The Exhibitor (1953)

EXHIBITOR NT-5 Jack Renfro, Theatre Booking Service, Paramount branch manager Andy Ander¬ son, and wives attended a joint OmahaKansas City Optimist Club party at Kansas City. ... All men’s and women’s' lodges of the Greater Omaha Council, B’nai B’rith, participated in a Red Cross Center blood donor day to honor the memory of Mrs. Rosalie Epstein, who died last month. Her husband, Jack, operates the Epstein Theatre Company. Grand Island, Neb., is to have a second drive-in. David Kaufmann, representing Grand Island Drive-In Company, an¬ nounced that 16-14 acres of land had been purchased about two miles east of the city on Highway 30 from George Sass. Commonwealth Theatres, Kansas City, a partner of the Grand Island group, will prepare plans. The company already owns the drive-in west of the city, which opens in April for its fifth season. Portland “Bwana Devil,” Portland’s Paramount, marked the first showing on the new Polorama screen. In attendance were William Thedford, general manager, Evergreen Theatres, Washington and Oregon, and managers, as guests of Russell Brown, general manager, Ever¬ green Theatres, Oregon. Marvin C. Fox, Portland manager, John Hamrick Theatres, announced William Breeze as the new manager, Roxy. He replaces William Budruis, made night manager, Roxy, replacing Louis Deising. At the Liberty, Warren Good¬ win is house manager, with Frank Lynch, assistant, and Oliver Chalifoe, night manager. St. Louis In Stover, Mo., A. E. Krull closed his Osage, and the theatre has been placed on the market. Bill Griffin, booker-buyer, Rodgers Theatres, Cairo, Ill., returned to his duties after being hospitalized. . . . In Gainesville, Mo., a new drive-in is being built. Harry Irvine, at the request of the owners, made a trip to St. Louis to arrange for bookings. . . . The West End was reopened. . . . The Shubert closed for an indefinite period. Ray Parker, Mayor of Brentwood, Mo., had been operating the theatre. The Better Films Council of Greater St. Louis presented the first of its 1953 series of a World Film Festival in the Apollo. Paul Krueger, co-general manager, Fred Wehrenberg Circuit, will give a complete report on drive-in operations in Texas at a meeting of the officers and board of directors of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of St. Louis, Eastern Missouri, and Southern Illinois, in the Variety Club’s new headguarters on March 10. George Pliakos, veteran owner, Criterion and Regal, was in the Jewish Hospital for a checkup. . . . Andy Dietz, general manager, Andy Dietz Enterprises, was back after a sojourn in St. John’s Hospital for a checkup. Ed Ditzenberg joined the booking staff of Warners. He is a son of the late Fred Ditzenberg, veteran East St. Louis, Ill., exhibitor. Bill Ford, owner and manager, Bland, Blandinsville, Ill., has been made man¬ ager, 66 Drive-In, Springfield, Ill., owned by Kerasotes Theatres. National Theatre Supply sold a Walker Hi-3-D screen for use in the Marlow, Herrin, Ill., and the Marlow, Murphysboro, Ill., and 3-D equipment, in¬ cluding Walker Hi-3-D screens, for the Globe, Salem, Ill., and the Palace, Fairfield, Ill. Charleston, Ill., residents may have two drive-ins by the end of the summer. On Route 130, south of the city limits, Tomey Falk, Jack Taylor, and William Zurheide are constructing a 500-car drive-in with equipment purchased through the St. Louis Theatre Supply Company. Falk and Taylor presently operate the Okaw Drive-In, Route 36 near Camargo, Ill., in the general vicnity of Tuscola, Ill. The Bianchi-Frisina Theatre Company, operator of the Lincoln and Will Rogers, there, and the Clark, Mattoon, and Times, Mattoon, Ill., will build a new drive-in on Route 16, one mile east of Charleston. The 600-car drive-in will cost from $80,000 to $100,000. In Harrisburg, Ill., the new auditorium at the Harrisburg Drive-In had its grand opening. Kerasotes Theatres, operated by the Kerasotes brothers, with headquarters in Springfield, Ill., is constructing drive-ins to serve Havana, Ill., and Rantoul, Ill. Each is to have an initial capacity of 400 cars, but provision is being made for later expansion to a 600-car capacity. The drive-ins are to have deluxe RKO sound and projection equipment, etc., furnished by the St. Louis Theatre Supply Company. In Hardin, Ill., the Town Hall, 400seater, operated by Mrs. George Varble, closed for an indefinite period. ... In Elsberry, Mo., State Senator Edward V. Long, Bowling Green, Mo., new owner, Orpheum, 400-seater, closed the theatre for extensive remodeling, repairs, re¬ decorations, etc. The West End Theatre, St. Louis Amusement Company Circuit, was re¬ opened. . . . The Shubert may reopen on Easter Day or shortly there after under new management. Word comes from Mount Vernon, Ind., that the Mount Vernon Drive-In will re¬ open on March 19 operated by the Mount Vernon Drive-In Theatres, Inc., con¬ trolled by Joe Nickolick, Evansville, Ind., and associates. A contract negotiating committee rep¬ resenting the major companies was in to confer with union representatives of the front and back office employees of the exchanges. A meeting between the national committee and representatives of Film Exchange Employees Union Local B-l, representing back office workers, shipping clerks, inspectors, etc., was held. On the previous day, the out-oftown committee met with representatives of Film Exchange Employees Union Local F-l, representing front office workers. The distributors committee included Sol Rosen, MGM; Francis Murray, U-I, and J. E. McMahon, Republic. Local B-l was represented by business agent Betty Wendt, Roy Stockglausner, Warners; Richard Klages, 20th-Fox, president of the union; John Reinard,and Mollie Carry, NSS, the re¬ cording secretary. Representatives of Local F-l included: Bill Thomas, 20thFox, president; Wilbur Jenkins, Para¬ mount, member of the executive board, and Jimmie Gately, business agent. Members of the St. Louis loge, Colosseum of Motion Picture Salesmen, will meet on March 14 in the Melbourne Hotel. ... St. Louis Theatre Supply Company, headed by Arch Hosier, has been named distributor for SupurDisplay, Inc., Milwaukee, manufacturer of the “ButterO-Mat” butter dispenser, the “Buttercup” buttered popcorn container, and other Buttercup sales and utility accessories. Justice Floyd Keough, Macomb, Ill., assessed a fine of $10 and costs $23.20 against Harris Orr, Bushnell, Ill., on a charge of peace disturbance by shooting off a firecracker in the lobby of the Rialto, Bushnell. The complaint against him was signed by D. M. Dillenbeck, manager. Salt Lake City Ernie Massman and Walter Thompson announced that their new Midway DriveIn between Whitefish, Mont., and Columbia Falls, Mont., on Highway 10, will open in April. They operate two theatres in Whitefish and one in Columbia Falls. In Helena, Mont., the Montana legis¬ lature passed a bill reducing state license taxes on theatres, and sent it to the governor for his signature. A law passed in 1947 required Montana theatres to pay a tax of one and one-quarter per cent of gross ticket sales above $12,000 a year. The new law would raise the exemption to $20,000. San Antonio The Tremont Theatre Corporation, headed by Ben Clark, purchased the Tremont, Galveston, Tex. The Tremont has been closed since 1951. . . . The Surf Drive-In was opened at Corpus Christi, Tex. Tom Sumners, Josephine, Woodlawn, and Laurel, and George M. Watson, city manager, Interstate Theatres, were in Austin, Tex., with other exhibitors, beat¬ ing the drums for the proposed revision in the state admission tax law. . . . The San Pedro Drive-In has been reopened. . . . The Teatro Nacional has a weekly cash giveaway each Thursday night in cooperation with a group of merchants. Charlie Albert, San Pedro Drive-In, was motoring out to California for a holiday. . . . Raymond Freidgen, Savoy, March 11, 1953