Boxoffice (Apr-Jun 1963)

DES MOINES yjith the April 1 closing of the United Artists exchange in Omaha, all UA distribution for the Nebraska territory will be handled by the Des Moines branch. Art Thiele of Des Moines Theatre Supply notes from conversations with motion picture people, both in Iowa and outside the state, that the story is pretty general: Big towns are doing good business: small towns are not, and no one has come up with the “why" answer . . . The Varsity in Des Moines is giving a second-go-round to MGM operettas which did crescendo business there for 12 Thursday afternoons and evenings. According to the Le Mars Sentinel, Phil March, owner of the Royal Theatre in Le Mars, has plans for extensive remodeling. Some of the changes call for a new, larger screen, plate-glass front doors, new carpeting, interior paneling and overhauling of the theatre seats. Jim Lewis, Royal projectionist for 12 years, has been named manager . . . Robert Montgomery, former assistant manager of Tri-States’ Fort at Rock Island. 111., recently was moved here to serve as assistant manager of the Des Moines Theatre. Drive-ins continue to emerge from winter hibernation. H. N. Schrodt has opened his WAHOO it the Ideal boxoffice attraction te increase business on your Moff-nlghts". Write today for complete details. Be sure to give seating or car capacity. HOLLYWOOD AMUSEMENT CO. 9750 Oakton St. • SkokU, Illinois FILMACK HAS ALWAYS LED THE FIELD FOR TOP QUALITY AND SPEED SPECIAL 1327 S. Wabash Chicago 5, III. TRAILERS / “s Marshalltown airer March 15 on a weekend policy until the weatherman guarantees that spring is a sure thing . . . Bill Proctor had an undersky show going again at the Town Drive-In here on the “very-warmfor-March 22” weekend. With the WestVue’s reopening tentatively set for the following week, all five Des Moines drive-ins were due to be back in the movie ’n’ burger business. Fred Meyer, who operates the theatre in Humbolt, is taking an active role in that north Iowa town's preparations for its centennial celebration in June . . . Dave Gold, 20th Century-Fox exchange manager, reports that “The Robe” discount-ticketthrough-churches policy is effective. This campaign, patterned after the Minneapolis plan, has been very successful most recently at the New World Theatre, Cedar Rapids, and in the Davenport and Rock Island areas, Gold reported. Theatregoers here had to choose between two sneak previews the same evening. “Come Blow Your Horn” was sneaked with Jackie Gleason’s “Papa’s Delicate Condition” at the Orpheum, while “Bye Bye Birdie” was the surprise bonus at the Des Moines Theatre, where “To Kill a Mockingbird” was playing. April 20 is the wedding date set by Mary LeWarne, Columbia, and Alan Miller, former student booker at the exchange and now with State Auto Insurance. Eleanor Jackson and Patty Crouse, Columbia colleagues of Mary, recently feted her with a miscellaneous shower . . . Earlier Joe Jacobs and his Columbians were felled with flu. The chief, Bill Dippert, Eleanor and Patty all were victims. WOMPI has planned a celebration marking the April 3 birthday of their “adopted” little girl . . . Thelma Washburn has passed the crisis in a case of spring fever. She is redecorating her home . . . Betty Olson, Paramount, flew over to Omaha to join her Universal husband Ralph, who had been working in the Omaha region the week prior. A. Moussa, Warner Bros, traveling auditor, is in Des Moines for an extended stay . . . WB office workers recently had an office pizza party. The occasion: it was lunchtime and they were hungry. Mr. and Mrs. Phil Samuelson, Avalon, West Union, were Filmrow visitors the week of March 17. Others were Art Sunde, Papillion, Neb.; Mr. and Mrs. Roy Metcalf, Cedar Rapids; Mr. and Mrs. Dick Johnson, Red Oak; Mr. and Mrs. Eben Hays, Winterset; Mrs. Dorothy Theiss, Waverly; Bud Nordhus, McGregor; Bob Hutte, Osceola; G. H. Maxon, Jewell; M. L. Dickson, Mount Pleasant; Tim Evans, Anamosa; Dick Kuhl, Greenfield; William McGraw, Ogden; Neal Houta, New Hampton; Carl Schwanebeck, Knoxville, and John Rentfle, Audubon. Need Police Okay From Canadian Edition TORONTO — Although Toronto has Sunday shows, permission from the local license authority is still required for Sunday midnight shows which come under a police bylaw. The next midnighters can be conducted at Easter at 12:05 a.m., which is actually on the Monday, April 15. OMAHA ■ynited Artists’ Omaha office closed March 29 and all business will be handled through the Des Moines exchange. Bill Lyons, who had headed the Omaha office, will continue to serve this area in Nebraska and southern South Dakota but he will headquarter in Des Moines. Also in the office here were Opal Woodson, office manager for many years; Erma DeLand, booker and veteran of Filmrow, and Shirley Pitts, secretary, who also has been on the Row for years. All the feminine staffers said their plans are indefinite. Donald Johnson, exhibitor at Spencer, is doing some extensive remodeling on his Boyd Theatre, including a new glass front . . . Meyer Stern was back in his office at American International last week after returning from an extensive southern and western trip with his wife. He fortunately missed getting back during one of the worst snow storms of the year in this area. He said he checked at Albuquerque and holed up there when he got reports from up north . . . Howard Burrus, exhibitor at Crete, looked fit as a fiddle on a visit to Omaha and said he felt just fine after recovering from a heart attack. Abbott Tyler said he was trying to make arrangements to reopen his theatre at Creighton . . . Harman Grunke, O’Neill drive-in owner, is a proud father again . . . C. E. Bradshaw, who has the Hipp Theatre at Gregory, S. D., has been in the Community Hospital there . . . Allen Lair, exhibitor at White River, S. D., has been laid up with the flu. E. L. Cline, exhibitor at Beaver City, sent his regrets to Bob Hirz of Warners that he was unable to get down for the screening of “PT 109” at the Military Theatre “because we had a first-class blizzard going.” Cline said he had been waiting a long time to see the film because he was in PTs in the war, in fact he served in the same area in which President Kennedy saw action. “We were in some of the same squadrons and although our service time was a few weeks apart and I didn’t know Kennedy, I did know fellows who served on the PT 109,” Cline wrote. Alfred Marshall, who has the Empress Theatre at Verdigre, killed two birds with one stone, visiting the Electric Show at the Omaha Muny Auditorium and doing booking on the Row . . . Two excellent screenings were dished up last week, “Love Is a H U R L E Y QUALITY PROJECTION REAL ECONOMY S C R E E N S AMERICAN THEA. SPLY. CO., Sioux Falls, S. D. DES MOINES THEA. SPLY. CO., Des Moines, la. MINNEAPOLIS THEA. SPLY. CO., Minneapolis, Minn. HURLEY SCREEN COMPANY, INC. 96-17 Northern Blvd. Corono 68, N. Y. NC-2 BOXOFFICE :: April 1, 1963