Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1940)

^xkll^ltot 4^a5 kll5 Saif Columbia Blondie Has Servant Trouble Columbia almost went into slapstick on this one, but oui audience enjoyed it just the same. Boxoffice: Okay, considering. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, Out-Wickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. Doctor Takes a Wife, The This one proves that what the people want most from a theatre is entertainment. This one filled the bill. Ray Milland delightful and Loretta Young as good as always. Audience: We had good second night business, so you can figure out for yourself what happened over the local grapevine between the two nights. Boxoffice: Pretty good. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, Out-Wickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. Out West With the Peppers A pretty good trailer made this look like it might be something, but it didn’t get much of a rise out of our audience. Boxoffice: Not good. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, Out-WickenburgWay, Wickenburg, Ariz. First National All This, and Heaven Too I'oo long, but our patrons seemed to enjoy it. At least it appealed to the “classic.” Sun., Mon. Rural patronage. — Burris and Henley Smith, Imperial, Pocahontas, Ark. They Drive by Night A swell show that proved boxoffice for us and was well received by our patrons. Sun., Mon. Rural patronage. — Burris and Henley Smith, Imperial, Pocahontas, Ark. M e tro-Goldwyn-M ayer Gold Rush Maisie Metro should have gone to a little more pains on this one. Ann Sothem did more than her share to hold up her end, but that still wasn’t enough. Looks like it’s the same old story: When the script is lousy, you have no foundation to build a picture on. Audience: Enjoyed it. Boxoffice: No good, especially on the second night of our two-day change, which means the patrons didn’t go for it. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, Out-Wickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. I Love You Again It rolled them in the aisles. This guy Powell is the smoothest comedian in the business. Audience howled. Boxoffice echoed with a tinkle of coins for a change. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — ^E. A. Stein, Out-Wickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. New Moon I thought this was as good a MacDonald-Eddy as Metro has ever put out, but my wife and others didn’t agree with me. To me, both were in fine voice and the action story was very good. Audience: Enjoyed it. Boxoffice: Acceptable. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, Out-Wickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. An open forum for exhibitor comment. Please address communications and requests for report blanks to THE EXHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY. Boxoffice, 4804 E. 9th St., Kansas City, Mo. Pride and Prejudice An exquisitely fine piece of work by all concerned. I am afraid, however, that many will fail to appreciate it. We had some walkouts. Audience: Those who came were divided in their opinion. Those who liked it, like it very much, and those who didn’t said so, thereby cutting down our take. Boxoffice: Not good. Note: Metro puts out a knockout of a trailer on this one. It’s a real teaser. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, OutWickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. Sporting Blood The story is worn out and we made the mistake of giving it our feature nights. It is only suitable for a double bill or bargain night. Thurs., Fri. Rural patronage.— Burris and Henley Smith, Imperial, Pocahontas, Ark. Monogram Pals of the Silver Sage Never before have we let out a “peep” to this department, but we feel that some well-deserved praise will pay dividends in the way of some more of the same type picture. Monogram has taken Tex Ritter, who used to be B. O. for us, and given him a rustic comedian who can evoke belly laughs from the action fans. They like Ritter’s broad smile, and with a comedian such as Musical Slim Andrews, Monogram has created another Autry-Frog combination for themselves. Our western fans demand music and comedy injected with the powder smoke and stage coach. Our customers ask when we are going to have another one like this, and boy that’s music to our ears. This one broke our record for westerns. Every time we run a Tex Ritter-Musical Slim picture, the cash customers go home happy and the old boxoffice rides again. — J. Bye Coverston, Dixie Belle, Pineville, Mo. Paramount Ghost Breakers This one wowed ’em. Boxoffice: Not so good, but still glad we played it where and when we did. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, Out-Wickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. Those Were the Days It seems the p>eople liked being taken back to “the good old days.” This one is nothing outstanding, but a good audience pix. Boxoffice: Acceptable. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, OutWickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. Republic Grand Old Opry Very good hillbilly show. Pleases most small town patrons. Will do fair business. Wed., 'ITiurs. Weather: Warm. Admission: 20-10. Rural patronage. — Logan Hedrick, Homer, Homer, 111. Young Buffalo Bill Another swell western from Republic. Saturday. Rural patronage. — Burris and Henley Smith, Imperial, Pocahontas, Ark. RKO Radio Courageous Dr. Christian Pretty good pix but believe RKO could do a little better on story material for Hersholt. Audience: No expressions much on way out. Boxoffice: Not so hot. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, Out-Wickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. My Favorite Wife Here is another fine comedy that punched below the belt during the last five minutes to no purpose. The audience didn’t laugh at the final sequence, so why must we have such depreciating tripe in our films? Of course the audience had so many laughs by the time the end came, that perhaps it didn’t make too much difference. Audience: Liked it. Boxoffice: Very good. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, Out-Wickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. 20th Century-Fox Lillian Russell I disagree with the critics who say this is not very good. I thought it was very good. However, these shoutings in the trailers about the “dramatic blah, blah, blah,” I believe, give a pix such as this a buildup from the wrong angle. The audience reserves the right to make up its own mind, so none of us can tell them how wonderful a pix like this is. Audience: Liked it. Boxoffice: Fair. Admission: 4010. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, Out-Wickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. Maryland A swell picture with a weak ending that pleased our patrons, especially the cowboys because of the fine horses. Too bad this one didn’t have a climax. If it had, we would have done some good second night business and made our guarantee. As it worked out, we didn’t. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, OutWickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. Sailor's Lady This one was obviously intended to be a comedy, but it didn’t come. Audience went out sleepy-eyed. Boxoffice: Not good. Admission: 40-10. General patronage. Population: 710. Capacity: 263. — E. A. Stein, Out-Wickenburg-Way, Wickenburg, Ariz. Universal Sandy Is a Lady Just an ordinary programmer that will remind you of the old slapstick days. Tues., Wed. Rural patronage. — Burris and Henley Smith, Imperial, Pocahontas, Ark. Warner Bros. My Love Came Back A swell show that is timely for amusement purposes instead of these boring biographies and “drammers.” Sun., Mon. Rural patronage. — Burris and Henley Smith, Imperial, Pocahontas, Ark. 126 BOXOFFICE : : September 14, 1940