Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1947)

White Gloves Sell Jolson in Halifax MONTREAL HALIFAX — Two white-gloved hands were the key to exploitation carried out by Tiff Cook, assistant manager of the Capitol Theatre here, for “The Jolson Story.” Outstanding display piece was a painting on the lobby floor as shown above. The floor is dark gray flagstone and the white hands and letters stood out sharply. The design was painted with showcard color and after it dried, two coats of shellac were put over it. “This was something new for our patrons,” Single Houses and Circuit Are Offered at Calgary CALGARY — Three theatres and a theatre circuit were listed for sale in a recent edition of the Herald here. Two of the houses are listed as 350-seat theatres and were priced at $42,000 and $34,000 respectively, while the circuit, which includes an automobile, was modestly priced at $5,800. The Rex Theatre at Bowness, near here, is up for a figure approximating $25,000. Theatres in British Columbia and western Canada have been selling for what industry observers say are far more than they are worth, but it looks as if the war boom is over and prices are getting back to normal. Bingo Refunds at Quebec QUEBEC— Officials of a giant bingo game, set for April 7 but canceled because of a Quebec government crackdown on commercial bingo games, said that refunds were being made to holders of tickets purchased before the ban went into effect. In previous games, as said Cook. “Some tried to walk around it; others stamped right over, but not without looking at it first. At least 70 per cent of the patrons saw it when they were coming in and the others saw it on their way out. You could not miss it, unless you sneaked in the exits.” The white gloves and Jolson copy were also painted on the doors and boxoffice and remained up for two weeks before the opening. The picture held over for a week, which is “remarkable in this city,” Cook said. many as 8,000 persons jammed their way into the coliseum, spending an average of $5 a person in an effort to cash in on the $13,000 in prize money. In one game, gross receipts were reported to be $41,000. T est Case on Lord's Day Seen Looming in B.C. Vancouver — War veterans will defy Sunday blue laws despite a threat of prosecution against sponsors of a recent Sunday concert at the Orpheum Theatre. Legion members say the present silver collection will be dropped and tickets sold openly. This action may cause a test case of the Lord’s day act in British Columbia which at present will not allow any direct or indirect admissions for Sunday entertainments. The Lord’s day act is a law that has been on Dominion books for more than 100 years. p*ilmrow executives and staff members are using the airplane more every year. Haskell Masters, Toronto, Canadian general manager of Warner Bros., left Sunday (6) by air for Europe accompanied by his wife. They will visit several countries . . . Felicia Jansen, stenographer in the Montreal office of 20th-Fox took the plane to New York for Easter . . . Molly Foreman, Montreal manager of Alliance Films, spent Easter in Toronto. Leo Choquette, Montreal, proprietor of the Choquette circuit, is Hollywood bound to visit the studios . . . Philippe Senecal, Ste. Therese, proprietor* of the George Theatre there, has returned from a three-week motor trip to Florida. He stopped at Warners’ Filmrow office here on his return and did some booking. PRC announces that from April 15 onward all posters will be sold direct from PRC head office in Toronto . . . Staff happenings on Filmrow: Romeo Gaudreau, Paramount salesman, spent three days on business at Manawaki, Mont Laurier and Buckingham; Joe Dolman, Columbia booker, is resigning to open a clothing business; George Koppelman, PRC salesman, returned from a business trip to Rigaud, and left immediately for Hull, Que.; John Bastien, a new assistant booker at United Artists, replaces Gordon Wynn who returned to Toronto. British films shown here will be minus the familiar signature “Tyrrell of Avon.” Lord Tyrrell, president of the British Board of Film Censors, died in his 81st year . . . Much opposition was recorded in Edmonton to an Alberta government ban on the British Information Service film, “Man — One Family” which was excluded from Alberta schools ostensibly because “it did not fit in with the curriculum,” but — critics of the government’s action say — really because it “ran counter to Social Credit political policies.” Gordon Alexander of Ottawa, director of printing production for the National Film Board, has been appointed supervisor of advertising in the public printing and stationery department . . . Montreal Local Council of Women is vigorously protesting against the eviction of tenants to make way for the building of a new theatre at the corner of St. Catherine and Crescent streets. El Morocco, completely renovated, reopened under ownership of a syndicate headed by Yvon Robert, former world’s champion wrestler . . . Robert Muzard, French film producer, is in Montreal looking for a studio from which to produce films here. The first of which will concern the life of Isaac Jogues, missionary martyr. Mayor Camillien Houde saw a special screening of “The Best Years of Our Lives” at the Kent and was so pleased with it that he got himself photographed shaking hands with Arthur Bahen, manager of the theatre . . . Louis Desbiens, chairman of the Quebec Board of Film Censors, states that the distributors have the right to appeal the board’s ban on “The Outlaw” starring Jane Russell, which has been shown in all the other eight provinces of Canada. Cinema business in Montreal is described as “very solid,” although officials say they scarcely expect a repetition this year of the very high grosses of 1946 . . . Morris C. “Rusty” Davis, who wrote the musical score for National Film board’s muskox film, has severed connection with Canadian Broadcasting Corp. and will work as a free lance. He has under way original scores for other Canadian films. 112 BOXOFFICE :: April 19, 1947