Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1961)

r X HI BIT OR HAS ■M^HABOUI pi HIS SAY C T U R E ALLIED ARTISTS Dondi (AA) — David Janssen, Patti Page, David Kory, played this one over the holiday and had the biggest gross in years. People came from 50 miles away to see it. Played it a week and could have run it three more days. — Robert Tabbert, Star Theatre, Jamestown, N.D. Pop. 10,697. BUENA VISTA Absent-Minded Professor, The (BV) — Fred MacMurray, Nancy Olson, Keenan Wynn. It is real uplifting to see good crowds and this is usually the case when we show a Disney product. Quite naturally with this house — it gets the film after all competition. The turnout was far above normal, but still because of percentage we must bank on the popcorn machine for our salary. — -Ray Boriski, Albert Zarzana; Venus Theatre, Houston, Tex. Ten Who Dared (BV) — John Beal, Brian Keith, Ben Johnson. Average business on this Disney. Played "Cow Dog" along with this feature and thought the short was better than the feature. Ployed Fri . , Sat. Weather: Good. — Mel Danner, Circle Theatre, Waynoka, Okla. Pop 2,018 COLUMBIA Edge of Eternity (Col) — Cornel Wilde, Victoria Shaw, Mickey Shoughnessy. Worst Sunday since this theatre was built in 1955. The second feature, "Man on a String," also from Col. should take part of the blame. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Okay. — J. Wilmer Blincoe, Owensboro Drive-In, Owensboro, Ky. Pop. 33,600. Mein Kampf (Col) — 'Documentary drama. Not really entertainment, but it does a lot of business. This is a shew that everybody should see. Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Good. — B. Bergland, Trail Theatre, New Town, N. D. Pop. 1,200. 3 Worlds of Gulliver (Col) — 'Kerwin Mathews, Jo Morrow, June Thorburn. This picture did fairly good business. It brought the kid trade, but we had a good adult attendance, too. Played S,un., Mon., Tues. Weather: Good. — Mel Danner, Circle Theatre, Waynoka, Okla. Pop. 2,018. METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER Cimarron (MGM) — Glenn Ford, Maria Schell, Anne Baxter. Good color, action western. Local competition would have put a personal appearance of Marilyn Monroe in the red. Sportsmens Show, May Queen crowning, local talent show and school play . . where's the gun? Played Wed. through Sat. — Paul Gamache, Welden Theatre, St. Albans, Vt. Pop. 8,600. Village of the Damned (MGM) — George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Laurence Naismith. This played with "3 Worlds of Gulliver" (Col) which was certainly the better of the two. "Village" is too English and too slow, but it makes a good filler. The price asked for it was too much, and furthermore our competition had played it before us and with full TV advertising benefit (which we didn't get). — Paul Fournier, Acadia Theatre, St. Leonard, N. B. Pop. 2,150. Where the Boys Are (MGM) — Dolores Hart, George Homilton, Yvette Mimieux, Paula Prentiss. A fine picture that did above average; the only objection was the B rating. This always eliminates a lot of families in this area. One man said he would love to bring his family Sunday night, but not if it was a B show. Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Good. — Leonord J. Leise, Roxy Theatre, Randolph, Neb. Pop. 1,029. PARAMOUNT Blueprint for Robbery (Para) — Jay Barney, J. Pat O'Malley, Robert Wilkie. This is a well-made little film for double bills. It's interesting and better than most crime films. Played with "Gorgo" (MGM). Played Thurs., Fri., Sat. Weather: Rain. — Paul Fournier, Acadia Theatre, St. Leonard, N B Pop 2,150. CinderFella (Para)— Jerry Lewis, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Ed Wynn. This wasn't as good as "The Bellboy." It wasn't funny enough for my patrons. Jerry's pictures just don't pull like they used to. Suggest they star him with another top star like Frank Sinatra. Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Warm. — Finds a Happy Combo Two from U-l, "Chartroose Caboose" and "Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy," make a perfect double bill for your Thurs., Fri., Sat. change. Play this bill even if you have to pull some other picture. Popcorn sales were 'way up. LEO A. BACKER Valley Theatre Browns Valley, Minn. James Hardy, Shoals Theatre, Shoals, Ind. Pop. 1,555. Psycho (Para) — Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin. We enjoyed good business in weather not so good. What a picture. Never saw a car leave until the picture was over. Played one week. — J. Wilmer Blincoe, Owensboro Drive-In, Owensboro, Ky. Pop. 33,600. 20TH CENTURY-FOX All Hands on Deck (20th-Fox) — Pat Boone, Buddy Hackett, Barbara Eden. Very entertaining. Much better than average boxoffice. Played Sun., Mon. — C. W. Rowell, Idle Hour Theatre, Hardwick, Vt. Pop. 1,696. Canadians, The (20th-Fox) — Robert Ryan, John Dehner, Teresa Stratas. Beautiful color and CinemaScope made this a pretty good show. Business was about average. Played Sun., Mon., T|Ues. Weather: Good. — B. Berglund, Trail Theatre, New Town, N. D. Pop. 1,200. Can-Can (20th-Fox) — Frank Sinatra, Shirley MacLaine, Maurice Chevalier. Marvelous picture in color and Scope. Shirley displays her many talents and is truly a great actress; the rest of the cast was good. Fightin Words. Suh! Fox's "Little Shepherd of Kingdom Come" replays the old Civil War and all that jazz! Ideal kid's stuff. DAVE S. KLEIN Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, N. Rhodesia, Africa While this is not a small town picture, the boxoffice results were above average and the picture brought out a different kind of patronage. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Hot. — Mel Danner, Circle Theatre, Waynoka, Okla. Pop. 2,018. Esther and the King (20th-Fox; — Joan Collins, Richard Egan, Denis O'Dea. This picture didn't do the business for us. Maybe they have saturated the market with this type of picture for the time being? Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Clear. — Frank Patterson, Mansfield Theatre, Mansfield, La. Pop. 6,000. UNITED ARTISTS Alias Jesse James (UA) — Bob Hope, Rhonda Fleming, Wendell Corey. Our folks laughed all the way thrqugh the picture and sometimes it was hard to catch the words for laughs by the patrons. The best I have had for a long time, both for fun and at the boxoffice. Thanks, UA, give us more like this. Played Fri., Sat. — f. L. Murray, Strand Theatre, Spiritwood, Sask. Pop. 500. Fugitive Kind, The (UA) — Marlon Brando, Anna Magnani, Joanne Woodward. If it weren't for Miss Anna Magnani's magnificent performance, this picture would be a total loss. We found it downright dirty and silly, as well. Small towns, beware!! — Paul Fournier, Acadia Theatre, St. Leonard, N. B. Pop. 2,150. UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL Francis Joins the WACS (U-l), reissue — Donald O'Connor, Julie Adams, Chill Wills. You small towns — pick up these oldies of Francis, also M a and Pa Kettle. If your situation is like mine, they do okay. This was no exception. Played Thurs., Fri., Sat. Weather: Clear and cold. — Terry Axley, New Theatre, England, Ark. Pop. 2,136. Great Impostor, The (U-l) — Tony Curtis, Edmond O'Brien, Joan Blackman. We got rained out, so it's hard to say if the picture has drawing power or not. Black and white pictures just do not look good any more. Played Sat., Sun., Mon. Weather Floods. — Carl P. Anderka, Rainbow Theatre, Castroville, Tex. Pop. 1,500. Midnight Lace (U-l) — Doris Day, Rex Harrison, John Gavin. As good as "Portrait in Black" and the same kind of results. Where do the people go when we play the good movies? Above usual number of adults, but no teens or kids, so not enough total. Deserves a date as Doris Day was never better Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Cold and windy. — -Ken Christianson, Roxy Theatre, Washburn, N. D. Pop. 968. WARNER BROS. Dark at the Top of the Stairs, The (WB) — Robert Preston, Dorothy McGuire, Angela Lansbury, Eve Arden. Very bad weather held us down. Should do well if it has any kind of break. Played one week — J. Wilmer Blincoe, Owensboro Drive-In, Owensboro, Ky. Pop 33,600. Sundowners, The (WB) — Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov. Very good picture. Will do a little better than normal. Color and cast good. Played Wed. through Sat.— Paul Gamache, Welden Theatre, St. Albans, Vt. Pop. 8,600. FOREIGN LANGUAGE FEATURE REVIEWS Fate of a Man F War Drama United Artists 100 Minutes Rel. July '61 Once again the Russians have sent over a superbly acted, strikingly realistic iilm dealing with the horrors and the futility of war and this Mosfilm production is in every way the equal of "Ballad of a Soldier," which was on the majority of “Best Ten" lists for 1960. The second Russian film to be distributed by UA in connection with the Cultural Exchange Agreement with the Soviet Union ("And Quiet Flows the Don" was the first, in 1960), this is based on a story by Mikhail Sholokov and was produced as well as directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, who plays the title role — a triplethreat man who scores in all these departments. While it is fine art house fare for discriminating patrons, it is a depressing film with little interest for general moviegoers. As an actor, Bondarchuk is no less than magnificent, his direction is excellent for an essentially grim film and his production includes tapestry-like camera shots by Vladimir Monakhov, one with Russian captives herded inside a bombed-out church being reminiscent of the illustrations for "Dante's Inferno." The film opens with Bondarchuk wandering with a small boy in post-war Russia telling his bitter experiences in World War II. The flashbacks show him happily married, then joining the Army, being captured by the Germans and put on slave labor. When he captures a Nazi officer, Bondarchuk is rewarded by being given leave to return home, where he finds his wife and children were killed by the enemy bombings. Little Pavlik Boriskin is a natural and appealing child actor as the orphan Bondarchuk takes under his wing. Sergei Bondarchuk, Pavlik Boriskin, Zoya Kirienko, Pavel Volkov. Frantic A Crime Drama Times Film 90 Minutes Rel. luly '61 A gripping and suspenseful French language crime melodrama, directed by Louis Malle (who later made the sensational "The Lovers") in 1958, this is strong art house fare with Jeanne Moreau, who scored in "The Lovers," for marquee value. Although a pair of teenagers is involved, the picture remains strictly adult fare. A fascinating story of a "perfect alibi" for a crime, which unexpectedly backfires, it was adapted by Malle and Roger Nimier from a novel by Noel Calef The original French title, "Elevator to the Gallows," is far more intriguing and descrip tive, although "Frantic" might be more suggestive of the memorable "Diabolique" of 1956. The picture starts with a murder carefully planned to look like suicide, after which the killer is trapped in an elevator for hours while his mistress becomes frantic. During this waiting period, a teenager steals the killer's car and shoots two wealthy German tourists — hence the man is suspected of an other murder. Director Malle achieves edgeof-the-seat suspense during this ironic film and he receives fine support from Miss Moreau and Maurice Ronet, as the illicit lovers, and Yori Bertin and Georges Poujouly, as the callous teenagers. Paris night backgrounds set the gloomy mood and there is a throbbing music score by Miles Davis, wellknown to American jazz enthusiasts. Produced by Irenee Leriche for Nouvelles Editions de Films. Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Lino Ventura. Yori Bertin, Georges Poujouly. 10 BOXOFFICE BookinGuide :: August 28, 1961