Canadian Film Weekly (Feb 23, 1944)

Page 8 osin , Releasing lunited PAR My é H. J. ALLEN, President For the Exhibitor WHOSE PATRONS APPRECIATE Westerns BUSTER CRABBE WESTERNS with Al (Fuzzy) St. John * TEXAS RANGERS Starring Jim Newill (Ile sings as he rides) and Tex O'Brien P.S.—Ask your patrons—they may want action and thrills, if only for a change YOU CAN RELY ON PRC Producers Releasing Corporation LIMITED Executive Offices: 277 Victoria &t., Toronto, 2, Ont. Canadian FILM WEEKLY SAKE $Sin That part of the story about to be passed on to you, reported here once before, bears repeating to prepare you for what is to follow. You may remember that Lloyd Christmas of Famous Players’ Hamilton crew, on loan to the RAF, was sent back to join an RCAF bomber outfit for a raid on Germany. He got talking to his navigator and found that he was Jack Armstrong, formerly of the FP’s Royal, Guelph. The boys became fast friends. This next chapter is borrowed from Jim Nairn’s well-dressed and sprightly FP mag, ‘“What’s New?” Jim keeps tab on the boys from that circuit. The Christmas-Armstrong bomber was shot down and several were killed but the boys landed safely, were captured and sent to the same prison camp. To imitate Nairn’s excellent story structure, let’s fade into Pilot Officer Joe Loree, also of the Royal, Guelph, who is flying on the Italian front. He is forced down, captured and in prison meets another Guelph boy, Jimmy Gould. Joe and Jimmy plot an escape for several months, the other prisoners saving cigarettes and chocolates to supply them. After Italy drops out of the war, the prisoners are being transferred and Joe and Jimmy jump from a speeding train. Jimmy is recaptured soon but Joe, aided by sympathetic Italians, covers 150 miles. Joe hides in a barn but a pro-Nazi neighbor tips off the German military police. They grab Joe and ship him to a prison camp. . As Joe Loree and others march into camp he hears his name called. Jack Armstrong had spotted him and now the three Famous Players’ lads are together. A helluva place for Old Home Week! = Th + Short Throws Ran into John Heggie, former Famous booker, a corporal in the RCAF, and he looks like could free Norway all by himself on some-week-end. John, who divides his time between physical instruction and booking, has shelved 80 pounds and ten years... Ashley & Orippen, Bloor street’s snazzy photogs, have a windowful of shots of Captain Jack Young as FDR. Jack is back in Hollywood now ... Twelve men of the Windsor local of the IATSE are in the army and six of them came out of Bob Brown’s Vanity Theatre. Three—Ernie Hales, Basil Markle and Joe Thomas — were operators and the rest—Jim Garnier, Bill Garrett and Monty Jonson — were permit men. They’re just a portion of the exVanity staffmen now in the services. “We’re getting to be a recruiting centre,” says Bob... Petty Officer Stan Screech of the RCN, ex-projectionist of Vancouver, has been in it since war began and has several citations. Now his eighteen-year-old son has joined the USA navy. s > o He Took Over There were two Errol Flynns at the Imperial recently and one is still there. The one that stayed behind is a friendly black-grey cat with a white-tipped tail. Errol 2nd wandered in during the run of Errol 1st and was given the latter’s tag. No sign of resentment yet, though the cat sat on the stage for fifteen minutes watching Flynn do his one-man army routine in “Northern Pursuit,” then left. Couldn’t stand the corn any longer, I guess. The cat was mighty thin when It decided to make the theatre its career. It’s now on the payroll and if it is ever taken off the staff would strike. Such sudden guests are considered good luck in show business and are given the name of the current star if they decide to stay. Flynn 2nd can be found strolling down the aisle with the authority of a supervisor and the self-satisfaction of someone who has made good. The sight of the cat makes the customer's feel good, the homey touch being more reassuring than reams of explanations about extermination services. Gives a friendly atmosphere to an auditorium. Let’s hope that Flynn 2nd doesn’t send for his friends still in the alley. February 23, 1944 Non-Tax Houses Still Active (Continued from Page 1) kept going by local merchants who wish to keep the local folk from travelling to the shopping spots in other towns nearby. Their benefits come from money pushed across the counter for goods. Theatres in this class are also excluded from the restriction of the paper order. To give the trade some idea of how they are administered, the following story is from the Port Moody (B.C.) Advance: “A dropping off of patronage of the Board of Trade community theatre will spur on efforts for an increased membership, it was indicated by Manager J. J. Lye, following a summarizing of the year’s business. “Noise of youngsters which tended to disturb the serenity and enjoyment of elder patrons has been a problem. The Board of Trade earnestly solicits the co-operation of youngsters in keeping noise down to a minimum, but as a safeguard three members of the Board are attending shows to quell any disturbance. “The theatre is a non-profit undertaking and full public support is necessary to keep it in operation. Members like Don Allan, Bruce Grant, C. Ikona and T. Day give up their evenings to make the theatre a success. These four have faithfully been on hand to operate the projection machine at all times. “If full public support is forthcoming, states Manager Lye, enough money could be provided for improved seating, and the venture could easily become an outstanding community development.” Exhibitors organizations call such’ operation unfair competition and have asked Ottawa to apply the tax. Sparrow Manages Robert Sparrow has been appointed by Odeon Theatres to manage the Rio, Ladysmith, B.C. He served three years in the army, two and a half of them overseas, Altman Tops Warner George Altman, Toronto Vitagraph branch salesman, led all 112 USA and Canadian salesmen in the fifth week of the Warner’s 1944 Roundup. He's now a “Champ Range Rider.” Goldhamer Promoted Saul Goldhamer, formerly of Dominion Sound in Toronto, has been raised from the rank of a RCAF Pilot Officer to Squadron Leader, He's been overseas for a couple of years,