Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1941)

J^RTHUR K. HOWARD, business manager of Independent Exhibitors, Inc., and Mrs. Howard spent the Christmas holidays with Warren Nichols, operator of the Gem in Peterborough, N. H. . . . Helen Zenis, married sometime ago, has resigned from the accounting department of the M&P Theatres Corp. to await a new arrival . . . Jack Eames, N. H. chain operator, and Mrs. Eames have a date with a bird. Leonard Kraska, Fine Arts manager, and Georgia Kraska are looking over perambulators . . . Tom Foley of Loew’s State and Mary Foley, formerly of the same theatre, are likewise . . . Ditto for Mr. and Mrs. Charles Foley of the State. Lillian Cohen has been added to the accounting department of M&P to replace Lillian Anderson, who leaves . . . John Davin of National Screen Service has become a benedict . . . George Raft appeared in person on the stage of the RKO Boston . . . Phil Coolidge left to shoot the Cotton Bowl game for the newsreels . . . Victor Mature has been at the Colonial . . . Kenneth Kurson of Graphic Theatre circuit was in Florida. Ben Rosenberg, Fenway manager, inaugurated a new policy at the Back Bay house last week when he advanced weekday opening time to 11:15 a. m., screenings beginning 15 minutes later. This coincides with openings of the competitive Loew’s State . . . Dominic Toturo, operator of the Town Hall in Millbury, was in the film district. Max Lerner, operator of the Fisher Hall in Fisherville, was in town ... Joe Mathieu was in from Winchendon . . . Vincent Dunfey, assistant to Treasurer Vaughn O’Neill at Loew’s State in Providence, planned a New Orleans holiday before concluding convalescence from pneumonia. Melvin Morrison, manager of the Strand in Dover, is hitting for high school trade with a kid popularity contest . . . Howy Parker is pulling a similar promotion at the Capitol in Arlington . . . Alec Hurwitz is using a juvenile quiz show at the Strand in Taunton. Marcel Mekelburg and Sam Levine of Northeastern Films got together with A1 Winston of the Trans Lux in Boston and capitalized with a “Scarface” booking at the downtown house running coincidental with a p. a. of George Raft across the street at the RKO Boston. Harry Aaronson, film Legion commander and manager of the Rialto in Scollay Square, has called a meeting of the Theatrical Post for next week . . . Don Widlund of Jam Handy was in town to go over the New England distribution of the gratis shorts . . . Steve Broidy, new Monogram sales manager, plans to leave for the West Coast the first of the year. Jack McKenzie, formerly of the Paramount in Boston, now is handling the Square in Medford for the Frederick E. Lieberman circuit . . . Martha Heffner, daughter of the Bank Night assignee, was T O M in Connecticut for the latter part of her vacation from Westbrook Junior College. Herman Konnis has been in town during the holidays, doing special sales work here for Monogram . . . J. D. Kendis, roadshow producer, was in Boston . . . Bert Lytell is here . . . Miriam Hopkins and a new Theatre Guild show arrived in Boston . . . Richard McKay is managing the Gayety in Bostori for E. M. Loew . . . Elmore Rhines is now managing the Methuen in Methuen for Sam Kurson. Newell Kurson, Graphic Theatre circuit executive, has been supervising renovations at the Reading in Reading, former Morris Pouzzner house taken over by the circuit . . . Tom O’Brien of Monogram put “Chamber of Horrors” into the Trans Lux for a local showcase opening on New Year’s Day . . . Jack Goodwin, Ben Rosenberg, and John Carroll of the Metropolitan, Fenway and Paramount, capitalized on New Year’s Eve with a prerelease showing of “Second Chorus” on a reserved seat policy. Richard Sears, local Universal newsreel man, formerly with RKO and Pathe, is now in W ashington with the Army where he has been assigned the position of assistant chief of staff in the public relations department. Sears holds the commission of a Major. Betty Field was in town . . . Isabelle Jewell opened here Thursday at the Plymouth in a new play, “The Hard Way,” which was scheduled for a ten-day trial before its New York run . . . Warren Nichols was down from New Hampshire . . . Elliott Nugent is here . . . Allard Graves, Northern New England circuit owner, and Mrs. Graves, wintering in Florida, claim that up this way, “Old Santa Claus is just a frozen asset.” Jack Sanson, manager of the State in Manchester, N. H„ has been elected president of the Chamber of Commerce there . . . George S. Jeffrey, former local film man, is president of the newly formed New York corporation, Jeffrey Pictures Corp., which has taken over distribution of “Cavalcade of Faith.” Frank Kierman is managing the Orpheum in Danvers, former Louis Boas house now operated by Graphic Theatre circuit . . . Leslie Emerson is covering the Opera House in Millinocket, Me., for Graphic . . . Harry Kirchgessner, New England manager for National Screen Service, estimates that the new NSS building at the comer of Broadway and Winchester streets should be finished by spring. Frederick E. Lieberman, circuit owner, is pointing his new house now in construction in the Uphams Corner section of Dorchester for a spring opening . . . James Field, manager of the Paramount in Salem for Phil Bloomberg interests, has spotted Arthur Martel, former Boston perennial, in a series of organ recitals. Edward Renick of the local Metro staff observed his fourth anniversary with the company January 1. Alicia McCarron will round out 11 years with the company January 13. Course in Management On After Holidays Boston — Classes in Motion Picture Theatre Management, suspended for two weeks during the holidays, were scheduled to resume Monday when Maurice N. Wolf, M-G-M district manager, is slated to speak on production. Arthur L. Tuohy, originator and supervisor of the course which is being held under the auspices of the University Extension Division of the Massachusetts Department of Education, emphasizes that new enrollments will be accepted for the second half of the course, commencing Monday. The first half of the instruction series, comprising eight lectures by various local film executives, drew an official enrollment of 35 and an average weekly attendance closer to 40. One registrant has been commuting to and from Passaic, N. J„ where his family is putting up a theatre. Theatre Managers Attend Party by "Free Press" Springfield, Mass. — The Springfield Free Press, edited by Michael Zandan, held its second annual “Movie Party” for local theatre managers in its offices at 104 State St. here. In attendance were: George E. Freeman, Boyd Taylor Sparrow, Loew’s-Poli; Andrew A. Sette, Tony de Caro, Warner Capitol; Bill Teague, Bijou; Edward Smith, Gilbert G. Bevan, Raymond Cronin, GB’s Paramount; George W. Coleman, Arcade; F. I. Frechette, Garden; Earl W. Whitford, E. M. Loew’s Court Square; Pat McGee, Loew’s, Boston office; Carl Jamroga, Phillips; various city and county officials, and William Powell, division manager of the Herman Rifkin Springfield theatres. Plans Are Submitted for A New Outdoor Theatre Springfield, Mass. — The Springfield park commission last Monday night received from Hare & Hare, landscape architects of Kansas City, a new study of an outdoor theatre site in connection with a longrange plan for improvements in the Forest Park section of this city. The plan would utilize the slope of a hill leading to Pecousic Villa, about 500 feet off Long Hill Street, for the placing of about 4,000 seats for theatre audiences. Parking spaces for about 250 cars would be available at the top of the hill. Import Diet Shifts Boston — German and Russian films no longer figure in the film taste of Boston foreign film fans, a poll of audience tastes at the Fine Arts in Boston has revealed. With the poll in the final stage of compilation this week, English films were out in front in the popularity graph, with French second. Last Show Starts at Eight Jewett City, Conn. — The State Theatre now has its last complete evening performance at 8 o’clock. 102 BOXOFFICE : : January 4, 1941