Canadian Film Weekly (Jul 22, 1942)

1} | July 22nd, 1942 Prices Cut in North Bay, Ont. (Continued from Page 1) “Melrose, an Odeon unit. The Royal was the first theatre to make the change and the others followed. The Royal used to charge 25 cents, plus 5 cents tax, totalling 30 cents for evening admission. Now the fee is 25 cents, tax included—or 21 cents, plus 4 cents tax. The matinee price is 20 cents, tax included. These prices are the lowest of the three houses. The Melrose charges 30 cents in the evening and 25 cents in the afternoon, prices which include the tax. The Capitol has the same charge for adult admission, which was formerly 35 cents, including tax, in both houses. Children’s prices are the same at the three houses for matinees and evening, 12 cents. Each of the three theatres has special prices for students, which vary slightly from one to the other. In North Bay the Capitol has first run on all product but that of United Artists, Columbia and Universal—which checks in first at the Melrose. The Royal has second-runs and some firsts. Though the lowering of prices is by no means general, and there is hno indication that it will become so, some houses in Kingston and Sarnia have been charging less of late. Moore, Dawson Win Exploitation Awards Cash awards have been announced for the exploitation campaigns on “Hellzapoppin’”’ which was competed for by the managers of Odeon Theatres throughout Canada. The first prize of $50.00 was awarded to E. L. Moore for his Samia campaign, and $25.00 was earned by W. B. Dawson for his second-run campaign of the picture at the Paradise, Vancouver. Judges of the entries were A. W. Perry of Empire-Universal, Haskell Masters, and Clare Appel of the Odeon circuit. $700,000 Policy for Abbott-Costello Team Comedians Bud Abbott and Lou Costello have announced they ~have taken out $700,000 insurance policies against breakup of their acting partnership before 1952. The pair announced their premiums would include dissolution of the partnership for any reason except death provided they exercise ordinary precautions to maintain team relations, Their premiums amount to $12,000 over 10 years. SD Canadian FILM WEEKLY (OnThe Square with Hye Bossin Where Is My Baby ? Last week I told you about the travails of theatre managers and the personal things patrons do, such as leaving things behind delfberately and by accident. I forgot to mention that quite a few people lose their false teeth in theatres and any day a theatre may be sued for indigestion. However, strange things do happen to theatre managers. Such as happened to Flo Simmons, who used to manage the Broadview, Toronto, and is now the Girl Friday of Lloyd Mills, 20th Century Theatres supervisor. What happened to Flo Simmons shouldn’t happen to a Pomeranian. It was 1 a.m. and the theatre was locked when Mrs. Simmons was awakened by excited knocking on her door. Down below she found a crowd of people obviously in no mood for fun. In the crowd was a frightened mother, a determined father and susPpicious relatives of every relationship. ‘‘Where, O where,” the mother wanted to know, ‘‘is my bhaby?” Flo, feeling like a kidnapper, cooled them out and it developed that the mother had sent the youngster off to the show with some older children, none of whom seemed to know what had become of. him. When she realized that he should have been home a long time ago, she became frightened and spread the panic. After searching the theatre thoroughly with no results, the hostility increased and Flo was beginning to worry about her safety. Suddenly one of the relatives remembered that the youngster liked to sleep in the back of the family car. That started a rush for the garage. The youngster was there, all right. He had come home and began snoozing in the car, sleeping while it was being put away for the night. They didn’t even apologize. Ain't It the Truth I have a nice letter from Jim (James C.) Shanklin, West Virginia exhibitor, who was in Toronto recently to attend the convention of the Rotary International. Jim was chairman of the session of Recreation and Amusement men, which met in a craft session under the hospitality of George S. Patterson of Toronto and was mainly composed of theatre men from all parts of the USA. Not a single Canadian theatre man was present, though several are members. Shanklin is a director of the MPTOA under Ed Kuykendall and is assistant ‘to the president of the West Virginia Managers’ Association, a very lively outfit indeed, which has 125 members and assesses them at the rate of one cent per seat. Says Jim in his letter: “Sometimes I think film folks and exhibitors are about the hardest folk in all the business world to get together for the common good.” It’s the same all over, it seems. * * * A Nice Story Ed Sullivan, the famed chronicler of “Little Old New York” for the New York News, ran this story the other day and I am taking the liberty of reprinting it: One of the best stories I ever heard was told to me by L. B. Mayer, while we were riding to the Hollywood race track... I’d asked him how he’d come to win such enormous success, and he said: ‘‘My mother was responsible for everything.” ... Warmly and intensely he told of her in the struggling early days at Haverhill, Mass., where the family had located when they arrived from Europe ... “Once I came home from school,’ he remembered, “and my nose was bleeding from a fight, and my mother asked me who had started the fight, and I didn’t answer. So she took me out to the back porch, and she told me to yell out to the surrounding hills: ‘Go to hell.’ The echo came back: ‘Go to hell.’ And then she said, ‘Louis, now call out ‘God bless you.’ And the echo came back, ‘God bless you.’ She told me never to forget that in life, that you get back exactly what you put into it.” Page 3 (British Lead in War Help Shorts (Continued from Page 1) studios -have average 200 war shorts of every character per year and are still at it. Working with the Ministry of Information, studios are making the best of resources for a production program which includes training, educational and propaganda one and two-reelers. The titles indicate the scope of this program: “Air Operations,” “Blood Transfusions,” “Carrier Pigeons,” ‘“Storing Vegetables Indoors” and “This Is a Searchlight.” To make sure of technical, artistic and entertainment appeal, the studios and the government are using their most talented producers of documentary films, such as Paul Rotha and J. Monck. American co-operation is there in the contributions of background film by the newsreel and other companies. Brendon Bracken is in charge of production and, with his assistants, has turned out a number of shorts for the various governmental departments. Warren to Colors Ernie Warren, popular manager of the Midtown, Toronto, 20th Century Theatres’ Bloor street cathedral, has been called to the colors. No pinch-hitter has been named as yet. War Breaks Up "Dead End’ Mob Comradeship of the “Dead End” youths which endured through six years of stage and screen appearances, has now been broken up by Uncle Sam. Billy Halop filed an application to enter an officer’s training camp and has been told to stand by for his notice to report. Three others, Gabriel Dell, Bernard Punsley and Huntz Hall, have registered for the draft and expect marching orders when through with current pictures at Monogram and Universal. Quints Are Panned For New House Canada’s movie stars, the Dionne Quintuplets, have been the subject of considerable criticism of late in an indirect way. The Dionne family got permission from Ottawa to build a new $50,000 home and the critics think this is unseemly in wartime. Because of gas restrictions American and Canadian tourist trade has fallen off and Callendar may yet become a ghost town.