Boxoffice (Oct-Dec 1962)

50-Year Showfolk Keep Theatre Young With Kids. No Less! The Rudalt Theatre in Columbus, Wis., has been in the same family for 50 years, but it’s not old nor worn out! Far from it! The 400-seater retains its youth, and still is struggling with vigor, and success! This is evident in the accompanying photo. Mrs. H. J. Altschwager, who describes herself as chief flunkey at the Rudalt, is seen with “a gang of kids” who attended a recent Sunday matinee of “Geronimo.” The local newspaper photographer took the picture. Proof that the Altschwager showmen keep their fingers on the pulse of youth is the fact that Indian headdresses were given away to the youngsters, who loved it! “The gray-haired Indian in the center is me,” Mrs. Altschwager says. Want-Ad Deal Boosts Operetta Film Series The Knickerbocker News at Albany ran a want-ad promotion for an operetta film series at the Madison Theatre in the New York capital city, every Tuesday for six weeks. The names of ten persons were published in the classified section for 15 days by the News, each person being entitled to a ticket for two good for the entire series. In promoting the tieup, the News pointed out that each ticket was worth $12, since the single admission price was $1. Oscar Perrin sr. is manager of the Madison. Interviews With Renoir Plug 'Grand Illusion' The Vagabond Theatre in Los Angeles was playing “Grand Illusion,” a film by Jean Renoir first released in Paris in 1936, when Renoir and his wife happened to be in town. Excellent interviews with the French filmmaker, son of the great painter, appeared in the Los Angeles HeraldExaminer and Citizen-News, giving a potent push for the film. Renoir revealed he had just bought back the rights to “Grand Illusion,” making him for the first time in his life sole owner of his production. An American woman Army captain found the negatives in Germany after the war and got in touch with Renoir. He spoke about the current mode in films thus: “Today they are preoccupied with sex on the screen. I think it due to progress. We have many time-saving machines and gadgets. People work only 30 hours a week . . . So they have too much time on their hands. Mo;.' of them turn to sports or sex. Only a few in to culture. “Then ther. is wholesale worship of the golden calf. People will make and show any kind of film to make money. “There is also what I call the religion of the crowd . . . wholesale following of the current trend. “Art is the ideas of one individual AGAINST the crowd . . . One rebel against the trend. Today we have a trend to consider most films that are realistic or speak frankly about sex and such subjects as art. That is a trend especially with intellectuals . . . It is not necessarily so. The really artistic film today can very well be the rebel against the too frank trend . . . The film of restraint could be the artistic one.” Stickers have been prominent in recent campaigns in the Pittsburgh area. Small stickers using the title with an illustration of a broken face of a baby doll were employed for “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” Special Queen of Diamond cards with stickers giving theatre and playdates were passed around for “The Manchurian Candidate.” Ice Bowl at Drive-In During Off-Season Thomas E. Hill and William R. Macklin, officers in the Liberty Theatre Corp. at Covington, Ky., are experimenting and hope to solve the problem of what to do with drive-in theatre property that doesn’t bring in any return during the off-season. They are pioneering in a venture, the first of its kind in the Cincinnati area, an out-ofdoor skating rink to be called the Dixie Gardens Ice Bowl. Located on the Dixie highway outside of Covington, the Dixie Gardens Drive-In arena, which accommodates 700 cars, will become the parking area for patrons using the ice rink which is scheduled to be completed by mid-December. The skating area, 85x100 feet, is so situated that the usable area can be doubled if needed. When completed there will be nearly five miles of one-inch pipe in the first 100foot section, which will provide ice about three inches thick for the skating surface. There is to be a skater’s shelter, 112x30 feet, of brick construction, containing locker rooms, a snack bar and a lounge with two fireplaces and windows overlooking the rink. A roof may be added later, it was said. The Liberty Corp. operates the 1,000-seat Liberty and the 1,300-seat Madison in Covington, and two drive-ins besides the Dixie Gardens, 400-car Midway at Cynthianna and a 650-car airer at Florence, Ky. Baby Photograph Gets In Want Ad Section A baby’s picture always seems to attract much attention, and this was what Manager Dan Jones was counting on when he used the following gimmick to sell “The Music Man” at the Strand Theatre, Ogdensburg, N.Y. In the want ad section of his local paper, Dan was able to get a picture of a local baby with the caption, “Shall We Go to the Strand Theatre and See If ‘The Music Man’ Is Blowing His Horn About the Want Ads?” Of course, this received a lot of comment, as most of the people in Ogdensbm'g were looking to see whose baby was in the paper each day! Hoy PR£muh EL 0 OE A UNTAnA KUECA I El Teatro National has increased operation to seven days a week from Saturday-Sunday only. The pickup in Spanish-language patronage is attributable in part to the vigorous management of P. J. Fernandez, who goes in for graphic fronts and other attention-grabbing promotions. Here he has plenty of display sheets plus the replicas of two monsters, which he designed himself for the Mexican-made "El Monstruo de la Montana Hueca" (The Beast of Hollow Mountoin). ;eo 'er mti 2 194 — BOXOFFICE Showmandiser Dec. 3, 1962