Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1961)

s. XHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY ■MMHABOUT PICTURES ■■■■■■ FOREIGN LANGUAGE FEATURE REVIEWS BUENA VISTA One Hundred ond One Dalmatians (BV) — Animated feature. If you want to show to all the kids in your town, show it. If you are in a small town, though, don't look for too many adults, as you will do the bobysitting. Excellent for its type. — Terry Axley, New Theatre, England, Ark. Pop. 2,136. White Wilderness (BV) — True Life Adventure. These simply cannot fail. Capacity all the way and enjoyed by young and old alike. Don't miss it. You'll be sorry if you do. Give it your best playing time. Played Sun. through Tues. Weather: Fine. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, N. Rhodesia, Africa. Pop. 13,000. Grab This One Quick ! Hi, fellers — if you hove not played "The Wackiest Ship in the Army" grab it quick and you will admit there's no business like showbusiness. You may not get rich, but with Columbia's nice terms you'll have a little profit. Your audience will be pleased too. CARL P. ANDERKA Rainbow Theatre, Castroville, Tex. COLUMBIA Enemy General, The (Col) — -Van Johnson, Jean Pierre Aumont, Dany Carrel. Dull, dull, dull is the word for this. As soon as TV gets this, we'll be safe. Played Thurs., Fri., Sat. Weather: Cool. — Paul Fournier, Acadia Theatre, St. Leonard, N. B. Pap. 2,150. Jazz Boat (Col) — Anthony Newley, Anne Aubrey. We played this on Saturday double -bill to average business. The picture — in black and white and CinemaScope — is good. This will just about stand on its own, or in some cases, stand entirely on its own. Weather: Good. — B. J. Brown jr., Arcade Theatre, Sondersville, Ga. Pop. 5,424. Once More, With Feeling (Col) — Yul Brynner, Kay Kendall, Gregory Ratoff. A delightful, wonderful piece of entertainment for all situations. Script bristles with wisecracks, music good, stars outstanding— all add up to make one of the most enjoyable films of recent vintage. Played Wed. through Sat. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, N. Rhodesia, Africa. Pop. 13,000. 3 Worlds of Gulliver (Col) — Kerwin Mathews, Jo Morrow, June Thorburn. Quite an interesting little story, the color was beautiful and the Su-perDynamation was cleverly done. Brought out a large group of small frys and a few adults. With Columbia's fair deal you can make a buck. Played Sat., Sun., Mon. Weather: Hot and dry. — Carl P. Anderka, Rainbow Theatre, Castroville, Tex. Pop. 1,500. METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER Butterfield 8 (MGM) — Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, Eddie Fisher. Lizzie always pulls them in here, but apart from that the film was a very enjoyoble one and extremely well done. Critics were not kind to this one, either, but who cares as long as the queues outside the boxoffice are three times longer than usual! She was good in this film, but I don't think her performance warranted the Oscar. Shirley MacLaine did better in "The Apartment." Played Wed. through Sat. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, N. Rhodesia, Africa. Pop 13,000. Secret Partner, The (MGM) — Stewart Granger, Haya Harareet, Bernard Lee. This was surprisingly good and had a different twist to it. Black and white photography in this was good. We played to only average business. Played Thurs., Fri. Weather: Good. — B. L. Brown, jr., Arcade Theatre, Sandersville, Go. Pop 5,424. Sheepman, The (MGM) — Glenn Ford, Shirley MacLoine, Leslie Nielsen. Picked this up and ran with AlP's "Goliath and the Barbarians" (distributed by Howco in this territory) and it gave me best Thurs., Fri., Sat. in months. Weather: Rainy and cold. — Terry Axley, New Theatre, England, Ark. Pop. 2,136. Village of the Damned (MGM) — George Sanders, Borbaro Shelley, Laurence Naismith. This did well! Though it wasn't scary enough for my patrons. Would advise playing it midweek. Ployed Fri., Sat. Weather: Rainy ond cool. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. Pop. 1,555. PARAMOUNT G. I. Blues (Para) — Elvis Presley, Juliet Prowse, Leticia Roman. A punch selling trailer and title, but the picture played all oround us, big towns and little ones too. We hit a late spring blizzard that knocked Sunday off 75 per cent and really hurt. Gross was near average in three days. A swell picture, Elvis's best — really wonderful.— Ken Christianson, Roxy Theatre, Washburn, N. D. Pop. 968. World of Suzie Wong, The (Para) — William Holden, Nancy Kwan, Sylvia Syms. This is a good picture for the adult trade. Had some beautiful color and the sound was good. William Holden and Nancy Kwan were good in their roles. We played six days to a little better than average business. This should do reasonably well in all situations. Sun. through Fri. Weather: Good. — B. L. Brown jr.. Arcade Theatre, Sandersville, Ga. Pop. 5,424. 20th CENTURY-FOX Marriage-Go-Round, The (20th-Fox) — Susan Hayward, James Mason, Julie Newmar. Just a fair mild comedy. Not quite lively enough for my patrons. Would advise playing it midweek. Played Tues., Wed. Weather: Cool. — James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. Pop. 1,555. Right Approach, The (20th-Fox) — Juliet Prowse, Frankie Vaughan, Martha Hyer, Gary Crosby. This was fairly good, but Juliet Prowse was miscast in this. It's in black and white CinemaScape. Color would have helped this one, although the story was a little thin. This did nothing extra for us. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Good. — B. L. Brown jr.. Arcade Theatre, Sandsville, Ga. Pop. 5,424. When Comedy Was King (20th-Fox) — Compilation of silent films. Too young to know (the kiddies) . . . too old to care (adults) . . . too busy and no sex (teenagers) so business left a lot to be desired. But still a wonderful change of pace from comedies of today. I'm hoping for more of these. Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Rain and cool — Ken Christianson, Roxy Theatre, Washburn, N. D. Pop. 968. UNITED ARTISTS Hoodlum Priest, The (UA) — -Don Murray, Cindi Wood, Keir Dullea. Strictly different and entertaining. Pleased below-average crowd due to extreme Perfect for Dual Bill UA's "Vice Raid" (Mamie Van Doren, Richard Coogan, Brad Dexter) is a very good little feature. It's a little short on running time for a single bill, but is perfect material for a double. HAROLD BELL Opera House, Coaticook, Que. hot weather and boating craze. Give it your best time and sell it, it's good. Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Hot. — Ken Christianson, Roxy Theatre, Washburn, N. D. Pop. 968. UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL Kettles in the Ozarks, The (U-l), reissue — Marjorie Main, Arthur Hunnicutt, Una Merkel. These Kettle pictures will bring them in, and how they will eat! It's the second time around for this one and business was 200 per cent of normal. Played Thurs. , Fri., Sat. Weather: Good. — Leo A. Backer, Valley Theatre, Browns Valley, Minn. Pop. 1,117. Midnight Lace (U-l) — Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin. Thought this was a wonderful film, with good color, good suspense and lovely Doris Day. The parents who couldn't be torn away from some of the television sex shows and hadn't seen this film anyway must have tabbed it as one of those "nastys" and nixed the kids. We pulled it after two days and cancelled it from one of our other houses. It is a wonderful film, but just how a program like this can get a weird reputation we don't know. — Al Zarzana, Ray Boriski, Galena Theatre, Galena Pork, Tex. Pop. 10,000. WARNER BROS. White Warrior (WB) — Steve Reeves, Georgia Moll. A fair picture, but this is just not the type of picture people expect to see Steve Reeves in. The color was not good in this and the 'Scope photography was bad in some scenes. Play up the point that Steve Reeves is starred, for the picture has little else to offer. Our business was only average Played Sun., Mon., Tues. — B. L. Brown jr., Arcade Theatre, Sanderville, Ga. Pop. 5,424. MISCELLANEOUS Prince of Peace (Astral Film Distributors, St. Louis) — This is the Lawton Story of the "Prince of Peace" passion play Kroger Babb produced about ten years ago. We did a phenomenal colored business with this picture and as my town is about 50 per cent colored, we came out okay. Should be able to get churches to cooperate with you on this one. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Clear. — Fronk Patterson, Mansfield Theatre, Mansfield, La. Pop. 6,000. Rocco and His Brothers A Drama ±.85-1 Astor Pictures Int'l 175 Minutes Rel. The second major Italian-language release by Astor Pictures is a powerful and tragic melodrama of family life with overtones of sex, violence and hate. Like Fellini's "La Dolce Vita,'' this Italo-French coproduction directed by Luchino Visconti won the Venice Film Festival prize and numerous other awards and has broken many European boxoffice records. While there are no stars of the Anita Ekberg calibre, Alain Delon and Annie Girardot are top French names, Katina Paxinou has made several Hollywood films, including "For Whom the Bell Tolls," and Claudia Cardinale is the well-publicized Italian starlet — all names familiar to art house regulars. It should be a big draw for class patrons but mainly in the key cities. The picture's startling rape sequence and the excessive brutality make it strictly adult fare. While "Rocco” is primarily a tale of an uprooted Italian family, unlike the multi-charactered "Vita," Visconti, who collaborated with several other Italian writers on both the story and the screenplay, stresses the sociological and the realistic in the highly melodramatic three-hour unreeling. Rocco, sensitively played by the handsome Alain Delon, is less of a central figure than his coarse, good-humored brother, Simone, who turns into a sadistic brute, beats up his brother and murders the woman who loved him. This role is brilliantly played by Renato Salvatore. Miss Girardot's portrayal of the forlorn prostitute loved by both brothers, is of Academy Award calibre ranking with Melina Mercouri's memorable "Sunday" performance of 1960. Admirable, too, are Spiros Focas, Max Cartier and little Rocco Vidolazzi as the three other sons, and Paolo Stoppa and Suzy Delair, in character roles. Katina Paxinou's flamboyant acting style is appropriate for the role of the agonized mother but her eyerolling does get unintended laughs during some dramatic scenes. Nino Rota has composed a haunting musical score, which has been recorded for additional sales appeal. Alcun Delon, Annie Girardot, Renato Salvatore, Katina Paxinou, Paolo Stoppa. Taiga A War Drama *»«•[ Bakros Int'l 100 Minutes Rel. July '61 An adult study of German prisoners of war in the vast Siberian forests, this stars Fraulein Ruth Leuwerik, who brings to the role of a German woman medico considerable impact, and Hannes Messemer, a prisoner whose professed love for the woman, understandably, can never be returned. The sole femme among 300 Germans, Fraulein Leuwerik, is forced to replace an ailing doctor in the allmale camp. The hopelessness of their cause, the frozen hinterland and the harsh winter reap their toll of life and morale when into the dejection steps the realization of the men's constant desire — a woman. She leaves at the fadeout. This is in German, with Engish subtitles. Utz Uttermann produced and Wolfgang Liebeneiner directed for Bavaria Filmkunst. Released by Bakros International Films. Ruth Leuwerik, Hannes Messemer, Guenter Pfitzmann, Viktor Staal. Hans Quest. To Start ’Reprieve' in November HOLLYWOOD — A November 1 starting date has been approved by Folsom Prison officials for lensing there of “Reprieve,” Kaufman-Lubin production. The Allied Artists release will topline Ben Gazzara, with Millard Kaufman helming his own screenplay. 10 BOXOFFICE BookinGuide :: July 17, 1961