Boxoffice (Jan-Mar 1962)

'Lover' Makes Big Hit In Blustery Omaha OMAHA — While bad weather put a crimp in grosses for some of Omaha’s firstrun theatres the Orpheum rolled up a fat 220 per cent figure with “Lover Come Back.” The week’s fare offered three holdovers and all showed surprising strength in the face of snow and ice storms that measured among the season’s worst. (Average Is 100) Admiral and Chief — Prisoner of the Iron Mask (AtP) 150 Cooper — Seven Wonders of the World (Cinerama), 14th wk 100 Dundee — Ivanhoe (MGM); Knights of the Round Table (MGM), reissues, 3rd wk 100 Omaha — The Innocents (20tih-Fox) 100 Orpheum — Lover Come Back (U-l) 220 State — King of Kings (MGM), 4th wk 90 'Lover' Rings 300 Bell At Milwaukee Riverside MILWAUKEE — “Lover Come Back” was packing ’em in at the Riverside to lead the big grossers for the week. “Sergeants 3” in its third week at the Wisconsin continued to show up excellently at the boxoffice. Around town, business was fair to very good, but the weatherman was threatening more snow, on top of what we already have, so the outlook was not too good. Downer — Double Bunk (Showcorp) 150 Palace — South Seas Adventure (Cinerama), 1 0th wk 200 Riverside — Lover Come Back (U-l) 300 Strand — Oklahoma! (20fh-Fox), reissue 225 Times — Girl With a Suitcase (Ellis) 90 Tower — One, Two, Three (UA), 3rd wk 125 Towne — Light in the Piazza (MGM), 2nd wk 95 Warner — A Majority of One (WB); Atlas (Filmgroup), 2nd wk 100 Wisconsin — Sergeants 3 (UA), 3rd wk 250 Snowstorm No Obstacle To 'Sergeants 3' Fans MINNEAPOLIS — Another late winter weekend snowstorm failed to halt the fans from seeing “Sergeants 3” in its second week at the Uptown, the picture stacking 400 per cent. Next was “West Side Story” at the Mann with 180 per cent. “Light in the Piazza” was a close third with 175 per cent at the Park. Academy — El Cid (AA), 2nd wk 150 Avalon — Garden of Eden (SR); Upstairs and Downstairs (20thjFox), 2nd wk 100 Century — Search for Paradise (Cinerama), 7th wk., rerun . ... 115 Gopher — The Wonders of Aladdin (MGM) 80 Lyric — A View From the Bridge (Cont'l), 2nd wk. 85 Mann — West Side Story (UA), 3rd wk 180 Orpheum — Pinocchio (BV), 2nd wk., reissue 100 Park — 'Light in the Piazza (MGM) 175 State — Lover Come Back (U-l), 3rd wk 160 Suburban World — Invasion Quartet (MGM), 3rd wk. 90 Uptown — Sergeants 3 (UA), 2nd wk 400 World — La Belle Americaine (Cont'l) 90 Big Paramount Project Teams Wayne and Ford HOLLYWOOD — John Wayne has been set to star in John Ford’s production of a still untitled film for Paramount based on original material developed for the studio by Pulitzer Prize winning author James Michener. This will make the actor’s third recent association with Paramount, having completed his starring role in both Howard Hawks’ “Hatari!” and Ford’s “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.” James Edward Grant has been set to write the screenplay of the Michener story, which is slated to begin shortly after July 4. Simone Signoret stars in MGM’s “Tomorrow Is Another Day,” produced by Jacques Bar for Cipra. Oscars Mean Biggest, Not Best, Says Writer MINNEAPOLIS — Purpose and value of the Academy Awards were questioned by Don Morrison in his “2 Cents’ Worth” column in the Minneapolis Star recently. “I keep a large grain of salt in the bottom drawer of my desk for use every year when the Academy Awards are made,” Morrison wrote. “This is not so much because I suspect the purpose of the awards, even though it is obvious that the annual event is exploited shamelessly for publicity purposes.” The Star columnist observed that the judges seem to pick the biggest pictures for awards. “By biggest, I mean the most noticeable — the biggest boxoffice attraction, or the picture with the most stars, or one adapted from the most successful novel, or which excited the most comment or in some other way made the biggest splash,” he added. Morrison also pointed out that “flashy” roles also tend to confer Oscars on the actors who play them, “although it is usually the case that much better acting has been done by much better actors who played quieter roles in quieter movies.” “These are among the reasons I do not take the awards very seriously,” Morrison concluded. “I don’t suppose it matters greatly, except that handing out Oscars on this basis is one of the things that prevents Hollywood from realizing its fullest potential.” MILWAUKEE Qeorge H. Moffat, manager of the Milwaukee Press Club, is whipping up another dinner and theatre party, and has chosen the Strand when “West Side Story” appears. Estelle Steinbach, managing director at the Strand, is working on an arrangement which might set the pace for future parties of this nature. Moffat says, “This one is really going to be a doozey.” Next on the King for a Day program is A1 Camillo, manager of the Tower Theatre. The date will be announced later . . . The Better Films Council discussed Lover Come Back, Sergeants 3, Flower Drum Song and Light in the Piazza at its March meeting. Ratings follow: Family, excellent — A Majority of One, Oklahoma! Pinocchio, South Seas Adventure and Sergeants 3. Adults and young people, very good — Light in the Piazza. Adults, very good — Double Bunk, Tender Is the Night; good, Lover Come Back, One, Two, Three and West Side Story. Omaha Variety Debut Of 'West Side' at Varsity OMAHA — Ralph Blank, who is giving his Admiral Theatre a complete facelifting and refurbishing, announced he will have it ready for the Variety Club Omaha premiere of “West Side Story” scheduled April 11. The Vai’iety Club will use proceeds from the first night’s show for its charities, including the Children’s Sight Center. Blank said the turnout for a special screening “completely dumfounded me” as it was held on a night when streets were almost impassable after a ten-inch snow. Art W. Anderson, Minneapolis, Dies MINNEAPOLIS — Arthur W. Anderson, former district and branch manager for Warner Bros, in this area and past chief ART ANDERSON barker of the Variety Club of the Northwest, died March 2 here of a cerebral hemorrhage. Anderson, who had been ill for some time, was 65 years old. His career in the film business goes back to 1918 when he started with Triangle Pictures as a shipper. In 1920 Triangle was absorbed by First National Pictures. Anderson rose to booker there. First National was taken over by Warner Bros, and he became a salesman. In 1936, Anderson was named branch manager in Des Moines where he remained until 1940. From 1940 to 1952 he was manager for Warners in Minneapolis. In 1952, he was promoted to midwest district manager, headquartering first in Chicago and then in Minneapolis. He held that position until 1957. When the position of district manager was eliminated in 1957, Anderson then became manager in Minneapolis, until he retired because of ill health in April 1960. A native of Minneapolis, Anderson was chief barker of Variety Tent 12 in 1945-46 and 1950-51. As chairman of the club’s heart hospital committee, he organized and directed the campaign to raise $750,000 for its Variety Club Heart Hospital on the campus of the University of Minnesota. In 1958 a fifth floor, named for Anderson, was added to the hospital. He had been permanent chairman of the hospital committee for ten years. Survivors include his wife Alice, a son Arthur of Minneapolis, a sister and four grandchildren. Carl Reese Rites OMAHA — The funeral of Carl F. Reese, 65, city sales manager for Universal-International Pictures and veteran of more than 40 years in the film distribution industry, was held at the Hoffman mortuary. Pallbearers were members of the film industry who had been his associates for many years. He was a member of the Variety Club and Motion Picture Colosseum. Memorials were sent to Variety Clubs of America. BOXOFFICE :: March 12, 1962 NC-1