The Exhibitor (Aug-Nov 1948)

NT-4 THE EXHIBITOR JOHNSTON (Continued from page NT-2) Hi-Way Drive-In by John Petrucci,. on Hartford Avenue, about a mile beyond the town hall. The theatre will be located on a level area, surrounded by heavy trees. Work was being rushed to have the theatre set for opening Labor Day weekend. Plans for the $65,000 project call for one entrance this season with an additional entrance to be built for next year. This year, a central speaker will be used with Simplex equipment. A t5xi8-foot build¬ ing will house the projection booth and candy stand, which will be opera¬ ted by Petrucci. Petrucci, a newcomer to the theatre business, is a former carnival man. William Cambio is en¬ gineer for the project. Policy plans call for free admission for kids, ponj rides, and other attractions. NEWPORT A new policy of first-runs was opened by Zeitz-Paramount on Aug. 4. John Viera is manager. To coincide with the the policy change, the marquee was painted, and the lobby was done over in pastel blue with gold trimmings. Zeitz has operated the Paramount since 1946 PAWTUCKET William Dobbs, manager, E.M. Loew' s Center, moved to Miami. New manager is Vincent 0’ Brien, who hails from E.M. Loew* s Strand, Boston. ... Center was set to go first-run with showing of "A Date With Judy”. ... Harold Lan¬ caster, Strand, was on vacation as workmen put the finishing touches on the extensive renovations. PROVIDENCE By localizing a tieup with Del Monte Coffee recently, manager Dave Levin and publicist Bill Morton, RKO Albee, landed a big crowd-puller on opening day of RKO’ s "The Velvet Touch”. Using a daily quarter-hour street interview donated by WNAF for a full week as an advance, persons were asked if they had the "velvet touch”, and, with the answer usually in the negative, they were told they would learn the answer and receive a gift in front of the theatre on opening day. Del Monte supplied pound cans of coffee in ad¬ dition to serving iced coffee in the lobby. In addition, Del Monte planted numerous lithos in windows around town. The distributor also carried the promotion daily throughout the run of the picture. These daily street in¬ terviews were handled personally by Morton, and the film and theatre cre¬ dits were numerous. Additional radio time was promoted on other programs, and many other window displays were promoted. In addition, plenty of extra newspaper space was garnered. Ralph Banghart, exploi-teer, RKO, and Phil Engel, exploiteer, UA, were in. Keeping up with the increase in the number of drive-ins, William Cummings, manager, E.M. Loew* s Drive-In, on the Providence-Pawtucket city line, in¬ stalled a children* s playground. In¬ cluded are four "gymnasiums**, a horse¬ shoe court, seesaws, and a sand box. The playground area features a sepa¬ rate popcorn stand. Cummings reports the attraction nothing short of amaz¬ ing. A recent weekend counted as many as 150 kids spending the entire per¬ formance time at the area with a policeman in attendance. With added competition from two new drive-ins and from Rocky Point Amusement Park, Cummings is stressing elevated ramps in his newspaper ads. “Mr. Blandings* Dream House** was in for a bit of comment recently when letters to the editor of The journal Bulletin rapped the local version of the promotional house for not allow¬ ing kids. ... Joseph Samartano, manager, Loew* s State, was busy with plans for a campaign on “A Date With Judy”. Extensive ballyhoo which led off with newspaper teaser ads was to be high¬ lighted by a stage fashion show put on by the Outlet Department Store. The new assistant at the Hope is Henry E. Casey, a local boy, making his bow in the business. ... Robert L. Wheeler, critic. The Providence Sun¬ day Journal, was at the opening night of "Hamlet” in Boston,, Wheeler was filling in for Brad Swan, critic. The Journal Bulletin, and later, Paul Howland, reviewer. The Sunday Journal, while they were on vacation. The industry was receiving a local buildup with the ordering of markers for the George M. Cohan Memorial Boule¬ vard. Bronze plaques which will mark the thoroughfare near the “Yankee Doodle Dandy* s” birthplace were or¬ dered by the city from Gorham silver¬ smiths at a cost of $751 for a pair. Vacations were holding the personal limelight with Dave Levin, manager, RKO Albee, off with Mrs. Levin and their dog, "Albee”, while Mark Huddish, assistant, took over the driver* s seat after returning from Block island with a tan and a yen for more sword fish and little necks. ... Albert Clark, manager. Majestic, was off on his annual sojourn, leaving Al Byrd, as¬ sistant, to hold the fort. ...Al Siner, assistant. Strand, was off in his new car, and Charles Darby, manager, Avon, was making a delayed trip to Quebec ....Sam Badamo, manager, Hope, was back as was Alex Hamilton, manager, Capitol. Latter was replaced for two weeks by John Alders from E.M. Loew* s Ideal, Roxbury, Mass. Vermont STOWE A theatre of 350 seats is nearing completion on the Smugglers Notch Road. It is part of a physical plant which will also contain a bowling alley and a recreation center, all of which will be open for year-round business. The building is located within eight miles of Waterbury, Vt. , and not more than four miles from Morrisville, Vt. The structure -to-be is the property of the Stowe Center Associates, Inc. , a concern which plans to duplicate this project in other sections of the coun¬ try which cater to vacationists. One of the skiing centers, Mt. Mansfield, is in this area. Incidently, Lowell Thomas has interests in this sector. Architects for the theatre are John W. Pierce, Lawrence Anderson, and Herbert L. Beckwith, all of Boston. LEW HERB (Continued from page NT-3) Warner house, under the direction of veteran showman Ed Lynch, and the Paramount, an M and P house, handled by James Darby, who had just left on vacation, leaving assistant Joe Mulvey 'in charge. Our next visits took us out to a few of the neighborhoods, and we started in at the Dreamland, operated by Levy and Ginsberg, who also operate the Amalgamated Booking Service and the Connecticut Candy Company. We found Harold Bell in charge of the house, and were agreeably surprised to find him to be the same fellow who used to operate the New Hartford, Utica, N. Y. , when we saw him last. He is another active showman, well-versed in the art of exploitation, and was for many years connected with the Comerford Circuit, Pennsylvania. He came to New Haven last March, after severing connections with a partner in the operation of the Utica house, and has done a good job in transforming the Dreamland from a dingy theatre into a bright and shiny neighborhood showplace. His only complaint is that he has so far been unable to locate suit¬ able quarters tor his family, which he had to leave behind, but he hopes to rectify that soon. A visit to another section of the city found us at the State, under the direction of Fred Dania. He is also connected with National Theatre Sup¬ ply, in the repair and installation department, and took over this house last year. Although it is rather small, it is neat and cozy, and a bright spot in the neighborhood. He is aided in the operation of the house by his dad, who runs the projectors. While visiting the downtown thea¬ tres, we had the pleasure of meeting some of the projectionists, all mem¬ bers of Local 273. A. N. Frazier, presi¬ dent, and M.W. Kennedy, b. a. , were on their way to the national conclave in Cleveland at the time of our visit, but we did get to meet Ernest De Gross, secretary, and Nicholas Bernardo, both projectionists in the Loew* s College booth, who, between them, have 60 years of experience, as well as Fred Warner and Marshall E. Jones, the lat¬ ter a youngster of 76. Both are for¬ mer stagehands, as are many of the members of the local. In the Loew Poll booth, we encoun¬ tered Edwin W. Boppert and John Mongillo, who have been operating in this same booth for the past 20 years, Mongillo is an amateur radio enthusiast, and one of the most prominent "hams” in the field. In the Bijou booth, we found Bart Tammaro and Isidore Stein, both veter¬ ans while at the Roger Sherman, we met Anthony Cassella, who has 40 years to his credit, and Frank Romano, a relief man from Derby, Conn, who was substituting for A. N. Frazier -Lew Herb September i, 1948