The Exhibitor (1951)

EXHIBITOR NT-1 NliWS OF THE BRANCHES Cincinnati “Lullaby of Broadway’' opened at the Palace with considerable bally centered around Doris Day. . . . Milton Gurian, Lippert branch manager; Jay Goldberg, Realart branch manager, and William A. Meier, Paramount branch manager, were out on business. . . . Gordon Craddock, Samuel Goldwyn representative, con¬ ferred with ELC officials on the “Tide of Danger.” Ellamae Apple is the new office man¬ ager for Manley, Inc., replacing Roberta Bush, who resigned. The firm will ex¬ hibit at the Kentucky Educational As¬ sociation convention in Lexington, Ky., this week. Marvin White, Mid-States Theatres, lnc. , was vacationing in Arizona, and Dotty Schuh, secretary to Jack Finberg, UA branch manager, also was vacation¬ ing. . . . Margaret Woodruff, Lippert office manager; Anna Gray, 20th-Fox inspectress, and Georgia Mattox, States Film Service inspectress, were on the sick list. Shirley McMahon, a recent bride, was presented with furniture by the MGM Club. . . . Bob Cooper, RKO student booker, resigned to enter military serv¬ ice. . . . Sympathy was extended to Mil¬ dred Post, Republic booker, on the recent death of her brother, William. . . . Thea¬ tre Owners Corporation is now booking and buying for the Somerset Drive-In, Somerset, Ky. Visitors included; C. E. Davie, New Lexington, 0.; John Gregory, E. A. Babalas, and John Holakan, Dayton, 0.; Moe Potasky, Troy, 0.; Mason Clark, Jamestown, O.; Hank Davidson, Lynch¬ burg, O.; Jack Needham, Columbus, O.; Bob Dinkle, Grayson, Ky. ; W. C. Prater, Pine Knob, Ky. ; Kenneth Williams, Paintsville, Ky. ; Charles Scott, Vevay, lnd. ; Harold Moore, Charleston, W. Va.; Fred Clemens, Beckley, W. Va., and Frank Mandors, Cabin Creek, W. Va. Nat Galley, 56, head, Galley Circuit, died of a heart attack. “Sante Fe’’ will open in some 300 the¬ atres in the Kansas City and Cincinnati areas during the last week in April. The local Palace and Colonial, Dayton, O., open “Santa Fe” as the forerunners of some 100 bookings in the territory. Cleveland “Bingo” and all similar games have been discontinued in all Greater Cleve¬ land theatres. Safety Director A1 Sutton notified Ernest Schwartz, president, Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors As¬ sociation, that in his opinion theatre “Bingo” does not differ from “Bingo” par Jack Kalmenson recently was promoted from Warners sales manager to branch manager of the exchange in Pittsburgh. lor games, recently declared illegal. The¬ atre owners scheduled a meeting to dis¬ cuss the situation. E. C. Pearson, former United Artists exploiteer, is currently assigned by MGM to promote “Teresa,” Loew’s Valentine, Toledo, O. . . . J. Jossey, financial advisor to Hallmark President Kroger Babb, and Mrs. Jossey left to spend some time in Forsyth, Ga. . . . Paul Vogel, Vogel Building Company, Wellsville, O., reports that his company is erecting new con¬ cession buildings for Norbert Stern’s Blue Dell and South Park Drive-Ins, Pittsburgh. Robert Reich, manager, suburban Jewel, Associated Circuit houses, has been honored by two associations, the Businessmen’s Association and Kiwanis. They both invited him to join. Manager Fred Holzworth, Hilliard Square, proved that showmanship pays. He booked “All About Eve’’ and “Sunset Boulevard” on a double bill program for three days. Patrons were provided with printed ballots on which to mark their choice of best picture and best actress. People came from all parts of the city to participate in the voting. Result was 467 votes for “All About Eve” and 221 votes for “Sunset Boulevard.” “Cyrano de Bergerac” was building at the Lower Mall. A continuing promotion¬ al campaign is going on. Charles Barron, roadshow manager, kept up the pace by sending letters to the membership of the Cleveland Chamber of Commerce, issuing 50,000 cards to the schools, upon pre¬ sentation of which the bearer is entitled to the special student admission price. An air force band was on hand at Loew’s, Dayton, O., for the opening of U-I’s “Air Cadet,” as an appropriate tiein. Henry Greenberger, Community Cir¬ cuit, and Mrs. Greenberger returned from Miami Beach, Fla. . . . Sam Reichblum, who lives in Cleveland but owns theatres downstate and in Pennsylvania, and wife were back from Miami Beach, Fla. . . . P. E. Essick, Modern Theatres circuit, his son, Ray, and their families are in Delray, Fla Otto Price, Price Theatre Premiums, was here to introduce four new prem¬ ium deals. Charlie Winett, sales repre¬ sentative, has samples on display in his film building office. Robert Nero is leaving the trade after 23 years. Starting as shipper, for Pathe, he moved over to RKO after the RKOPathe merger, and in 1937 joined Nate Schultz’ distributing organization. Ex¬ cept for five years spent fighting Japs, Nero has been with Schultz ever since. Now he is attending college. Leo Gottlieb, Lippert branch manager, expected Syra Marty, “Miss Switzer¬ land,” in town to tell folks about “Fin¬ gerprints Dont’ Lie.’’ Another celebrity in beating the drums was Nat Cvetic, author of The Saturday Evening Post story, “I Was a Commu¬ nist for the FBI,” which Warners made into a picture. Cvetic will be in Canton, O., Cleveland, and Youngstown, O. Olen Martin, Jr., Lorain, O., is moving to Bucyrus, O., for the summer to be nearer the Tri City Drive-In, which he will manage. . . . Earl Starner, new owner, Midway, Dresden, O., reopened it. Former owners were Messrs. Coines and Brown. “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” got unusual treatment when it opened day-and-date. . . . Ernest Schwartz, president, Cleve¬ land Motion Picture Exhibitors Associa¬ tion, signed up four new members, thus bringing the membership to 76 theatres. New members are Paul Foster, King; Paul Bader. Memphis: Louis Argenvio, Maim and Le-nard Craft, Ambassador. . . . Mannv Youngerman arrived to suc¬ ceed Joel Golden as Eagle Lion Classics salesman. Detroit Aithur D. Black was named manager, Palace, Flint, Mich., by W S. Butter¬ field Theatres, Inc. . . . Perennial Jesse James came to life again to promote “The Great Missouri Raid.” Milton Hale, Paramount exploiteer, and Alice Gor¬ ham, United Detroit Theatres, found an old gentleman who claimed the raider is still alive. To support his claim, the old gentleman appeared in the lcbby of the Palms with documents, Jesse James’ strongbox, and a display of other me¬ mentoes. United Artists and WJBK-TV station cooperated in a contest to promote “The Mating Season.” A list of prizes, topped by a $360 Hallicrafter console TV set, were offered for the best letter complet¬ ing in 50 words or less the sentence, “I’m a good mother-in-law because. . . .” Dillon Krepps, United Artists manager, said interest ran high. April 11, 1951 MIDEAST