Canadian Moving Picture Digest (Jun 23, 1956)

PAGE TEN PIONEERS (Continued from Page 1) was held recently at the SheratonMt. Royal Hotel in Montreal, and proved to be a tremendous success, A record-breaking attendance was on hand, and a number of important matters were discussed. The following officers were elected for the year: Ernest Ouimet, Honorary President; Romeo Vandette, President; Len Jones, Ist Vice-President; Armand Besse, 2nd Vice-President; Bill Gus, 3rd VicePresident; Arthur Larente, Secretary-Treasurer; Eddie Schreider, Assistant-Treasurer, Frank Makarios, Chairman, Welfare Committee; Oscar Richards, Chairman, Fund Raising Committee; John Levitt, Chairman, Membership Committee; Phil Maurice, Special Events Chairman; Allan Spencer, Chairman, Publicity Committee. Board of Directors elected include Harold Vance, Guy Bachand, U. S. Allaire, Paul Lafontaine, M. J. Isman, Mel Lodge, Bill Mannard, Nick Lazanis, Harold Giles, Lloyd Pearson, Harold Walker and Bill Deveault. Trustees are Arthur Hirsch, B. E. Norrish, J. A. DeSeve, Bill Lester and Bill Singleton. Following the meeting, the Pioneers were hosts to confreres in the Industry at a cocktail party preceding the Banquet, which was also well patronized. The Hon. Herve L’Heureux, U.S. Consul General General in Montreal, was the Guest Speaker. His Worship Mayor Jean Drapeau of Montreal, and Rene Lemyre, General Manager of the Montreal Baseball Club were honored guests. Arthur Larente, Secretary-Treasurer of the Quebec Pioneers, and local manager for Peerless Films, was named “Pioneer of the Year” for his outstanding work on behalf of the Association. Nancy Gates Co-Stars In “Bridey Murphy” Hollywood: Actress Nancy Gatizs has been signed as a co-star ef Paramount’s “The Search For Bridey Murphy.” She will play the choice role of Hazel Bernstein, wife of famed hynotist Morey Bernstein, who authored the bestselling book upon which the film is based. The choice of Miss Gates, who last appeared at Paramount in “The Atomic City,” complet:s the difficult lead casting in “Bridey Murphy” which began production two weeks ago. Teresa Wright had previously been announced as Ruth Simmons, and Louis Hayward was cast as Morey Bernstein. “piercer Competing for the title of Toronto Motion Picture Softball League Queen, are the four beauties seen above. L. to r. Barbara Bain, General Theatre Supply, Deanna Love, Odeon Theatres, Roselyn Dodson, Film Distributors, and Dorothy Forbes, Theatre Confections Ltd. Judges will be top personalities in the fields of entertainment and sports. Judging will be held Monday evening, June 25th, at Highview Park, Scarboro, and a crown will be presented to the winner at that time. BALL GAME (Continued from Page 1) variety show headed by TV star “Red” Buttons, Paul Winchell and Will Mahoney, plus Shirley Harmer and Clint McKay and _ his Melody Ranch group, and a fine ticket-selling job by the committee headed by Harvey Harnick, the financial success of the game is considerably below expectations. Accurate figures are not available at this writing, but it is understood that although actual attendance was just around the 6,000 mark, many more tickets were sold, but not used. The program, which was put out by a committee headed by Chet Friedman, is expected to net over $25,000 for the Heart Fund. May Wynn Returns Hollywood: May Wynn, who started her film career at Columbia as the feminine lead in “The Caine Mutiny,” will return to play the title role in “The White Squaw,” Technicolor Western in which David Brian heads the cast and Bill Bishop has the romantic lead opposite her. Producer Wallace MacDonald is in charge of the production, with Ray Nazarro directing. Fire Destroys B.C. Theatre Vancouver: The Academy Theatre, Maillardville, B.C., operated by Harold Locke, was completely destroyed by fire last week, only a few minutes after a near-capacity audience had left the 449-seat house. Fire was said to be caused by a short circuit in the wiring. "ocke set his loss in projection and other equipment at around $3,000. Mrs. M. Eskestrand, owner of the building, stated it was fully covered by insurance. Estimated loss by the fire was set at $90,000. Maillardville is a small town of ap proximately 1,200 population, in the New Westminster area. Paul Douglas Joins Hope In “Beau James” Hollywood: Versatile Paul Douglas has been cast as Chris “Red” Nolan, urbane and _ important pelitico of the James J. Walker regime, in Paramount’s “Beau James.” Douglas will be co-starred with Bob Hope in the Walker biofilm, which Mel Shavelson and Jack Rose will produce and direct from their own script. JUNE 23, 1956 Big Campaign Set Up For “D-Day” Premiere Toronto: Russ McKibben, manager of the Imperial Theatre here, has lined up a powerful. campaign for his engagement on the 20th Century-Fox production of “DDay, The Sixth of June,” which opens at the Imperial, Thursday, June 21st. For Russ, the job of organizing the campaign for this particular picture, was almost a labor of love, as he himself served with the Canadian Army during World War II, and landed on the beaches of Normandy just twe weeks after D-Day. Russ contacted a number of his old officer-buddies, and secured their co-operation on his campaign. He arranged several screenings to which he invited the press, radio, bookstore personnel, veterans and top-ranking officers including those connected with the Queen’s Own Rifles. As a result of his efforts, he was able to arrange for the Queen’s Own (the only Toronto regiment which took part in the DDay invasion), to parade to the theatre and present their colors on opening night. In addition, Russ arranged a book tie-up with Doubleday Canada Ltd., Canadian publishers of Lionel Shapiro’s book, “The Sixth of June,” with banners for their trucks, counter and window displays for book shops and department stores. A radio contest was set with station CKEY, based on the theme “Where Were You On ‘D-Day, The Sixth of June.’” Winner, each day for ten consecutive days to receive a hard-cover copy of the novel. Russ also arranged with Gerald Pratley, CBC Film Commentator to devote his entire half-hour program to saluting Lionel Shapiro for his outstanding novel, and 20th Century-Fox for the production of the picture. This broadcast will be aired over the CBC Network, the night of the Imperial opening, June 21st. Foto-Nite Houses Advertise Jointly Hamilton: The eight theatres in Hamilton which have combined for a weekly Foto-Nite offer have also joined forces in the use of display advertising in the Hamilton Spectator under the heading of “Best in Entertainment Every Night.” The theatres comprise the Delta, Queen’s, Empire, Windsor, York, Mecuntain, the Roxy in nearby Burlington and the Roxy at Dundas. «> %