Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1962)

North Central Allied Board Meets Jan. 30 MINNEAPOLIS — The agenda for the mid-March convention of the North Central Allied will be presented at the NCA board meeting January 30 at the Variety Club in the Pick-Nicollet Hotel, according to Martin Lebedoff, president. Lee Loevinger, assistant U.S. attorney general, has been announced as a speaker at the convention, which also will be held in the Pick-Nicollet Hotel. Since taking his Washington assignment, Loevinger has been handling antitrust cases for the government. Stan Kane, NCA acting executive secretary, has been in Arizona to recuperate following a recent bout with pneumonia. MILWAUKEE geveral members of the mayor’s motion picture commission assert they have made formal complaints to the Milwaukee Journal because of the paper’s “on-andoff” policy. According to one member of the commission, the fact that the Journal refuses to accept what might be termed “off-key” advertising from theatremen is right and proper. But says this commissioner, to allow Gypsy Rose Lee to appear on the paper’s TV station (WTMJ-TV) and get away with some of the movements and chatter she supplied during the interview, “is the payoff!” According to the commissioner, Miss Lee dropped the mike she was holding into her bosom which in turn led to some fancy loose talk, he said. “And on TV!” he added. Miss Lee was here for an engagement at the new Swan Theatre. Moe Dudelson, Warner Bros, manager here, was to join Farley Granger and Chester Morris as honored guests at the annual King for a Day festivities January 15, at the Schroeder Hotel here. Moe goes to the Chicago branch as sales manager replacing William Lange, who was named manager in Pittsburgh. Moe will be replaced here by Joe Kaitz, a salesman working out of the Buffalo office. The Oriental Theatre, a unit of Prudential Theatres, beginning January 16, will present a Fine Arts Film Festival with a film each Tuesday for the next six weeks. To be shown are: Madame Butterfly, La Gioconda, Don Giovanni, La Forza, Two Loves Had I and Belles and Ballets. Harry Boesel, Wisconsin Theatre manager, pulled out all the stops in his promotion of “Comancheros” and his resulting big grosses show that it pays to ballyhoo. He had a contest on WEMP’s Gas —ORDER YOUR NEXT — SPECIAL TRAILER WITH CONFIDENCE FROM FILMACK 1327 South Wabash Chicago, Illinois Light Club show; Columbia record tieup, getting 50 free records; several stills gratis in the papers: wangled a chuck wagon for display in front of the theatre; kiddies contest, with youngsters attired in cowboy or Indian costumes; “speared” 500 yo-yos, and gave ’em out at the door; “engineered” some free time on the air, and got free time on TV. To top it off, the Santa Parade passing the theatre “spread more of his cheer.” A “twist” dance contest at Manitowoc’s Capitol Theatre was called off after the management received a protest from a pastor. The cancellation touched off a noisy demonstration by the audience of approximately 700, when Lou Ingram, manager, made the announcement. He said admissions would be refunded or tickets validated, and some 200 took advantage of the measure. The others remained for the second movie. The pastor told of receiving a number of telephone requests from members of his parish, and added that he had read that many periodicals had condemned the “twist.” Later, according to the pastor, a number of young people paraded in front of the rectory and the church for a short time, protesting the cancellation. Jim Gray Purchases Monte in Monticello MONTICELLO, IOWA— Jim Gray, who has managed theatres in northwest and eastern Iowa, for many years, has bought the local Monte Theatre from Glen Lambert. Gray started his theatre career 22 years ago with the Trueman T. Rembusch CircuitSyndicate Theatres of Franklin, Ind. For 11 years Gray managed theatres in northwest Iowa for the Harold Field Pioneer Theatres Corp. of St. Louis Park, Minn. He was associated briefly with the late C. A. Schultz interests’ Consolidated Agencies of Kansas City. However, for the last six years Gray has managed the Pastime Theatre in Maquoketa, the latter theatre being a holding of Iowa United Theatres, Des Moines. Roof-to-Floor Remodeling At Hastings, Neb., Strand HASTINGS, NEB. — From front to rear, from floor to ceiling and everything in between has been remodeled at the Strand Theatre under the supervision of Manager Fred Teller jr. The project, which required several months to complete, includes the installation of new seats. These chairs are wider than the old-style models, have a coil spring foundation, foam rubber armrests and coil spring backs. The entire chair is covered with a soft fabric. Floors have been sanded and restained and new carpeting placed in the aisles and lobby. The interior has been repainted. The lobby presents an entirely new and cheerful appearance with bright colors and modern materials and a new aquarium. New, too, are the boxoffice and lobby furniture. Restrooms have been remodeled. Jim Gray Brehm, Hruska Buy Herman Gould Slock LINCOLN — Russell Brehm of Lincoln announced that he and U.S. Senator Roman Hruska of Omaha have purchased the stock owned by Herman S. Gould of Omaha in the Center Drive-In Co. Gould, Brehm and Hruska have been associated previously in operating the string of drive-ins here and in Omaha and Corpus Christi, Tex. Now 66 and just back from Will Rogers Hospital in Saranac, N.Y., where he had been a patient, Gould is retiring from business, Brehm said. Senator Hruska and Brehm will continue operation of the open air theatres. These include the 84th and O in Lincoln, the new Q-Twin Drive-In, the Airport and 84th and Center, all in Omaha, and the Texas DriveIn. MIMEAPOUS picketing is continuing at the Norshor Theatre at Duluth following an announcement by Minnesota Amusement Co., house operator, that it planned to reduce its schedule at the house and drop one operator. Charles Winchell, president of MACO, and John Branton, vice-president, were in New York for a routine visit to the American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres home office. The staff of Columbia celebrated the birthday of Genevieve Donovan, cashier, with candy and cake . . . Harold Field, president of Pioneer Theatres, and his wife are back from San Francisco where they visited their son John, a theatre architect, and his wife. They also visited in Palm Springs with Field’s brother Leonard of New York, a stockholder in the circuit, and his wife, who are traveling around the world. Outstate exhibitors on the Row were Ray Blakeslee, Medford, Wis.; Jake Musich, Duluth; Austin Harren, Cold Spring; Joe Mlinar, Spring Valley; P. R. King, Adrian, and Judd King, Dell Rapids, S.D. . . . Subzero cold and windy weather, the worst in many years, put the skids on boxoffice grosses throughout the city . . . Harry Hollander, Columbia exploiteer, was in working with F. A. “Bud” Wiggins, Lyric manager, on “Twist Around the Clock” and “Sail a Crooked Ship.” A combined, 3,500-seat assembly hall and theatre building is among the features proposed for a new convention facility in the heart of the loop, which downtown businessmen are pushing. They are seeking a new hall away from the municipal auditorium. The proposed structure would cost from $6,000,000 to $10,000,000. The project is being backed by merchants and hotel men in the central downtown area. William Glaser Dies FARIBAULT, MINN. — William Glaser, 73, former operator of the Paradise Theatre and at one time the old Lido and Village theatres here, died January 6. Funeral services were held in this city January 9. Glaser had been retired about seven years. The Paradise is now operated by Leo Ross. NC-4 BOXOFFICE :: January 22, 1962