The Exhibitor (1950)

8 EXHIBITOR Met KOMSeOff'S N€W YORK WE WERE visiting Paramount’s A1 Schwalberg the ether day, and he showed us the daily figures registered at the Radio City Music Hall on “Sunset Boulevard” with a ouiet and dignified enthusiasm, and proved that it broke the nen-holiday record at che house. Everybody is very pleased with the film, and its results, and no small part is played by the Max Youngstein-engineered campaign with Gloria Swanson at the fore. Well-done, men. SHORT NOTE: We saw “On Stage Everybody,” a great short dealing with the disabled veterans, the other day, and it is impressive entertain¬ ment. Bob Hope emcees the vaudeville appearances of wheelchair performers, who are big league all the way down the line. We under¬ stand it’s available gratis through the generosity of Herman Robbins and the National Screen Service offices everywhere. PIX PARAGRAPH: At the “Mister 889” sneak preview the other night, we heard one of the regular customers come up to the house manager to say, “For once you really had a good picture.” The laughs were there as were the heart touching moments, and the audience had a swell time. Watch this one be compared to “Miracle Of 34th Street” in quality. . . . It stars Burt Lancaster, Dorothy McGuire, and Edmund Gwenn. . . . “My Blue Hfeaven” will do more to sell television in areas where there is none at present than anything the television industry cculd have turned out. See it, and find out what we mean. . . . Warners has a delightful musical in “Tea For Two” with Doris Day and Gordon MacRae. Fine en¬ tertainment. Things look better all the time. MAIL: “Dear Mel: Synchronize your alarm clock. The hour is approaching. Sometime about sun-up on Wednesday, Aug. 16, you are timorously invited to attend what we musingly call a ‘Hunt Breakfast’ at the old Monty Salmon plan¬ tation, ofttimes known as the Rivoli The¬ atre. “Ya say it’s too early? Tellya, what we’re gonna have, Linda Darnell, in per¬ son. And if that isn’t enough eye-opener; a bit of the hare that bit the fox. “A, menu unrivalled in the history of gastronomy. Monty Salmon is currently scouting the market for kippers, kidneys, yams, scrapple, sausages, eggs, bagels, lox (are you salivating?) — it all staggers the mind. “Etc. “Yoicks, “DAVID GOLDING, “Master of the “20th Century-Fox Hounds. “F.S. Linda will start the sale of tickets for the world premiere of “No Way Out” which starts that morning.” * ^ So we got up in the wee hours of the morning, fought our way aboard jampacked public conveyances just to see Linda in a boxoffice and for a lavish bi'eakfast spread. When we arrived, we found Linda had already completed her boxoffice stint, Monty had some tomato juice, scrambled eggs, sausage, and coffee, and the theatre was loaded with paying customers. Ah well, guess you just can’t have everything. MORE MAIL: “Dear Mel: When busi¬ ness is supposed to be bad, and things are darkest, then is the time to shout. £o we turn to you as one of the great voices cf this industry', to say what we have to say in your more powerful manner, if you agree. “Sam Goldwyn’s picture, ‘Our Very Own,’ is a phenomenon right now at the boxoffice. The bookings for this picture have poured in unlike anything we have seen since the days of ‘The Best Years Of Our Lives.’ It is a simple picture, nothing pretentious. We do not have what are generally known as ‘names’, although we have very attractive personalities and stars in the picture. Primarily it is a picture of the American home. Simple and forth¬ right. “For instance, the first 10 minutes of the picture are entirely devoted to a scene with a television set in the Ameri¬ can home. The television set is now part cf the American home. This picture recog¬ nizes it. The people seem to react accord¬ ingly. In any case, they howl at the sequence because they identify them¬ selves with it, a primary function of good entertainment. “But business is the answer, isn’t it? “Let me review for you just a few of the situations where this picture has al¬ ready started. “It is running at the Victoria, New York, a very successful run. The picture has been running ahead of ‘Home Of The Brave’ and “King’s Men’, both very highly commendable pictures. It has been doing less than ‘The Third Man,’ and I would like you to have, thus, the true facts cf this engagement. “Let us look elsewhere, however. “ ‘Our Very Own’ has held over in Atlantic City at the Hollywood. This is the first time in two years that a picture has been held over for two weeks in this house. (More situations are given all indicat¬ ing holdovers and standout biz wherever played. — Ed.) “All this shows what a Goldwyn pic¬ ture, geared for the American public can do, backed up by the Goldwyn showman¬ ship, a widespread national advertising campaign to popularize the title, a tieup with the Motion Picture Association of America (through Arthur DeBra) to reach the most widespread of civic leaders, and every other device possible for showman¬ ship including personal appearances by Jean. Evans. Goldwyn left nothing un¬ turned to give this picture its real chance. “What do we learn from all this, if any¬ thing? Merely that by returning to show¬ manship, we can let the people know about a picture. Then, if they like it as much as they like this one, they will re¬ spond. The ills of the boxoffice are not an incurable disease. “I hope that you can End within these Rainy Weekend Helps B'way Grosses New York — With the rainy weekend helping out most Broadway first-runs reported generally upped business. Ac¬ cording to usually reliable reports reach¬ ing Exhibitor, the breakdown was as follows: “KISS TOMORROW GOODBYE” (WB). Strand, with stage show, garnered $23,OCO on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, with the third week expected to tally $43,000. “THE FURIES” (Para.). Paramount, with stage show, expected the first week to hit $70,000. “NO WAY OUT” (20th-Fox). Rivoli anticipated a $40,000 opening week. “STELLA.” (20th-Fox). Roxy, with stage show headed by Milton Berle in person, did $65,000 on Friday, Saturday, and Sun¬ day, with the first week expected to top $120,000. “SUNSET BOULEVARD” (Para.). Radio City Music Hall, with stage show, con¬ tinued at a terrific pace with $100,000 taken in from Thursday through Sunday, and the second week bound to do $165,000. “ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN THE FOREIGN LEGION” (U-I). Criterion claimed a $10,000 second week. “THE TORCH” (ELC). Globe expected the first week to tally $16,000. “TREASURE ISLAND” (RKO-Disney) . Mayfair predicted that the first week would go ever $35,000. “OUR VERY OWN” (RKO). Victoria announced $23,009 for the fourth week. “EDGE OF DOOM” (RKO). Astor claimed $21,000 for the third week. “THREE LITTLE WORDS” (MGM). Loew’s State had $37,000 on the second week. “THE PETTY GIRL” (Col.). Capitol, with stage show, was heading toward a $45,000 opening week. very true facts, facts that are available to you at our office at any time you desire (with more, as they are pouring in from everywhere) something that may be of editorial interest. We feel it is a very important factor in our business at this time, and turn to you as the voice that m.ight be heard throughout the industry, to help us at this time. “Best personal regards, “JOCK LAWRENCE.” IT’S A SMALL WORLD: We attended a luncheon the other day in honor of Little League Baseball, presided over by Fmerson Yorke, filmmaker of repute, who directs the film and other public rela¬ tions activities of the Little Baseball League, and plans were announced to cover the League’s World Series in Williams¬ port, Pa. Negotiations are presently under way for Paramount to release a short on the activities of the youngsters. He also revealed that the State Department and the army have acquired prints of a 12minute short showing the 1949 series. Others introduced at the luncheon at Toots Schor’s were Ted Husing, Charles Durban, Paul Kerr, Carl Stotz, etc. Inci¬ dentally, there are some 30,000 youngsters under 12 enrolled in the league with more joining every day, and they play great ball, too, on shortened diamonds, with regulation rules in effect. (Continued on page 24) August 23, 1950