Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1962)

T ih • ADLINES & EXPLOITIPS • ALPHABETICAL INDEX • EXHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY • FEATURE RELEASECHART • FEATUREREVIEWDIGEST • SHORTS RELEASE CHART • SHORT SUBJECT REVIEWS • REVIEWS OF FEATURES • SHOWMANDISING IDEAS THE GUIDE I You Don't Get Rich at Weekend Theatre, But It Can Be Fun Weekday Business Pair Runs Small Theatre as Sideline, Mostly to Entertain the Kids! Kids ARE the business of Floyd and Annabelle Ironside, who operate the Ironside Theatre in Chelsea, a town of 1,500 population in northeast Oklahoma! The theatre, by the pleasure of the Ironsides, is the only entertainment place for the 700-odd youngsters in the area. The Ironsides own and operate two businesses during the day — the Ironside Goodyear tire and auto supply store and Annabelle’s Accounting Service — in Pryor some 25 miles from Chelsea. Floyd and Annabelle Ironside, operators of a tire store and accounting service weekdays, run the Ironside Theatre at Chelsea, Okla., on weekends, and have a good time even if they don't make a lot of money. They are seen in left photo with the David Meeks band which played at the Ironsides' Halloween porty in front of the theatre. At right, part of the crowd of happy youngsters who were the Ironsides' guests. A LABOR OF LOVE True, there is not a lot of easy money in the theatre operation. But this is a fact of life in many small towns today — the theatre alone does not make a living; it becomes a parttime operation with the owner getting a daytime job, or it is operated as a sideline by a businessman. In either case, theatre entertainment in some small towns is a labor of love with the operator continuing mostly because he or she enjoys it for personal and/or civic reasons. The Ironsides have owned the theatre in Chelsea a year and a half. The kids do all the work except to open the doors and sell the tickets. Shows are presented on weekends only. After a busy week in Pryor, they look forward to getting out of the routine on weekends and busy themselves at the theatre. The theatre is their recreation, and as all well adjusted adults they are interested in children and young people. KroS THEIR RECREATION The Ironsides admit “it is nice” to get clear away from their businesses and live a life with the youngsters for a few days. They enjoy talking with the kids, and give them good counsel and the warmth of their confidence. They are convinced that young people are what their parents make them. “We fIRh have found that kids don’t want to do wrong but they must be led to keep on the right path,” they believe. The Ironside Theatre operation apparently hits at a problem common to small towns — the problem of keeping the youns sters interested and growing up as adult members of the community — for businessmen and parents have taken on new vigor and interest in making Chelsea a good place to live. Recent improvements include a new post office and telephone building, and new gas lines. There is a new lake nearby, and there is activity to get industry to locate there. And the Ironside Theatre is helping in the regeneration, helping keep the kids interested, helping keep them at home in Chelsea. MOVIE AFTER DANCING This became apparent at Halloween, when Floyd and Annabelle Ironside gave a free Halloween party on the main street in front of their theatre. There was dancing — hundreds of youngsters did the twist — and between sessions they consumed 1,500 hot dogs and 30 gallons of hot chocolate. The Family Music Center of Pryor furnished an electric organ, and the David Meeks combo band played the twist music. After the dancing the Ironside Theatre doors were opened for a free showing of “The Premature Burial.” The older boys did most of the work serving the refreshments and handling other details. There was no damage HaUoween night in Chelsea. The Ironsides report these elder “kids” also are on hand every weekend to help with the smaller youngsters, and they always do a good job. Do the kids appreciate the theatre? The Ironsides report that even when a window gets broken during the week, the youngsters responsible will find the boy who keeps the theatre key and get the glass replaced before the Ironsides return for the weekend show. 'Manchurian Candidate' Ads Mean All They Say The ads on “The Manchurian Candidate” mean exactly what they say, points out Weekly Digest, the Interstate Theatres of Texas publication for managers. “If you come in five minutes after this picture begins, you won’t know what it’s all about,” it is pointed out. “Also when you’ve seen it all, you’ll swear there’s never been anything like it. In all the tens of thousands of films that have been made during the past 50 years, there has never been one even remotely resembling ‘The Manchurian Candidate.’ That it is on the screen at all is largely due to George Axelrod and John Frankenheimer, who took a book ‘that couldn’t be filmed,’ and produced a screen play which retains all of the drama, the suspense and the shock of the parent novel.” Message From Douglas A recorded message by Kirk Douglas to his fellow “Amsterdamians” featured recent showings of “Lonely Are the Brave” at the Mohawk Theatre in Amsterdam, N. Y.’ sponsored by the local Hadassah. Douglas, born Issur Demsky, son of an Amsterdam scrap dealer, stars in the film. The recorded message was obtained through a sister of Douglas who lives in Albany, Mrs. Louis Simon. BOXOFFICE Showmcmdiser Dec. 3, 1962 — 193 1