Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1939)

Smiles for a Premiere — -Metropolitan Photos The New York showing of RKO’s “Allegheny Uprising, ” at the Palace Theatre, brought into the eye of the camera, from left to right, Paula Stone, actress and daughter of Fred Stone; Henry Schwartz; Florence Lake, screen actress; Edmond O’Brien of the Mercury Theatre, who makes his fim debut in “Hunchback of Notre Dame.” and Heidi Vosseler, American ballet dancer. place somewhere in Westchester with Jack’s brothers, Emil and Jonas and their wives in attendance. There was a wedding party at the Stork Club and a reception is scheduled on their return from a secret honeymoon. Roberto Dandi, general manager of ICI, sails for Rome, Saturday, on the Conte de Savoia . . . Still undecided on where he will produce “Angela Is 22,” Jack Skirball plans, however, to leave for the coast by the end of the week. He should know by then . . . Charles Boyer and his wife, Pat Paterson, are due in on the Clipper late Monday. The French star, who was released with thousands of his age by a decree issued November 11, says “France has more than enough soldiers to win the present war” . . . L. J. Schlaifer is out west again, this time he’s at San Francisco . . . Sid Grossman, Syracuse exhibitor; Ralph Pielow, M-G-M Albany branch manager; Ted O’Shea and Bill Levy, a cheerful foursome at the Astor the other night. Joe Moskowitz still has no idea when he is going to the coast, but it will be soon, he says . . . Jay C. Plippen introducing Major Bowes at the Night of Stars was something to write home about, if you know the story. For it was Colonel Plippen who succeeded Major Bowes on the WHN Amateur Hour, Bowes going commercial at the time with his own amateur idea. The WHN hour is dead and the Major Bowes stunt is still one of the radio hits of the day . . . Sol Lesser arrives from the coast Monday for final conferences with Thornton Wilder on “Our Town” . . . Harry Moskowitz made 12 towns last week on behalf of Loew’s . . . Alexander Korda is expected to return from the coast in about a fortnight. The Max Wolff Ass’n will hold its annual affair at the Astor, November 22. The Loew executive expects 1,000 aiid states Mayor. Joe Loehr of Yonkers. Harry Foley, surveyor for the Port of New York, and prominent personages in the fire, police and other city departments of New Jersey and New York will be there . . . Al Simon celebrated a birthday November 10 and was ribbed plenty by the gags the WHN gang pulled on him . . . Rube Jackter says he’s not thinking of Miami so far in advance but he expects to hie there for a few weeks of sun as soon as he cleans up a number of important circuit deals . . . Abe Schneider goes in for chocolate frappes, smothered in whipped cream, as desert for luncheon . . . Lou Golding, upstate division head for the Fabian circuit, is a regular commuter to these parts . . . Bill White of the Skouras is an old newspaperman, having worked with Edwin C. Hill years ago . . . Don Ameche has gone duck hunting at Grant’s Lake, Ore. Alec Moss, who was in Philadelphia during the week to pep up Warner circuit district and local managers on Paramount product, is figuring on vacationing in Puerto Rico this winter. He’s been to Miami and Havana and he wants a change of vista . . . John Balaban of Chicago and Bill Philips of United Artists circuit lunched together at the Astor Hunting room early in the week. Ditto for Ike Li’oson of Cincinnati, Nat Holt of RKO’s division in Cleveland and Bob Lynch of Philadelphia who managed to fill up the M-G-M table . . . Charles Stern, eastern district manager for UA, has been touring New England on business . . . Herman Wobber, Bill Sussman and Moe Levy have been visiting Ira Cohn, 20th-Pox manager in Pittsburgh, and Harry Buxbaum and Joe Lee in New York on the latest S. R. Kent drive. Claude Saunders has joined Paramount’s exploitation departmerit under Alec Moss and handling “Gulliver’s Travels” and “Geronimo” . . . Tom Waller visited Albany, Ga., during the week on a special assignment from Bob Gillham . . . Joe Seider has closed his theatres at W. Hampton and E. Hampton, L. I. . . . Milt Kusell has been getting all editions of Boxoffice but the one containing his picture last week in which he appeared with Charles Reagan and J. J. Unger . . . Edward Souhami, Allied of New York representative, returned from Buffalo early in the week after holding a meeting there. It was stated at the session that Minna Rosen of the New Oakdale in Buffalo is not having any more trouble from the police on Bingo games. A meeting will be held in Syracuse, November 21, with others following in different parts of the state later . . . Charlie Olive, Washington, D. C., exhibitor, visited the Main Stem during the week. Messrs. Irvin Shapiro, Archie Mayers and Ed Barison of World Pictures were hosts to a flock of film gentry for the combination Astor Theatre premiere of “Mill on the Floss” and Astor Hotel buffet and refreshment soiree after the show. Among those seen at the double feature were Ted Krassner of Cinema Circuit; Walter Reade jr., Artie Wakoff and Al Paris of the Reade circuit; Jack Birnbaum, Irving Kaplan and Harold Rinzler of Randforce; Myron Segal and Rose Barison of Century; Irving Renner and Jack Hattem of Interboro; Joe Ingber, Arthur Schwartz, Bob Finkel and Lou Wolff of Harry Brandt theatres; Sam Rosen and Harold Blumenthal of Fabian; Harold Kline of Cocalis, Eddie Stern of Rugoff & Becker. Also Rose Deutsch and Rosalind Scher of Skouras; Louis Fischler of Belle, Jack Meltzer of Associated Theatres; Al Suchman of Consolidated, Jerry Luber of (Continued on page 24-D) A Song Still Charms-— cosmo sn, For the sixth consecutive time, Deanna Durbm clicked in a top-grosser. Here’s the early morning crowd that greeted the premiere of “First Love,” latest of Universal’s Durbin pictures, at the Rivoli Theatre, New York. BOXOFFICE :: November 18, 1939 23