot in "On Stage" Milburn Stone has been assigned a featured spot in “On Stage Everybody,” a Universal production. ATLANTA T?ire drill training at National Screen Service 4 paid off when fire broke out on the fifth floor of the building occupied by the company. By the time firemen reached the scene employes had the fire extinguished. Charles P. Lester, district manager, estimated the loss at $500. Mrs. Elsie Lord has left United Artists for Paramount . . . Mrs. Loneta Holbrook, formerly with Universal, has joined the Distributors Group . . . Visitors included Mrs. Cowan Oldham, McMinnville, Tenn., and Mr. and Mrs. Howard Scheussler and daughter of Lam Amusement Co., Rome, Ga. Two women employes of Film Classics were injured slightly when an explosion blew out a wall separating the storage and inspection rooms. Mrs. Bonnie Sudan and Mrs. Mildred Ricks, film inspectors, were working near the wall and were bruised by falling debris. Film damage was slight. Dixie Dunbar, petite Atlanta dancer of stage and films, will return home here as a headliner at the Paradise room floor show at the Henry Grady Hotel . . . R. F. Savelle, assistant manager of the Paramount, is passing out cigars. It was an eight-pound daughter named Fayron June. Wills J. Davis, genial assistant to the president of Georgia Theatres, Inc., carries in his wallet season passes entitling him to admission to some 350 theatres of his own and other amusement circuits operating in the southeast. Davis never sees a picture! He says his boss, William K. Jenkins, keeps him so busy that he can’t even find time to attend a picture at the Fox, where his offices are located. Perry Spencer, Universal’s southern advertising representative, has returned from a trip to Nashville, Memphis, New Orleans and Hattiesburg to handle the southern premiere of “Salome, Where She Danced” at the Fox Theatre. Extensive campaigns are set up by Universal for the new Walter Wanger production, starring Yvonne DeCarlo. Announcement has been made of the following changes in managers by Martin Theatres: Gilbert N. Goldwire of Washington, Ga., to replace Randolph Elliott in Fitzgerald, Ga., and R. O. Barksdale to Washington. J. U. McCormick, former owner of Amity Pictures and now with Alexander Film Co. traveling Alabama and Tennessee, was on Filmrow ... C. A. Matthews of Blumenthal circuit, Charlotte, was a Filmrow visitor . . . C. W. Phillips has joined Theatrical Printing Co. . . . R. H. “Uncle Bob” and Mrs. Robinson, owners of Theatrical Printing Co., passed through the city from Dallas en route to Florida for a vacation. Charlie Leonard, who has been pinch hitting as Columbia’s booker, has returned to Charlotte . . . The Duncans of West Point and Carrollton were on Filmrow . . . Also booking and visiting were Mr. and Mrs. Fred Weis of the Roxy and Savannah theatres in Savannah . . . Irving Berg and Leonard Pearlman of the New York office of National Screen Service were local branch visitors. Mrs. Hazel Jackson of the local Florida State Theatres booking office is all smiles these days. Her husband, who has been in the Pacific for the last three years, is now in California. He has called her and hopes to be home soon. Foreman Rogers of the Macon Theatre, Tuskegee, was in booking and visiting friends . . . Miss Blanche Bailey of Universal will be married soon to Johnny Goodwin of Fayetteville . . . Mrs. Roma Clay, formerly with M-G-M, now is chief inspector at Universal. Ike and Harry Katz, PRC franchise-holders, entertained at a luncheon at the Mayfair Club May 2 in honor of the army and navy bookers and the press. Guests were Fred Moon, Atlanta Journal; Lieutenant Trimble, navy; John Fulton, WGST; R. Beaudry and Arthur Dwyer, army motion picture service, and P. H. Savin, BOXOFFICE representative . . . National Screen Service suffered a small fire May 2 in its advertising department. Damage was slight. Tom Bailey, owner of the Bailey chain, has returned to the city after a business and pleasure trip to New York . . . Adolph Gortatowsky of the Liberty and Albany theatres, Albany, Ga., was on Filmrow for the first time since 1941 . . . Lieut. Horace “Tubby” Davis, formerly with NSS, visited on the Row while home on furlough. Davis spent many months in Europe and is now stationed in Texas. Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Sherwood are parents of a baby boy born April ,25. She formerly was with 20th-Fox . . . A. C. Bromberg, president of Monogram, and Mrs. Bromberg were in New York on a business and pleasure trip. Columbia Signs Lewis Russell Lewis Russell, Broadway character actor, has been signed to a term contract at Columbia. His first assignment will be in “Some Call It Love.” 7Ae PROOF iA. in the POPPING Before you sign any popcorn contract send for a free sample of BLEVINS BEE HIVE BRAND HYBRID POPCORN. If it does not pop better than any corn you have ever popped, we don't expect your business. m\m popcorn CO. Nashville 2, Tenn. BUFFALO COOLING EQUIPMENT 10th FI.. 2nd Unit. Santa Fe Bldg. BUFFALO ENGINEERING CO.r INC* Dallas, Tex. BOXOFFICE :: May 12, 1945 96A