The Exhibitor (1951)

EXHIBITOR NT-1 FTKWS OF THE Chicago Jules Bacon was named to the Clark staff. . . . Mailers brothers opened the 300-car Sky-Vue, Portland, Ind. . . . The State-Lake was conferring with a large usher service with the view of prevent¬ ing a repetition of disorder at its future fight telecasts. . . . The Avon, Cicero, and Lindy were reopened. J. R. Ruth reopened his Downing, Downing, Mo. . . . Maurice Abrams was chosen president, Cinema Lodge, B’nai B’rith. . . . John Allison acquired the Hoosier, Shelbum, Ind. The Chicago loge which resigned from Colosseum of Film Salesmen was re¬ organized under the name of Motion Picture Salesman’s Guild of Chicago. It has petitioned the NLRB for recogni¬ tion as a bargaining agency. Harold Zeltner was chosen president; E. L. Gold¬ berg, secretary, and Si Laux, treasurer. Several theatres, including the Chicago and Oriental, are playing host to hos¬ pitalized Korean vets able to come from Great Lakes, Ill. . . . George Drips and Leonard Perkins were holding a contest for naming their new outdoor, Morris, Minn. . . . James Coston, theatre owner, and associates purchased cottages from a resort adjacent to their summer homes at Eagle River, Wis. . . . Jack Kirsch boarded up the Lexington, damaged by fire. . . . E. B. F. acquired the Wil¬ mette, Wilmette, Ill., for film production. An appellate court granted Edwin Silverman and Essaness Theatres a rehearing in the Woods suit. Fred Cory, Surf manager, uses a mail¬ ing list of 9,000 names. . . . James R. Ricker, who has been with the Anderson Theatre Corporation, for three years, was placed in charge of the Luna, Seneca, Ill. Robert Lustgarten, son of Harry Lustgarten, B and K booking head, and Eleanor Munger were wed. . . . Illinois theatres which have ordered television equipment are: Grand, Alton; Para¬ mount, Aurora; Harding, Chicago; Olym¬ pic, Cicero; Majestic, East St. Louis; Crocker, Elgin; Paramount, Kankakee, and Genesee, Waukegan. John R. and Gladys Boice purchased the Centennial building, Warsaw, Ind., from Widaman McDonald Corporation. . . . Alfred Blumfet, Capitol Films booker, is recovering from illness. Tom Duckworth was made Varsity manager. . . . Robbers ransacking the Majestic office, Albion, Ill., only got $22 for their efforts. . . . The Vogue, Pales¬ tine, Ill., was reopened by J. Stewart Fox and B. Temborius, owners, following extensive repairs. . . . W. C. Thompson, Jr., bought the Algeria, Risco, Mo., from Mrs. Hazel Hildebrand. The Film Sales Company was formed by Peter Chamales and George Struckman. . . . Paul Love leased the Cozy, Dugger, Ind., from William Wallace. Rita Levy, secretary to John Dromey, Great States booker, had a vacation. . . . Select Cinema, Inc., headed by Max Worth, former Hyde Park operator, re¬ opened the Essex, closed for several months. . . . Warner Theatres reopened its Orpheum, Hammond, Ind. Ira B. Dyer, owner, Clinton, Albany, Ind., who built and operated a 600-car outdoor at Ocala, Fla., is planning a 300-car drive-in for Albany. . . . Harley Estes, Paramount shipping clerk, passed on. . . . A. L. and C. B. Alexander, and B. F. Mitchell organized Ticket, Inc., for ticket manufacture. Hazel Goldfinger, wife of Sylvan Goldfinger, Telenews Theatres general man¬ ager, was recovering from surgery. . . . Dan Carmell, union attorney, is back after a hospital visit. Federal Judge Barnes postponed to Nov. 5 a hearing on indictments against outdoor owners. . . .Van Nomikos ordered a TV installation for his Olym¬ pic. . . . Louis Barker, former Kentucky manager, Lexington, Ky., was made Trail manager, Moorehead, Ky. Movie attendance was advised by the Rev. Preston Bradley, famous pastor, Peoples Church, in a regular Sunday morning sermon radio broadcast. Dallas Word was received of the death of Clarence Hoblitzelle, 82, brother of Karl Hoblitzelle, head, Interstate Theatres, and a Dallas philanthropist. He had been ill since June. Denver “Movietime, U.S.A.” got under way in Denver with a $5 steak dinner for only $3.50, with 500 attending, among them Governor Dan Thornton, nine from Hol¬ lywood, and 63 of the top movie-going families of the state, one from each county, picked as the result of a letter¬ writing contest. The families were all given transportation to Denver, were guests at the dinner, attended theatres, and were given passes good for the rest of 1951 to the theatre closest to their homes. At the dinner, from Hollywood, were Anne Baxter, Doris Day, Spring Byington, George O’Brien, Raymond Walburn, Richard Widmark, Bryan Foy, Nathaniel Curtis, and Dorothy Hughes. They arrived from Cheyenne, Wyo., where they attended a dinner the day previous. On the day after the Denver dinner, the Hollywood contingent was split up, and the several groups are visiting cities and towns in the region. Theatremen from throughout the state attended the dinner, bringing with them newspaper and radio people from their home towns. Pat McGee, general chair¬ man, Denver area, urged theatre men throughout the region to keep up the work all during the “Movietime, U.S.A.” campaign, and afterward. The trial of the case of Cinema Amusements, Inc., operating the Broad¬ way, against RKO, Loew’s, Inc., and 20th-Fox, has been postponed to Jan. 7 because of the illness of John Wolberg, one of the Cinema partners. Cinema asks $1,000,000 because of losses said to have been sustained when they were unable to buy films at a proper price and for a proper run. Howard R. DeWeese, 45, Monogram salesman, died of a heart attack aboard a train on his way to a Chicago sales convention. Coming here from Kansas City, DeWeese has been a film salesman in the Rocky Mountain region since 1934. Funeral was in Denver, with burial in Kansas City. He is survived by his wife, Mildred; a brother, and his parents. Robert Tankersley, National Theatre Supply salesman, has been told he need not report to the marines for active duty. The latest order is that if enlistments are up prior to July 1, 1952, the reservist is not to report. Tankersley had been told to report on Oct. 22. Faye Patterson, contract clerk, U-I, Salt Lake City, has taken a similar job at the branch here. . . . Helen Eppich, branch manager’s secretary, U-I, and Ralph Eining were married. A skunk slipped into the ventilating equipment at the Lakewood, Lakewood, Colo., and disrupted the show faster than a wink. The theatre emptied pronto, and a sheriff was called and shot the animal, but the theatre was closed for a day, with the ventilating equipment running full blast. Dignitaries from Durango, Colo., were flown to Denver to see a special screen¬ ing of “Across the Wide Missouri,” which was made at Durango. William Prass, Metro publicity man, went to Durango to arrange for a regional premiere. Des Moines James H. Foley, Paramount salesman, passed away suddenly. He is survived by his widow, Mildred, and two daughters, Betty Jane and Sara Kay. He was appointed to his salesman’s post in 1949. Charles F. O’Rourke and Theresa M. O’Rourke of Dubuque, la., filed suit in district court at Waterloo, la., against the Saveride Theatre Brokers, Harry Saveride and R. M. Copeland, for $12,500 for alleged false representation in the sale of the Varsity, Dubuque. The O’Rourke’s claimed the brokers repre¬ sented the theatre had gross receipts in 1948 of $22,500, and that the screen advertising netted $70 a month, and that the brokers would guarantee advertising of $120 a month, and save the plaintiffs $1,000 a year on film bookings. The petition held that these representations were false. They allege that they pur¬ chased the theatre for $15,000 cash, and gave a $2,500 mortage, and allege that this was $7,500 more than the theatre was worth. Francis C. Gillon resigned as manager, Paramount, Cedar Rapids, la., to join KWCR at Cedar Rapids. Harry R. Moore, former manager, will return to the post. Moore had held an interest in the Town, Cedar Rapids, but has dis¬ posed of his holdings in the house. . . . Paul Scholer, manager, Ritz, Chariton, October 10, 1951 MIDWEST-WESTERN