Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1947)

(Continued from page 28) ager for Republic, but then a Paramount salesman, recalls the skepticism of some exhibitors when Paramount moved. They were certain that nobody would walk the two long blocks west of Times Square to buy pictures. These pessimists called their shots wrong. During the next seven years all the major exchanges and supply houses moved to 44th street between Eighth and Ninth avenues, and the customers kept coming for pictures. Today Warners, 20th-Fox and Paramount have their own exchange buildings on the north side of 44th, and MGM, RKO, Columbia, Monogram, PRC, United Artists, Universal, Astor and Bell are tenants of the Film Center Bldg., 630 Ninth Ave., between 44th and 45th streets. On the south side of 44th street are Film Classics, Screen Guild, and around the corner from Film Classics is Hoffberg Prod. The Film Center Bldg., in which most of the exchanges are now situated, was opened Dec. 26, 1928. It is a modern fireproof building with complete storage, screening and shipping facilities. It dominates the immediate westside neighborhood of dingy tenements and lofts. TN addition to the exchanges, the building A also houses supply and accessory firms. Joe Hornstein of Joe Hornstein, Inc., one of the big supply dealers there, can vividly remember the dawn of the industry when the supply houses were located on University Place just off 14th street. As the industry moved uptown, the supply houses moved with it. Joe recalls the early days, 1903, 1904 and thereabouts, when projectors were rented, not sold. He remembers the supplyman’s campaign to get the manufacturers to standardize equipment; to get them to build flickerless projectors; the constant fight for better lighting sources. Joe also remembers the selling campaign he conducted to induce exhibitors to install two projectors. Now many theatres have three machines. The Musis Hall has 12. The big years for the supply man were 1926-30, when sound came in, said Joe. Hornstein and his competitors — Capitol Motion Picture Supply Corp., Amusement Supply Co., Crown Motion Picture Supplies Corp., SOS Cinema Supply Corp., National Theatre Supply, are agreed that the 1947 equipment situation could be better. The projection line is easing and deliveries are prompter, but carpets and chairs still are hard to get, they say. But compared with the premium houses on Filmrow, the equipment dealers are well off. The big three of the premium business — Price Theatre Premiums, Sidney Ross Theatre Premiums and the Metro Premium Co. — are forced to turn down orders for lack of stock. The dishes on their shelves are for display. Few are coming from factories or moving to exhibitors. To date, most of the premium orders come from beyond the borders of the metropolitan area. Although exhibitors in the metropolitan district are agreed that the lush days are over, business still is brisk enough here to postpone the day of the premium. Aside from the exhibitors, those most directly concerned with keeping business brisk are the approximately 600 men and women who work in the New York exchanges. These are the district managers, branch managers, salesmen, bookers, clerks, inspectors and shippers who keep 1,150 theatres in the district supplied with film. ^■HERE are approximately another 130 men and women employed by the five major companies of the trailer and accessories business. Most of them work for the New York branch of National Screen Service, but BOXOFFICE :: June 28, 1947 there is plenty of activity at Welgot Trailer Service, Special Screen Services, Inc., Allied Posters and Morris Negrin’s. Incidentally, the New York branch of NSS also provides trailers for the Albany, Buffalo and New Haven exchanges, in addition to the metropolitan district. The memories of many exchange workers, from district managers to shippers, go far back into the early days of the film business. We have already mentioned John Dacey and Eddie Carroll of RKO and Bob Fannon of Republic in this connection. There are many more who were active in the industry when it was in its infancy. At MGM the oldtimers’ list is headed by Jack Bowen, district manager; Bob Elsworth, Brooklyn salesman, and Lou Johnson, head of the shipping department and of the Shippers and Inspectors Union. More than 30 years ago they all worked together for General Film. Today, MGM is the only company with separate New York and New Jersey branches serving the metropolitan district. Ben Abner heads the New Jersey branch and Ralph Pielow the New York branch. At Paramount, Henry Randel, recently appointed district manager, recalls that until 1941 he was manager of Paramount’s Brooklyn branch. That year, Brooklyn, New Jersey and New York branches were consolidated into a single New York branch, with Randel as manager. Randel is a member of the Paramount 25year club. He has been with the company 27 years. Other members are: Harry Friedman and Gilbert Basch of the film room; Rose McConnell, head of the film room; Sybil Mayer, ledger clerk; Edward Bell, New York salesman; Kitty Flynn, booker, and Leah Peterson, cashier. Albert Gebhardt, New Jersey salesman, will be eligible for membership by the end of 1947. Twentieth-Fox also has its quota of veterA ans. These include Jack Wolf, the head Cashier; Moe Kurtz, New Jersey sales supervisor, who has been with the company for 17 out of the 30 years he has been in the industry. Morris Sanders also can speak with authority of the old days. Sanders, New York sales supervisor, was president of Motion Pictures Associates in 1944-45. Ray Moon, Yankee division manager, spent his early film days in Detroit, where he was branch manager for Universal. William Murphy, Republic branch manager, has had a varied and much-traveled 23 years in the film business. As a salesman for Universal he covered Oklahoma and Kentucky; he managed theatres in Chicago, Kansas City, Birmingham and Rhode Island. Saul Trauner, Columbia branch manager, has spent all of his 27 years in the film business selling. He worked for Pathe as well as Columbia. Moe Kerman, president of Favorite Films, and head of the Astor Film exchange, started as an exhibitor 30 years ago. He assisted his father, David Kerman, who operated the Kerman Theatres in Brooklyn. For the last 25 years Moe Kerman has been a distributor, organizing the Astor exchange in 1934. TOE FELDER, vice-president of Favorite * and Astor, got his first film job more than 30 years ago with William Fox’s Greater New York Film Co. He was with Fox until (Continued on following page) IN THE PHOTOS A quintet of New York’s top theatres. From top to bottom: The Radio City Music Hall, largest of the theatres; Roxy, the 20th-Fox showcase; Capitol Theatre, showcase for Loew’s; the RKO Palace and the Astor Theatre. | “*MWT1 f lilac* WBiM