The Exhibitor (Aug-Nov 1948)

THE EXHIBITOR NT 1 ■ New York City I CROSSTOWH Joseph L, Citron, 49, manager, Loew’ s f Olympia, died last fortnight of a I heart attack. He had been connected y with Loew’ s theatres for 10 years. I Funeral services were held at RiverI side Memorial Chapel, with interment i in Beth David Cemetery, Elmont, L.I. 'j He is survived by his widow and two < daughters. i > Cinema 16, Inc., only group in the country devoted to the presentation of documentary and experimental films, * which started in 1947 on a modest scale, last week completed plans for its forthcoming second winter season, with performances to be held at the spacious and modern Hunter Playhouse. Brandt' s Platbush, after another summer season presenting Broadway plays, last week reverted to its * double feature movie policy, with vaudeville added on Fridays, Satur . days, and Sundays. ... Brandt Theatres ^ last week announced the addition of " an advertising and publicity departI ment to coordinate all such functions of the circuit. The new department, ! K which will be located in the Lyric building, is to be under the super¬ vision of Arthur Rosoff and Henry ' Yusen. • < \ # Mike Todd takes over the Winter Garden for legit on Sept. 30 when the ^ U-I lease ends. Negotiations between the SPG and 1 ' SOPEG took a new turn last fortnight r i when eight distributors, Columbia, Loew’ s. Paramount, Republic, RKO, RKO I Service Corporation, 20th-Pox, and * Warners, notified the two units that i 'i their failure to sign the non-Communist 1 affidavit provisions of the Taft\ Hartley law made further negotiations 2 impossible. UA had taken the same f stand before that time. U-I and Eagle ► Lion are not parties to the action. ^ John P. Byrne, MGM eastern sales < manager, moved his headquarters last { week from the local exchange to the i home office building. » Several managerial promotions were i announced last week by Joseph R. I Vogel, Loew’ s Theatres. Martin GalI lagher, Jr., assistant, Capitol, was I,' named acting manager, Loew’ s Willard, it Queens; Sigmund Schwartz, manager, fc 46th Street, Brooklyn, moves to Loew’ s I 175th Street, succeeding Archie Adl■ man, resigned, and Paul Swater, mana• ger, Willard, moves into the 46th 2 Street post. # Mrs. Robert Nashick, wife of a memS ber of Loew’ s Theatres publicity de« partment, was recbvering last week in M Meadowbrook Hospital, Meadowbrook, L. I., from injuries sustained in an auto crash. . .Victor Volmar, publicity director. Monogram International Cor¬ poration, left last week for a com¬ bination business and vacation trip to Hollywood. ... A new portrait of Ingrid Bergman, in the actual armor she wears in RKO’ s "Joan Of Arc’’ went on exhibition in the Metropolitan Museum of Art last week. Frederick Brisson, executive pro¬ ducer of Independent Artists’ "The Velvet Touch’’, arrived last week for conferences with RKO home office executives. ... Lois Butler, ’teen age star of Eagle Lion’ s "Mickey”, left for the west last week.... The Warder Club held its annual golf tournament on Sept. 17 at Vernon Hills Country Club, Tuckahoe. David Griesdorf, general manager. International Films, Ltd. , Canadian distributors of Eagle Lion Films, ar¬ rived last week for home office con¬ ferences with William J. Heineman, EL vice-president in charge of dis¬ tribution, and Max E, Youngstein, vice-president in charge of advertis¬ ing, publicity, and exploitation. Doris Mishler, secretary to G.E. Blackford, Warners home office pub¬ licity department, and Jerome Black announced their engagement last week ....Realart prexy Joseph Harris ar¬ rived last week from a month’ s Euro¬ pean business trip.... The Elysee launched the new season with the Ameri¬ can premiere of Sacha Guitry’ s "Pri¬ vate Life Of An Actor.” Harold Eskin and Herb Fenton have been making almost daily trips re¬ cently to the two new houses recently added to the Eskin Circuit, the Mid¬ dlesex and the Capitol, Middletown, Conn. The third in a series of regional meetings preceding the George Dembow Tribute Drive, which honors George F. Dembow, National Screen Service vice-president in charge of sales, was held last week. The meeting was pre¬ sided over by eastern drive captain William Bein. In addition to Bein, the meeting was attended by Leo Abrams, district manager; from New York, Har¬ old Bennet, branch manager; Joe Katzoff. Jack Levy, and Henry Reiner, salesmen; from Boston, Harry Kirchgessner, branch manager; Maynard T. E. Hunting, city manager for Walter Reade Theatres in Red Bank, N. J, re¬ cently used one-time vaudeville star Bobby Barry for a novel bally in con¬ nection with the run of 20th-Foi* s "Give My Regards To Broadway , Carlton. Sickels, and Fred Stoloff, salesman, and from Buffalo, Jack Goldstein, branch manager; Sam Geffen, salesman, and Adolph Edman, representing Albany and New Haven. Police last fortnight booked Robert Paul DeFuller for assault and robbery, violation of the Sullivan Law, and possession of burglary tools after the prisoner was charged with* enter¬ ing the Superior, and breaking open vending machines. DeFuller was re¬ ported to have confessed a recent $400 holdup at the 68th Street Play¬ house. Paul Graetz, producer of "Le Diable Au Corps”, returned last week from Prance, where he just completed a new film, "Vincent Van Gogh.” New York State ALBANY The Daily Film Renter, London, England, had this to say recently about C.J. Latta, who used to be WB Theatres zone chief here: "Made my first acquaintance with C.J. Latta, new managing director of Associated British, in company with Jack Goodlatte, over a most pleasant lunch just before the weekend. Very much impressed with his personality, who spent his working life in the theatre field in America and a great number of years with the Warner theatres. Found him charming and a very keen theatre executive. Was telling me The Rivoli, New York, recently had 10 of its prettiest aides wear gloves in¬ spired by the design of those that Rosalind Russell wears in the RKO pic¬ ture "The Velvet Touch", in connection with the run of that picture there. September 22, 1948 New York