The Exhibitor (1954)

EXHIBITOR NT-1 jnrwi of to BRANCHES Cincinnati On business trips were Milton Gurian, Allied Artists branch manager, and Philip Fox, Columbia branch manager, to Springfield, O., and George A. Kirby, Republic branch manager, to Columbus, 0., and Lexington, Ky. Jerry Schinbach, Chicago, RKO, was in, as were exhibitors Jim Herb, C. S. Babalis and Mr. and Mrs. Floyd William¬ son, Dayton, O.; Park Belden, Akron, 0.; Frank Marxetti and Jack Needham, Columbus, 0.; Marvin Junk, Sharonville, 0.; John Woodward, Zanesville, 0.; Carl Pfister, Troy, 0.; J. N. Brandenberg and Raymond Young, South Shore, Ky.; Charles Behlen, Lexington, Ky. ; William Cain, Louisa, Ky. ; Don Keesling and Goode Homes, Bramwell, W. Va.; Char¬ les Scott, Vevay, Ind.; and Guy Greathouse, Aurora, Ind. Herbert J. Gilles, Paramount branch manager, has a new secretary, Thelma Carver. . . . Alonzo C. Horton, 78, as¬ sistant manager, Twentieth Century, died. Cleveland Backed by a television, radio, and newspaper campaign, Warners’ “Phan¬ tom Of The Rue Morgue,” in 3-D and WarnerColor, is set for a mass-area booking in 250 theatres out of the local, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis exchanges starting today (Feb. 24). Leading stations in each area have been scheduled to bombard the airways with a series of special Burbank studio-pre¬ pared television trailers designed to sell every angle of the production. In addi¬ tion to the 16 TV trailers, special radio spot announcements have also been prepared for individual local outlets. The number of downtown first-run theatres will be reduced to seven due to the closing of the Tower, a 500-seat house that for many years was called the Telenews. In 1950 the policy and name were changed by the operators, Herbert Sheftel and Alfred G. Burger. The property, owned by the May Com¬ pany, will be converted to business uses. Frank Murphy, Loew’s Theatres divi¬ sion manager in charge of theatres in Cleveland, Akron, O., and Toledo, O., has had Pittsburgh added to his responsibili¬ ties. Frank Hensen was shifted from manager, Loew’s, Akron, to be Loew’s city manager in St. Louis; Sam Shubouf was transferred from the State to suc¬ ceed Hensen in Akron; Arnold Gates was promoted from the Stillman to the State, and Fi-ank Manente, went from the Esquire, Toledo, to the Stillman. Off for a Florida vacation went Earl Seitz, theatre owner of Sandusky, O., and Wadsworth, O., and Mrs. Seitz. . . . J. 0. Guthrie, a practicing engineer be¬ fore he became an exhibitor, is installing complete CinemaScope equipment, inclu¬ ding stereophonic sound, in his Karolyn, New London, O. The announcement car¬ ries special interest because the Karolyn has only 300 seats and New London has a population of 1,656. Dillonvale, 0., a town of 1,652 popu¬ lation, now has no theatre. The Dillon, operated by Francis Duda, closed. Cupid is working overtime in IFE. Florence Friedman, office manager, has chosen March 7 as the date of her mar¬ riage to Samuel Harris and secretary Jean Baur has received an engagement ring from Ronald Jurcak. Over in Ottawa, 0., Rudy Norton’s eight-year-old son, Tommy, broke his leg while playing on the ice. . . . William Wilson will operate the Cadiz Drive-In, Cadiz, O., formerly operated by his brother, Norris, who died while on a hunting trip. . . . Frieda Blossom, A1 Boudouris, and their associates sold the Little Flower Drive-In, Ottawa, O., to the Lewis brothers. “The Secret Conclave,” distributed through IFE, held 12 days in its first showing at the Masonic Auditorium. . . . George Roth, Art Films, New York, made a short visit here to confer with Bernie Rubin, Imperial. . . . Sylvan Goldfinger was here from Chicago on a buying-booking trip for the Hippodrome. E. L. Staup, owner, Capitol, Delphos, O., is now also the owner of the Van Del Drive-In, near Delphos, O. He bought it from his brother, Paul. . . . Walter Mc¬ Intosh, Paramount auditor, was here on a routine visit. Sam Galanty, Columbia eastern divi¬ sion manager, was here while Pete Dana, U-I eastern division manager, also made a visit. “The Bigamist” is booked to play the “A” houses in the territory. . . . Steve Nowalski is introducing a bike give¬ away at his Heights to boost his Satur¬ day kiddy matinees. . . . Julius Lamm, manager, Colony, planned to check into University Hospital for a second cata¬ ract operation. . . . Jack O’Connell turned over the entire proceeds of an evening at his Paulding, Paulding, 0., for the polio fund. Ernest Schwartz, president, Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors Association for the past twenty years, who died suddenly, is the first local film man whom City Council honored with a reso¬ lution commending his civic coopera¬ tion. A copy of the resolution was sent to his widow. Irwin Pollard, former Republic branch manager, is back from a three-week Florida vacation. . . . Danny Rosenthal, United Artists branch manager, was confined by a severe cold. . . . Max Mink, RKO Palace manager, and his wife, Dorothy, accepted Jack Benny’s invita¬ tion to attend the wedding of his daugh¬ ter, Joan, in Hollywood in March. . . . Herb Horstemeier, buyer-booker for in¬ dependent theatres, was in New York. . . . William DeFord, husband of Im¬ perial inspectress Katherine DeFord, died. A pre-release contest on U-I’s “Ma and Pa Kettle At Home” will be partici¬ pated in by 12 Shea theatres including those in Ohio. Substantial monetary prizes are being offered, and the awards will be made on the basis of comparative increases in gross in each situation over past pictures of the “Ma and Pa Kettle” series, which played these Shea theatres. The new “Kettle” picture will open be¬ tween March 7 and April 3 in each theatre. Extensive campaigns have been planned, and many are already saturat¬ ing the areas. Detroit Former manager of the Fox, Jack Hurford, had his car frozen in 20 below weather. . . . Assistant to the MGM di¬ vision manager, Charles Deeson, was in. ... So was U-I designer Millicent Patrick, who designed the gill man for “Creature from the Black Lagoon.” . . . Patrick Murphy moved into Jam Handy as slide film recording director. . . . The Palms now is back on the standard schedule, 10:45 a. m. to 6 a. m. . . . The Krim is adding matinees to accomodate school kids during the run of “Julius Caesar.” . . . The Island View Chapter of the Rebeccas appointed the film building’s Betty Robbins secretary. . . . Paramount girl Shirley Hicks deserted for adver¬ tising. . . . The Palms has been leased three times for industrial or sales uses. . . . The Spanish language theatre, the Model, was emptied by smoke from a fire Visiting Detroit recently on behalf of advance promotion of U-I’s "The Glenn Miller Story,” James Stewart is seen, left, chatting with James Sharkey, Co-Operative Theatres of Michigan. At a luncheon reception, Stewart and his wife are seen with Joseph Rosen, U-I’s branch manager, and district manager P. F. Rosian. February 24, 1954 MID EAST