The Exhibitor (1953)

EXHIBITOR NT-1 jrews or rwa BRANCHES Cincinnati Michael Gould, Paramount salesman, was transferred from the local to the Cleveland branch. Local theatre owners realize the city must have sufficient operating revenues, and favor an income or payroll tax, it was indicated at a hearing by City Council finance committee on an ordinance to exempt movie admissions up to 50 cents from the city’s present three per cent admissions tax. Councilman Edward N. Waldvogel, who introduced the ordinance, contended it is the only salvation for neighborhood houses, and that the city will lose less by the ad¬ missions tax exemption than it will if the theatres are torn; down and removed from the tax duplicate because of un¬ profitable operations. Mayor Carl Rich declared the tax loss, if the ordinance is adopted, will be up to $100,000 annually, and the committee continued the proposal under advisement. Away on business were Rube Shor, president, S and S Amusement Company, to Washington, D. C.; Jay Goldberg, Realart branch manager, to Louisville, Ky. ; George A. Kirby, Republic branch manager, to West Virginia points; Vance Schwartz, Distinctive president, to New York and Philadelphia, and Allan Moritz, exhibitor, to Indianapolis. In town were; Arthur Greenblatt, New York, Lippert general sales manager; Leo Adler, New York, UA auditor; Jules Lapidus, New York, Warner sales pro¬ motion manager; M. L. Lyons, Chicago, Manley, Inc., division manager, and Moe Dudelson, UA district manager, again on the job after illness. Jessie Smith, 20th-Fox boxoffice clerk, seriously injured in a traffic accident several weeks ago, has been helped along the recovery road by blood donations from many friends. Among these were Udell Richardson, Carl Heinicken, and Sue Scott, 20th-Fox office staff. Film Row was applauding Tim and Tom Williams, 14-year-old twin sons of Ross Williams, UA city salesman, for becoming observers for the Civilian De¬ fense Corps in suburban Cheviot, O., where they live. Exhibitors in were: A. J. Sexton, Ironton, O.; Harold Schwartz, New Westville, O.; Charles Creago, Chillicothe, O.; Allan Warth and John Gregory, Dayton, O.; Carl Hagele, Fort Revovery, O.; Herbert Masters, Felicity, O.; Hank Davidson, Lynchburg, O.; Moe Potasky, Troy, 0. ;Fred Donahue, New Boston, 0.; Louis Velas and Cy Fransie, Cam¬ bridge, O.; Jerry Jackson, Williamsburg, 0.; Frank Carnahan and Bud Hughes, Manager Frank Arena, Loew’s Ohio, Cleveland, recently moved the ticket booth back to the entrance of the auditorium to permit the public free access to the spacious lobby where the Cleveland Pro¬ fessional Photographers held its fourth annual display. Manchester, Ky. ; Jack W. Hoffman, Greenup, Ky. ; William Cain, Louisa, Ky. ; B. F. Wright, Whitesburg, Ky. ; A1 Thalheimer, Logan, W. Va.; Mr. and Mrs. George Simon and Harold Moore, Charleston, W. Va.; Joe Joseph and W. Radd, Salem, W. Va.; John Tabit, Houston, W. Va.; and G. B. Lively, Huntington, W. Va. Realart is distributing “Circus Days” in the Indianapolis and local territories, and booked “Lover Come Back” and “Cuban Pete” into the Starway DriveIn, Lexington, Ivy., for April showings, and “Loyola, the Soldier Saint” into four Switow Enterprises houses in Lexington, Ky., during April. Frank Weitzel is booking and buying for the JUR Circuit, Salem, W. Va. . . . Gene Tunick, president, Tunick Releas¬ ing Company, is convalescing from surgery. . . . The 20th-Fox office staff staged a cocktail party for Ronald Watts, assistant shipper, called to active duty with the coast guard. Columbia’s “Salome” has been booked for April runs at the downtown Albee here and the Keith, Dayton, 0. . . . 3-D equipment has been installed in the down¬ town Grand. Vivian Blanford, Columbia clerk, re¬ signed. . . . Margaret Woodruff, Columbia head booker, spent a weekend with relatives in Bellefontaine, O. . . . Betty Behlan, daughter of Charles Behlan, Lexington, Ky., exhibitor, was on the Crowds over a block long crowded the street in front of the Madison, Detroit, recently for RIvO’s “Peter Pan.” dean’s list at Sweet Briar College, where she is a senior. The RKO Capitol gave away blue gardenias to the first 150 women patrons attending the opening of Warners’ “The Blue Gardenia.” Blue gardenias were also presented to all disc jockeys, in addition to women newspaper writers, columnists, and critics on the day before opening. U-I’s “It Happens Every Thursday,” dealing with the experiences of Jane S. Mcllvaine and her husband in publish¬ ing a weekly newspaper, will have its world premiere at the Second Annual “Country Editors Conference” to be held under the sponsorship of John Lair in Renfro Valley, Ky., on May 7, serving to launch a series of territorial openings in Kentucky, Ohio, and Indiana. Lair conducts a weekly radio show from Renfro Valley over the Columbia Broad¬ casting System network called “Renfro Valley Sunday Gatherin’,” and the pre¬ miere and the three-day conference of the editors are to be promoted over the program for several weeks in advance of the May 8-10 conference, which will see the editors of the “second oldest” weekly newspapers in the 48 states participating as well as the winners of the National Editorial , Association Better Newspaper Contest. Cleveland Interest in CinemaScope here was so great that several top flight exhibitors were to go to the west coast for the official presentation on March 20. Among them were; E. C. Prinsen, Palace, Youngstown, 0., and M. B. Horwitz, head, Washington Circuit, Cleveland. Others who contemplated going were: Jack Armstrong general manager, Schwyn Circuit; Sam Schultz, Selected Theatres, and Sylvan Goldfinger, SheftelBerger Circuit, of which the Hippodrome and Tower are units. Louis Ratener, Coowner, Magic City Drive-In, Barberton, O.; the SkyWay, Norwalk, O., and the Montrose, Montrose, 0., married Yrma Wade, Texas. The couple enjoyed a honeymoon in Mexico before returning to this area to settle down in their newly purchased home. Barber Farris, 73, who built the Westwood, Toledo, O., operated under lease by Martin G. Smith and James A. Beidler, died following an illness of several months. A leading wholesale produce merchant, Farris was well-known in Toledo for his philanthropies, among which was the presentation of a new water system to his native village of Aita in Lebanon. He was the founder and builder of St. George’s Orthodox Cathedral, Toledo. Surviving are his wife, a son, and five daughters. Nate Schultz, head, Allied, sent letters to all drive-ins wishing them success. It was a fine gesture of intra-industry good relations. Noted in the letter was special mention of his packaged programs for the increasing “Dusk-to-Dawn” shows. Jack O’Connell’s Loop, Toledo, 0., was visited by thieves, who made a getaway March 25, 1953 MIDEAST