The Exhibitor (1951)

NT-2 EXHIBITOR Paramount, to operate the Avalon, which he recently purchased from Nat Charnas. . . . Meyer Fine added the seventh drive-in to the Associated The¬ atres Circuit with the purchase of the Midcity Drive-In, Harrisburg, O., from Irving and Jerome Reinhart, Canton, O. The circuit also operates 20 indoor theatres. Bernie Rubin, Imperial, reports that “Angelo” did exceptional business at Warners’ Palace, Lorain, 0. . . . Ted Mash, Imperial shipper, was vacation¬ ing in Uniontown, Pa. Norman Shepherd has been appointed booker, Schine houses Cleveland and Cincinnati film exchange territories. Shepherd succeeds George Gilliam, resigned. Art Brown resigned from the man¬ agement of the Berea, Berea, 0., to manage the Ohio, Marion, 0., for Se¬ lected Theatres. His successor is Tom Gilliam, former manager, Almira. Dick Hedglen, MGM booker, and family were vacationing in Canada. . . . Leonard Katz, RKO Cincinnati ex¬ change booker, stopped off to visit with RKO bookers on his way back from a rest period in Canada. . . . The Dudelsons were in. E. C. Pearson, MGM publicity repre¬ sentative, with Cleveland headquarters, and Mrs. Pearson celebrated their 13th wedding anniversary by going to a film. Harry Weiss, president, Salesmen’s Club of Cleveland, announced Aug. 25 as the date of the annual club summer outing at the east shore home of Sam Lichter, 20th-Fox salesman. It will fea¬ ture, as usual, a baseball game between the Toledo, O., and the River salesmen. Irving Marcus, NSS, is in charge of ticket sales. Visitors included: Justin Knopf, Oak Harbor, 0.; Peter Wellman, Girard, O.; Walter Steuve, Findlay, O., and Ed¬ ward Raab, Akron, 0. RKO branch manager Jack Bern¬ stein spent one week of his vacation at his Canadian summer home, about 100 miles north of Toronto. . . . Leo Greenberger, Community Circuit, and his wife, Ernestine, are back from a fishing trip. . . . Charlie Gottlob says he plans to reopen the Doan. Formerly leased to Warners, the house reverted to the owners upon the expiration of the lease. Detroit Passing of Donald Woods, WB branch head, of a heart attack, was mourned by the industry. He died at Saratoga Gen¬ eral Hospital. Edward J. Weisfeldt, formerly con¬ nected with Associated Theatres, re¬ ceived a nice story in The Detroit Free Press recently praising him on the won¬ derful job he did handling nightly per¬ formances in Detroit’s Grand Circus Park during the month of July. Called from retirement, Weisfeldt took 2,500 amateurs and “pros,” and molded them into a topflight new show nightly for 24 nights. Rufus Shepherd, manager, Palms, is back from a vacation in Bermuda. On the plane back from the mainland a woman sat in front of him wearing dark glasses. He checked with the pas¬ senger list. She was listed as Miss Sherman. Still puzzled, Shepherd noted her first name, and grinned. He was probably the only passenger aboard who recognized the lady. Her first name was Greta. Shepherd didn’t let on to anyone else that Greta Garbo was aboard the plane. W. S. Butterfield Theatres announced that Hollis Drew, veteran Michigan ex¬ hibitor, has joined the organization as manager, Michigan, Jackson, Mich. Rufus Shepherd, manager, Palms, re¬ quested that all sea and lake ship cap¬ tains get in touch with him. Plans were being made for special opening day ceremonies when “Captain Horatio Hornblower” comes to the Palms. Max Blumenthal, Blumenthal screen¬ ing room, died recently in Grace Hos¬ pital. He established the projection service for all exchanges not operating their own screening rooms over a quar¬ ter of a century ago. He was a member of the Cinema Lodge, B’nai Brith, Masonic Lodge, and Variety Club of Michigan. Surviving him are his wife, Ruth, and two children. His family in¬ tends to continue to operate the business. Charles Snyder, executive secretary, Allied Theatres of Michigan, announced that plans for the ATM annual conven¬ tion in September are now underway. Indianapolis Abe Gelman, Columbia, was in Chi¬ cago. . . . Mrs. Ann Craft, secretary, Allied Theatre Owners of Idiana, Inc., was spending her vacation touring New England and Canada. . . . George Reef is substituting for the manager of the Alliance Circuit in Terre Haute, Inch . . . A1 Borkenstein, Wells, Fort Wayne, Inch, was a business visitor in Chicago. . . . John Micu, Indiana and State, Fort Wayne, Ind., was fishing in Michigan. Ray Thomas, salesman, U-I, was stranded near Russelville, Ky., after his car broke down. . . . Realart will release the Jack Broder productions, according to Joe Bohn, manager. They include “The Basketball Fix,” “The Two Dollar Bettor,” and “Bride of the Gorilla.” Robert Rigsby resigned as bookeroffice manager, Lippert, to finish his course in drafting. He is succeeded by Neil Wylde. . . . Ruth Roch joined the Lippert staff. . . . The Hope, Hope, Ind., closed. . . . 20th-Fox had its annual pic¬ nic, despite the rain, at Northern! Beach. Included were a buffet supper, games, refreshments, and sports. Marjorie Parsley, biller, Warners, and Morris Boch were married at Effingham, Ill. . . . Delores Moore, War¬ ner staff, gave birth to a baby boy at the Methodist Hospital here. On Aug. 20 the Variety Club will hold its annual golf tournament at the Country Club. Claude McKean, man¬ ager, Warners, is chairman of the af¬ fair, and promises, with the assurance of Chief Barker T. 0. McCleaster, a delightful gathering. A certain drive-in west of Indian¬ apolis has been ribbing its patrons by offering to let the entire family in for a week for one 1943 copper cent piece. The catch is that no copper pennies were minted that year. That was the year the Treasury Department put out zinc-coated iron pennies. The only 1943 “copper cent” ever seen coined that year had been copper plated as a gag. Exhibitors seen on Film Row were: Floyd Morrow, Shively, Ky. ; Bert Ray¬ burn, Ben-Hur Drive-In, Crawfordsville, Ind,; E. E. Smith, Devon, Francesville, Ind., and Arthur Clark, Vonderschmitt Circuit, Bloomington, Ind. A committee representing all Indiana exhibitor organizations and distributors will be held on Aug. 21 at which time plans for participation in “Movietime, U. S. A.” will be formulated. Pittsburgh The world premiere of MGM’s “An¬ gels in the Outfield” has been set for Loew’s on Sept. 7. Pittsburgh was de¬ cided on as the premiere site last spring, this being one demand made by Branch Rickey, of the Pirates, which figure prominently in the film, whose location scenes were made here several months ago. The Colonial Drive-In was robbed of nearly $1500 by a bandit who seized the money from the two cashiers in the boxoffice. Francis Mills, a friend of one of the cashiers, waiting for her nearby in a car, was nearly killed when he gave chase to the bandit. The outlaw fired a gun 10 feet away at the car, and Mills swerved so that the bullets hit the side of the car. Karl Krug, The Sun Telegraph movie editor, left for an extended vacation, Leonard Mendlowitz taking over. . . . This column extends sympathy to Jimmy Balmer, Harris Theatres execu¬ tive, who lost his mother, 90. The Nixon, only legitimate theatre, will open the season with “Tales of Hoffmann.” The first stage show is bcoked for Sept. 24. Altoona, Pa., was the scene of a fare¬ well dinner to Carl Reardon, U-I sales¬ man, promoted to New Haven branch manager. The film salesmen of the main line and leading exhibitors got together at a dinner held in the Penn-Alto Hotel. Among state exhibitors who attended August 15, 1951