Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1940)

m R pREDAY was Red Letter Day for Arch Reeve and Maurice A. Bergman. Reeve resigned his post as advertising manager at 20th Century-Fox, so the boys around town gave him a party at the Tower Club at the Park Central Hotel. Bergman acquired Reeve’s vacated spot, so another set of boys gave him a party at the East Ball Room at the Hotel Astor. The Bergman party was in the form of a luncheon. The Reeve dinner was notable for the complete absence of speeches. Charles McCarthy said all there was to say as he presented Reeve with an engraved wrist watch. Bob Howard was on hand to tickle the ivories and chuckle a few ditties. In case Reeve felt he was being done out of something because there were no speeches, some of his colleagues arranged for him to take home a series of records on which he can hear a lot of speeches any time he slips the platters into the talking machine. On hand were, among others, S. Barret McCormick, Gus Eyssell, Paul Benjamin, Lester Thompson, A1 Wilkie, Jerome Beatty, Ed McNamee, Mark Larkin, Rodney Bush, Earl Wingart, Roger Perri, Lou Shanfield, Jerry Novat, Frank Moneyhun, Lou Rydell and Red Kann. Ferri put out a special edition of the 20th Century-Fox Dynamo for the occasion. The Bergman shindig was very much in the nature of a surprise. There were about 100 present; entirely from the home office. Nate Spingold made the sole speech as he presented Bergman with a gold dress watch, suitably inscribed. Directly behind the guest’s table was a 20-foot banner Hoith this copy: “Columbia Pictures presents to Fox ‘Golden Boygman’ — (Tentative title) — starring Maurice A. Bergman." The guest was also the butt of a gag press book, copiously illustrated with art and fetching copy. The crowd included Abe Montague, Rube Jackter, Louis Astor, Louis Barbano, B. Birnbaum, W . Brennan, Jack Nat, Max Cohn, Eve Ettinger, J. Frieberg, R. Ferguson, H. Golden, I. Gillman, Hal Mode, W. Harrison, L. Jaffe, Hank Kaufman, Joe McConville, Frank McGrann, Irving Moross, Dave O’Malley, Arnold and Leonard Picker, Abe Schneider, Hortense Schorr, Max Seligman, Al Sherman, Harry Takiff, Louis Weinberg, Mort and Irving Wormser and Max Weisfeldt. First reports made at the luncheon meeting of the amusement division of the New York and Brooklyn Federations of Jewish Charities held at the Hotel Astor indicate the industry will exceed the record sum of $150,000 raised in 1939. Maj. Albert Warner, co-chairman with David Bernstein, presided. Marvin Schenck, B. S. Moss, Leopold Friedman and Ben Bernie were appointed a committee to arrange the annual luncheon, which will climax the 1940 effort of the amusement division. Louis Nizer will be in charge of program arrangements. Others who attended and reported on progress in various branches of the industry were Max B. Blackman, Harry Buxbaum, Joe Lee, Max Cohen, Arthur Israel, Jules Levey, Louis Phillips, L. W. Schneider, Walter Reade, Sam Rinzler, Herman Robbins, Harold Rodner, Max Rudnick, Edward Rugoff, Abe Schneider, Joseph H. Seidelman, Saul Trauner, A. P. Waxman, David Weinstock, Max Seligman, Leon Goldberg and Charles Moses. Charles K. Stern, assistant treasurer of Loew’s, left Friday for Hollywood where he will spend about 10 days at the M-G-M studios. From there he will go to Arizona for about two weeks’ vacationing before returning to the home office . . . Ed Hat 28 €> A » W rick has his eye on Miami and the Cromwell penthouse. He plans to leave January 10 . . . Humphrey Bogart is in town from the coast for his personal appearance engagement at the Strand starting December 6 . . . George Buck, brother of the head of Ascap, is company manager for “The Great Dictator’’ at the Astor. Incidentally, Mike Rosen of the Loew home office is doubling in brass, having taken over Lee Kamern’s duties as Astor manager while the latter recuperates from an appendectomy. Leopold Fi'iedman, Rfth Avenue squire and general counsel of Loew’s, is all set to head for a Miami vacation the middle of next month . . . Nicholas Nayfack of M-G-M’s studio legal staff and his wife, Lynne Carver, left Tuesday night for Hollywood after a brief stay here . . . Jack Cohn, Nate Spingold and Rube Jackter are REVIEW FLASHES BANK DICK, THE (Univ)— W. C. Fields' inimitable brand of buffoonery never appeared to better advantage than in this geared-for-speed funfest. For those who relish their humor as broad as a moving van, it will be a laugh riot. There's a typical Fieldian gag every minute and a Keystone Kop chase finish that will have the customers on the edges of their seats. Edward F. Cline directed. DR. KILDARE'S CRISIS (M-G-M)— Its marquee magnetism bolstered by the addition of Robert Young to the cast, this latest in the Kildare series is a notch or two above average and should prove a satisfactory chapter for followers of the young medico's adventures. Young and Lew Ayres turn in excellent acting chores. Harold S. Bucquel directed. JENNIE (20th-Fox) — Coaxing audiences in for this one may be tough, but once inside they're sure to enjoy the simple, heart warming tale of a stem, iron willed German father and of a girl who rebelled against his rule. Performances are more than adequate, the work of one, 'Virginia Gilmore, in the title role, being particularly meritorious. Sol M. Wurtzel produced; David Burton directed. SECOND CHORUS (Para't)— Fred Astaire, who is starred with Paulette Goddard, dances just enough to remind fans that he still has the most nimble pair of male feet in filmdom. The rest of the time he is busy delivering a topnotch comedy performance, as is Burgess Meredith, who shares acting honors. The picture, which gives promise of attaining the hit classification, is a nonsensical revelation of the behind-the-scenes activity of a popular dance band, with Artie Shaw and his musicians supplying authentic atmosphere. Boris Morros produced; H. C. Potter directed. Complete reviews on the above pictures will appear in an early issue. back from the coast and Tucson, Ariz., where they attended the premiere of “Arizona” . . . C. C. Moskowitz can very modestly take title to being the world’s champion weight guesser. He pulled a 100 per cent rating recently when he sized up a Boxoffice news sleuth, stating his experience at Palisades Park has not been in vain . . . Many Reiner is back from Milwaukee and Chicago with plenty of space garnered on the Radio Quiz Kids p. a. in both cities. Ed Mantell, who operates three Bronx houses, plans to definitely get away for Orlando, Fla., the middle of next month. His sister and brother-in-law, the Marc Blocks, have been in the southern city for some weeks awaiting his arrival . . . Bob Perkins has been vacationing the past ten days at his cabin in the Carolinas. The Warner Bros, general counsel took the first train south as soon as official word got around Judge Goddard had signed the consent decree ... Ed Finney, producer for Monogram, spent a few days in town hobnobbing with friends, then returned to Hollywood . . . Ralph Austrian, RCA executive, has returned from the coast . . . J. A. McConville, Columbia foreign head, is back from a trip to South America . . . Bob Schless, Warner Bros, foreign chief, is now touring South America . . . George Skouras was being jibed no end the other day by friends approaching him at Nick’s Hunting Room and congratulating him for the Greek victories in the war . . . John Healy is accompanying Spyros Skouras on his tour of National Theatres divisional headquarters. Charles L. O’Reilly has gone to Lakewood with his wife for a week. After attending the President’s third inaugural in ■Washington about January 20 the O’Reillys will head for Miami Beach . . . Jack Goetz is back from training. It was a short period for him . . . Dan Michalove has been vacationing the past two weeks and now plans to leave for Sydney, Australia, after the first of the year ... Ed Raftery remained on the coast a couple of extra days after the annual UA meeting. He gets back to his office Monday . . . Bill Rodgers, H. M. Richey and E. M. Saunders were in Detroit for the Jack Flynn testimonial . . . Don Reeve of Paramount’s publicity department is recuperating from an appendectomy at St. Luke’s Hospital . . . Bill Scully made a swing around Universal midwest exchanges following the meeting of district and division managers at the Astor. Budd Rogers is due back from the coast the middle of next month . . . Charles A. Buckley, general counsel for FWC, plans to leave for the coast in a few days. He’s been here more than a month, combining vacation with business . . . Grad Sears is out hunting for contracts . . . Milton Weiss of M-G-M’s publicity department is on the coast meeting up with his friends while vacationing . . . Ben Miggins, European manager for 20th-Fox, says he’ll continue to stay in town several more weeks. His superiors have no desire for him to return to France at this time, is the word he passes on .. . Burton Lewis has been named special events director for “Fantasia.” This means he will do special contact work with civic, educational and social groups . . . Norman Elson left Friday on a southern tour in behalf of Film Alliance . . . R. E. Warn, Erpi manager in Singapore, is due in New York . . . Arthur Dreifuss has arrived from Coral (Continued on page 34) BOXOFFICE :: November 30, 1940