The Exhibitor (1953)

EXHIBITOR NT-1 RKWS or THft New York City Crosstown Harold Brown, Detroit general man¬ ager, United Paramount Theatres, was in. . . . Embassy Theatres’ Norman Elson left for Europe. . . . The Nor¬ mandie booked a first-run Italian film, “The Forbidden Christ.” ... Ed Harri¬ son has come out with a new slogan, “Movies Are Wider That Ever.’” . . . One of the features of the National Federation of Music Clubs convention at the Hotel Roosevelt will be a radio, television, and film panel discussion with Arthur de Bra, MPAA community re¬ lations department, as one of the speakers. The Square, Bronx; Parkway, Mount Vernon, and Pix, Jersey City, N. J., now have their buying and booking done by Ligget-Florin Booking Service. . . . The Venice is being refurbished, and will be opened soon under the management of the Ding Nagai Corporation. . . . The Grande, 86th Street, will also have its booking done by Ligget-Florin Book¬ ing Service. William Mueller, Warner studio sound department head, arrived from Holly¬ wood to observe the introduction to the public of Warner Phonic sound at the world premiere of “House Of Wax” at the Paramount. Paul Graetz, European producer, arrived for a two-week visit. . . . The American premiere showing of “The Young Caruso” was held in the Museum of Modern Art auditorium for the dele¬ gates to the National Federation of Music Clubs convention. George Stevens, producer-director of “Shane,” Paramount Technicolor west¬ ern, arrived to observe the installation of the new Paramount wide screen at Radio City Music Hall. . . . Arlene Dahl and Fernando Lamas, stars of “Sangaree,” were guests of honor at a press cocktail reception at the Sherry Netherlands Hotel. Adolph Zukor, Paramount board chair¬ man. and other American industrial leaders recently received the Seventh Annual Horatio Alger Awards from Dr. Milton S. Eisenhower, presi¬ dent, Pennsylvania State University, in ceremonies in New York. Seen, left to right, are Eisenhower; Paul G. Hoffman, Studebaker Corporation; John J. Hop¬ kins, General Dynamics Corporation; Thomas J. Watson, Sr., International Business Machine Corporation; Zukor; Walter D. Fuller, Curtis Publishing Com¬ pany, and James C. Penney, J. C. Penney Company, while in the background are, left to right, Byron A. Gray, Inter¬ national Shoe Company; Colonel Henry Crown, board chairman. Empire State Building; General Sandy Beaver, presi¬ dent, Riverside Military Academy, Augusta, Ga., and Harold Shafer, Gold Seal Company. F. Hugh Herbert was in for a onemonth stay to confer with executives of United Artists on preparations for the release of “The Moon Is Blue.” Eddie Susse, salesman, MGM, was in New York for a vacation with his family. Hans Barnstyn, manager, Trans-Lux Colony, recently made a contact with a neighboring super market on “Androcles and The Lion” in a deal with Wonder Bread to pass out a sample loaf of bread to each customer, in the tradition of the Roman days depicted in the film, where each person attending the activ¬ ities in the Roman arenas received a loaf of bread as gift of the entre¬ preneur. The Gramercy showed a half-hour pilot film for a proposed series of TV programs as a sneak preview. The film was produced in France by Sheldon Reynolds, and starred Claude Dauphin. Reynolds is planning a new series, “Theatre,” of which the film shown at the Gramercy will be a part. The Gramercy audience did not know that it • was seeing what was planned as a future TV program. The TV film was booked into the theatre through the William Morris Agency, which represents Reynolds. Clem Perry representing Rugoff and Becker, owners, Gramercy, said he had accepted the film “just as an accommodation.” Announcement was made by Joseph M. Schenck that the 2,094-seat Rivoli will be equipped to present pictures produced with the Todd-AO 65mm. process. The Rivoli will close in December for the necessary changeover. The annual golf tournament of the Cinema Lodge, B’nai B’rith, will be held oh June 11 at Vernon Hills. . . . A1 Fisher, head, tax department, Loew’s International Corporation, left for the Far East to represent MPA member companies in negotiations on tax problems. Arthur B. Krim, president, United Artists, sailed off for Cannes, France, to attend the International Film Festival. . . . William Meyer, assistant to the foreign publicity manager, RKO, re¬ signed. . . . Alfred H. Tamarin, assis¬ tant national director of advertising, publicity, and exploitation for United Artists, and Mort Nathanson, publicity manager, returned from vacations. Following the launching of Warners’ “House Of Wax” at the Paramount, Mort Blumenstock, vice-president in charge of advertising and publicity, left for his headquarters at the Burbank, Cal., studio. . . . Rosalind Russell, and her husband, producer Frederick Brisson, hosted a luncheon for the New York film critics and amusement page editors. Doris Day arrived in New York accompanied by her husband, Marty Melcher, following a stopover in Cin¬ cinnati. Two Warner productions, “The Blue Gardenia,” and later “The System,” will inaugurate a change of entertainment policy at the Palace. Marking the first time since Jan. 15 that the Broadway house has shown motion pictures, “The Blue Gardenia” will open at the Palace on, April 27. U-I’s “Thunder Bay,” starring James Stewart, was recently screened in the company’s home office in New York for circuit heads and exhibitors. Present at the screening were, left, William Goetz, in charge of production for U-I; Charles J. Feldman, general sales manager; Oscar Doob, Loew’s; Milton llackmil, U-I president, and John Murphy, Loew’s, and right, Wilbur Snaper, Harry Brandt, Goetz, U-I executive vicepresident; Alfred E. Daff, Harry Kalmine, and Rackmil. April 22, 1953 NEW YORK