Boxoffice (Jul-Sep 1962)

Write — £ XH IB I TOR HAS ■^mmhABOUT P HIS SAY I C T U R YOUR REPORT OF THE PICTURE YOU HAVE JUST PLAYED FOR THE GUIDANCE OF FELLOW EXHIBITORS Good Titles Wasted "The Broken Land" from 20th-Fox is a good little western in color. Short, though, only 60 minutes. Fox has mode quite a few of these short ones and wasted some good titles, such as "The Purple Hills" and "Valley of the Redwoods." B. WIDMARK BERGLUND Trail Theatre, New Town, N. D. ALLIED ARTISTS Armored Command (AA) — Howard Keel, Tina Louise, Warner Anderson. Good wor story. Played Sot. Weother: Okay. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. Pop. 1 ,480. Friendly Persuasion (AA, reissue) — Gory Cooper, Dorothy McGuire, Anthony Perkins. This is still a wonderful show, but who goes for them any more? Had to close the first night, and just barely made film rental the next night. Too long to double-bill, so what can you do? Played Wed., Thurs. Weather: Worm. — A. Madril, La Plaza Theatre, Antonito, Colo. Pop. 1 ,255. BUENA VISTA Pinocchio (BV, reissue) — Cartoon feature. Expected to do better. It takes a lot of kids to make up for the less of adults when showing a picture of this sort. Saturday matinee was fair, but adult trade was at least one-half off, so even with the kids at the candy stand we came out below average. We are glad Disney's latest efforts appeal to both grownups and kids. — Ray Boriski, Albert Zarzana, Galena Theatre, Galena Park, Tex. Pop. 11,000. COLUMBIA Don't Knock the Twist (Col)— Chubby Checker, Gene Chondler, Vic Dana. This put the lid on the coffin and we pronounce the Twist officially dead1 — and a'e we happy. If we see another Twist, just wheel us off to the nut house. Even the teens call it dead and old-fashioned, so really — who would the peture appeal to? Chubby Checker might ask us to "Don't Knock the Twist," but there will never, never be one more wiggle on our giant wide and yellowish screen. — Roy Boriski, Albert Zarzana, Galena Theatre, Galena Park, Tex. Pop. 11,000. Sofe at Home! (Col) — Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, William Frawley. This is a poor excuse for a picture. It's in glorious black and white and even Chubby Checker on the some bill couldn't draw any business. Mantle and Maris had better stick to baseball. Played Fri ., Sat. Weather: Excellent. — Don Stott, 301 Drive-In, Waldorf, Md. Pop. 1,100. Three Stooges Meet Hercules, The (Col)— Stooges, Vicki Trickett. Glad to see the kids back in the theatre! This was headed for a good gross, but lost entire showing on Tuesday on account of stormy weather. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. — Mel Danner, Circle Theatre, Waynoka, Okla. Pop. 2,018. METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER Bachelor in Paradise (MGM) — Bob Hope, Lana Turner, Janis Paige. Very funny comedy, bob Hope is at his best and Lana Turner is as pretty as ever. Good color too. Did above average midweek business, even against such competition as a box supper at the local high school. Played Tues., Wed., Thurs. Weather: Warm, Fair. — Roy Kendrick, Star Theatre, Minco, Okla. Pop. 950. Colossus of Rhodes, The (MGM) — Rory Calhoun, Lea Massari, Georges Marchol. A good solid action entry, much better than the "Hercules" type, and a popular star, too (Rory Calhoun). Very well attended. Played Thurs., Fri., Sat. Weather: Nice. — Paul Fournier Acadia Theatre, St. Leonard, N. B. Pop. 2,150. Don't G Near the Water (MGM) — Glenn Ford, Gia Scale, Eorl Hollimar. A repeat of a neor-hit in SI. Leonard a few years ago. At least it made film rerrtol. It's very good. Because it's been sold to TV, I urge all exhibitors to play it again as fast as possible before TV bookings, so as to drown out some stiff competition It did overage here. Played Tues., Wed. Weother: Warm. Paul Fournier, Acadia Theatre, St Leonard, N. B. Pop. 2,150. PARAMOUNT Hey, Let's Twist! (Para) — Joey Dee, Teddy Randozzo, Zohra Lampert. Black and white, a loser of a story, no big stors, very little hand-clappin' music and yet it did average boxoffice. Why? I guess all we hove to do is spell T-W-l-S-T on the marquee and start selling tickets. Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Hot. Roy Kendrick, Star Theatre, Minco, Okla. Pop. 950. Summer and Smoke (Para) — Geraldine Page, Laurence Harvey, Una Merkle. A big boxoffice flop. Elegant acting, but story a little confusing. Definitely not for small towns. A wasted playdafe For art houses only. Played Sun., Mon — Leonard J Leise, Roxy Theatre, Randolph, Neb. Pop. 1,029. Too Lote Blues (Para) — Bobby Darin, Stella Stevens, Vincent Edwards. Too bad to put Bobby Darin in a picture like this. I thought it very poor. This didn't help Vincent Edwards any, either!! Played Sat. — S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. Pop. 1 ,480. 20th CENTURY-FOX The Racers (20th-Fox, reissue) — Kirk Douglas, Bella Dorvi, Gilbert Roland. We think this is one of the better reissues from 20th-Fox. It has good color, story and acting, Kirk Douglas is popular here. Those who saw it had favorable comments on it. Played Wed., Thurs., Fri. Weather: Hot. — P. B. Friedman, Grand Theatre, Lancaster, Ky. Pop. 3,000. Satan Never Sleeps (20th-Fox) — William Holden, Clifton Webb, France Nuyen. A fairly good picture, but slow action and a very poor draw. Good story and color. Should 'have drawn average at least. Surely a disappointment. One thing is sure — 'people will come out to see good pictures far and above the "tinyvison" type. Played Sun., Mon. — Leonard J. Leise, Roxy Theatre, Randolph, Neb. Pop. 1,029. Swingin' Along (20th-Fox)' — Tommy Noonan, Pete Marshall, Barbara Eden. Used this as the bottom half of a double bill with a Tarzan picture and was surely glad I didn't run this one on a single, as it had a number of walkouts. Played Fri., Sat., Sun. Weather: Fair to good. — 'Marion F. Bodwell, Paramount Theatre, Wyoming, 111. Pop. 1,255. UNITED ARTISTS One, Two, Three (UA) — James Cagney, Horst Buchholz, Pamela Tiffin. Plenty of wit in this, but tco much fast talking for our slow patrons, so it fell far short at the boxoffice. This had the poorest advertising paper I ever saw. Played Sat., Sun., Mon. Weather: Hot. — Carl P. Anderka, Rainbow Theatre, Castro vi'lle, Tex. Pop. 1,500. Sergeants 3 (UA) — 'Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Peter Lawford. Here is the kind of picture that we peed more of. Lots of action, comedy and everything that the young people like. — O. B. Hancock, Princess Theatre, Whitesboro, Tex. Pop. 1,824. X-15 (UA) — David McLean, Charles Bronson, James Gregory. This is reminiscent of "Threshold of Space," "Bombers B-52," and others of that genre, but due to technical deficiences (the poor planes were much too big), it is neither as good nor as interesting as its predecessors. Very poorly done, I'm sorry to say. Do be careful another time! Business average. Played Thurs., Fri., Sat. Weather: Cool. Paul Fournier, Acadia Theatre, St. Leonard, N. B. Pop. 2,150. UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL Day the Earth Caught Fire, The (U-l) — Janet Munro, Leo McKern, Edward Judd. This picture did a little above average at the boxoffice for midweek. The yellow tint caused some comment, but it should have been in color. Weather: Rain and hot. — Roy Kendrick, Star Theatre, Minco, Okla. Pop. 950. Incredible Shrinking Man, The (U-l) — Grant Williams, Randy Stuart, Paul Langton. Here is an oldie that we promoted to good results. We liked the film when it was first introduced several years ago, and found it still has great drawing power for the younger set and even did well with the adults. A good Saturday show. — Ray Boriski, Albert Zarzana, Boulevard (subrun), Houston, Tex. WARNER BROS. Sunrise at Campobello (WB) — ;Ralph Bellamy, Greer Garson, Hume Cronyn. Another superb movie in the classic tradition that didn't even make film rental (which was quite low). You'll have to search high and low to find a pic of this quality and sheer artistry. The fact that a part of it was made here in New Brunswick didn't help a bit. Excellent acting, beautifully made. A family picture, but no families. They're all watching nothing on TV and missing everything at the movies. Played Tues., Wed. Weather: Cool. — Paul Fournier, Acadia Theatre, St. Leonard, N. B. Pop. 2,150. MISCELLANEOUS Song of Sister Maria, The (Citation)1 — Dominique Blanchar, Maria Dulce, Julia Alba. This Spanish-made film with English-dubbed dialog is one I have nothing but praise for. Played it to above average houses on a three-day run and everyone loved it. Our population is 80 per cent Catholic, so we had good back-up from the cihuroh. Only once in a great while can we boast such a film. Played Sun., Mon., Tues. Weather: Fine. — A. Madril, La Plaza Theatre, Antonito, Colo. Pop. 1,255. Offbeat Combo Does Fine in Outdoorer "Wild for Kicks" from Times Film is a relatively harmless teenage meller, made in England, and gave us the first smash business of the current drive-in season. The trailer is adequate, and the paper and ads are tremendous. Play this if you want to make a profit. Doubled with "Frantic," another Times release. GRAY BARKER, Booker-Buyer Park Drive-In, Clarksburg, W. Va. — Right Now Ae TO: The Exhibitor Has His Say BOXOFFICE, 825 Van Brunt BlvcL. Kansas City 24, Mo. Title Company Comment Days of Week Played Weather Title Company. Comment Days of Week Played 'C Weather Title Company Comment Days of Week Played Weather Title Company Comment Days of Week Played Weather Exhibitor Theatre Population. City State 10 BOXOFFICE BookinGuide :: July 23, 1962