Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1945)

THEATRE MEN BREATHE EASIER AS FUEL SITUATION IMPROVES Cashes In on Kerosene Lamps Situation at Worst From Cleveland to Albany, And Areas to North NEW YORK — Theatre men began to breath easier at midweek as the weather moderated and emergency snow removal measures began to take effect in congested freight yards south of the Great Lakes. More than 100 theatres were completely or partly closed on a line running east from Cleveland to midMassachusetts and in northern New York state. South of Albany and in New York City, New Jersey and southern New England the situation improved rapidly. Anthracite began to arrive at New Jersey terminals last Sunday when 1,600 carloads were delivered. Bitumious started coming in from the West Virginia area. Ice conditions in New York harbor cleared, enabling barges to resume deliveries to the various boroughs and up Long Island Sound as far as Boston. Buffalo Still the Bottleneck Buffalo continued to be the bottleneck and snow passed all records in the area from Buffalo through Syracuse and Rochester to Albany. From Albany east to Fitchburg, Mass., many houses were closed in the hili regions. Chicago had no trouble. All theatres were open and over the weekend they did phenomenal business. • In spite of transportation problems film deliveries are maintained to all houses remaining open, according to officials of the leading delivery services. M&P in New England dropped matinees in some suburban theatres in order to cooperate with local authorities; film deliveries were not affected, according to circuit officials. From other sources it was learned no theatre closings had been necessary in Connecticut. At Worcester, Mass., the only house closed was the Regent. In the Boston area no theatres were dark; a few eliminated matinees. In New York state the over-all picture was a variegated one: All theatres in Buffalo were closed Monday (Feb. 5) for one day under a blanket emergency order from Mayor Joseph C. Kelly; probably the most drastic mandate issued in the 113 years of the city’s incorporated history, the ukase entailed a 24-hour cessation of about 75 per cent of Buffalo’s retail trade at a time when the municipality had but a three-day supply of coal. Albany May Shutter Saturdays Similar action was contemplated by Albany’s mayor; he considered closing all business offices on Saturdays. This would automatically have shut down film exchanges, in which event deliveries would have gone out one day earlier. Ten Fabian houses in the Albany area which shuttered January 28 were still closed at midweek but conferences between municipal officials and Fabian executives resulted in reopenings at the weekend. Fabian houses still operating in the area continued to receive film deliveries promptly, according to home office executives. Among the Fabian theatres shuttered were: Palace, Grand and Leland, Albany; Proctor’s, Troy; Proctor’s, Plaza, State and Strand, Schenectady; Cohoes and Empire, Cohoes. In Syracuse all theatres closed for more than a week. Every cinema in Rochester remained dark from Monday through Thurs MINNEAPOLIS — It has remained for Harry Hirsch, operating stock burlesque at the Alvin, to capitalize for publicity by solving the problem of outside theatre illumination, partially at least, at his showhouse during the present government blackout period. Hirsch has strung a dozen kerosene lamps along his canopy. The lamps may not give out much light, but they’ve attracted a lot of attention, caused considerable talk and excited newspaper attention. Further attention is aroused by Hirsch by using a loudspeaker attached to his public address system in front of the theatre. Such records as “When the Lights Go On Again” day. Thirteen of the 19 Warner houses closed by mandatory order were in New York state (four in Albany, three each in Elmira, Troy and Utica, respectively). “The over-all situation seems to be improving daily, now that the worst of winter is past. Theatres should be reopening shortly,” said an executive of Warners. “Reopening is, of course, up to local authority and not to the theatre.” Future Flood Menace Looms Jamestown, N. Y., under ten feet of snow, has had to close its four theatres, two of them controlled by the Shea circuit. “If we don’t get a break in the weather soon, we’ll be in difficulty,” said one of the officials of that chain. “Due to the current railroad tieup it’s been next to impossible to maintain adequate coal supplies. Film deliveries, however, have been satisfactory.” Fear was expressed in certain quarters regarding the growing flood menace in the Empire State. Syracuse, it was pointed out, had 12 feet of snow, and an unseasonable thaw would inundate surrounding areas. Several theatres of the Schine chain in upstate New York had to close temporarily, but most of them have since reopened. “The situation is changing for the better, day by day; next week may see the lifting of the last mandatory closing,” a Schine home office executive in Gloversville reported. “Even in Buffalo, where Smith & Howell had to impose a fiveday embargo due to railroad tieups, the picture is rosier. The embargo is now off. We suffered no great inconvenience, thanks to enterprising exchanges sending out film via buses and other carriers.” N. Y. City Hardly Affected In New York City no Loew theatres had to close, due in part to the pooling and reapportioning of fuel stockpiles. Nor had the Brandt circuit felt the pinch too greatly; managers heated their theatres with wood, using it sparingly and cutting down their coal consumption to an absolute minimum. “Film deliveries maintained a steady level of operation,” a Brandt executive said, “whatever minor flaws there were could be attributed to wartime congestion and not to the current coal crisis.” The Randforce and Century circuits, operating in the NYC metropolitan area, respectively, reported none of their houses had been closed, nor were any expected to in the immediate future, unless unforeseen developments occurred. While spokesmen for the two circuits agreed the fuel situation was “tight,” are played to attract customers. At the outset, as far as can be determined, the extinguishing of the theatre front illuminations didn’t hurt business downtown. Many managers believe the bright lights had been a considerable magnet to bring crowds into the loop and felt their elimination would divert trade back to the neighborhoods. The absence of lights, too, it was feared, would make people more wary about going out nights. Some of the managers now feel, however, that the blackout actually may help business by driving more of the downtown crowds off the sidewalks and streets into the theatres. both felt their respective chains would be able to continue uninterrupted operations. One of the factors promoting an optimistic outlook was the mild weather at midweek. No Pennsylvania Closings In Pennsylvania no shutdown took place. The Scranton and Wilkes-Barre areas reported all theatres staying open from 11 a. m. to 11 p. m., a condition to be expected in the heart of the nation’s coal belt. Theatres in West Virginia, Maryland and Delaware were not affected. In Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, 111 theatres, one burlesque house (Roxy) and a legitimate theatre (Hanna) closed last Monday. The picture houses comprised 91 independent and 14 affiliated theatres in Cleveland, two in Bedford, two in Cuyahoga Falls, one in Chagrin Falls and one in Maple Heights. Two of three Schine houses in Ohio underwent oneday closing due to a shortage of natural gas. Cincinnati reported all houses in operation, the temporary ban having been lifted. In Kentucky a shortage of natural gas threatened to shut all theatres, but the embargo was lifted even before it went into effect, according to a Schine executive. “Our circuit, operating approximately 150 theatres in six states, weathered the storm reasonably well, although some of our houses were subject to various types of closing — partial, complete, one-day, matinee, evening, etc. — at the discrimination of local authorities,” he said. Exhibitors in the northwest states, like their fellow showmen in Canada, were used to cold winters and prepared for them well in advance. Thus far no shutdown from lack of fuel were reported from these subfreezing point areas. Rochester Houses Close Four Days After Mayor's Emergency Orders ROCHESTER, N.Y. — All Rochester theatres were closed four days this week under an emergency fuel shortage order issued by Mayor Samuel B. Dicker which went into effect last Monday. Loew’s Rochester reported last Sunday’s attendance at more than 25 per cent above normal. The RKO-Comerford pool reported “tremendous crowds” at all five member theatres in the city. Most of the neighborhood Schine theatres also reported largerthan-normal crowds. During the emergency shutdown, caused by upstate rail tieups which prevented moving of fuel supplies following continued snowstorms, Rochester theatre operators took advantage of the “holiday” to make repairs. 24 BOXOFFICE :: February 10, 1945