The Exhibitor (1950)

EXHIBITOR NT-1 news or the New York City Crosstown The local Ambassador, Biltmore, Mt. Vernon, and Lyceum, Staten Island, were shuttered last month. . . . Five Skouras houses closed down during June included the Tivoli, Jersey City, N. J., Victory, Bayside, L. I., Granada, Gra¬ nada, and Crescent and Steinway, As¬ toria, L. I. . . . Nathan Steinberg took over the Square, Bronx, recently, and the booking and buying is now being done by the Liggett-Florin Booking Service. . . . New operator of the Mer¬ maid, Brooklyn, is the Maidmer Corpor¬ ation, Herman Stern, president and Stephan Law, secretary-treasurer. Brandt is handling the booking and buying. The route 17 Drive-In Corporation announced that the Rockhill Drive-In is slated to open on July 1. Harry K. Hecht is president, and the car capacity is 500. An effective newspaper promotion on “Winchester ’73” which Universal-Inter¬ national and the Paramount used last fortnight in conjunction with The New York Journal-American is being made available to all exhibitors. It involves the sale of silver dollars for 73 cents, with the newspaper having a reporter and photographer present to record re¬ action of people. The New York JournalAmerican gave the stunt a full page of pictures. Rutgers Neilson, RKO publicity man¬ ager, was reelected to the board of governors of the Circus Saints and Sin¬ ners of America at the annual meeting last fortnight. Neilson is also a member of the “Fall Guy” selecting committee. . . . Salvatore Casolaro, former owner, Cinema Verdi and Cinema Dante, has formed the releasing firm of Casolaro Film Distributing Corporation, and has purchased seven new Italian productions being edited and titled for fall release. . . . A special “glamour” premiere was arranged for the opening last week of “With These Hands” at the Gotham under sponsorship of the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union. . . . A four-way fashion tieup with the co¬ operation of Macy’s highlighted the com¬ prehensive promotion campaign for RKO’s “The Capture,” Rivoli. Joseph Justman, owner, Motion Pic¬ ture Center studio, Hollywood, arrived last week to meet with UA home office executives. . . . Harry M. Popkin, coast producer, came in last week for UA conferences. . . . I. E. Lopert, president, Lopert Films, sailed for Paris last week. . . . Walter Reade, Jr., head, Wal¬ ter Reade Theatres, was interviewed by Bill Slater on the radio last fortnight, and discussed drive-ins. The manager and an aide of the Times Square were held up last week by an Arguments Heard on Minimum Wage New York— Hearing of the Minimum Wage Board for the New York State amusement industry was held last fort¬ night at the Bar Association, and argu¬ ments for and against an increased hourly minimum wage for workers in film theatres in the city’s metropolitan area were heard. Fred J. Schwartz, vicepresident, Century Theatres, appearing as official spokesman for the Metropoli¬ tan Motion Picture Theatres Associa¬ tion of which he is board chairman, stated that theatre workers should be exempt from consideration by the board on the grounds that virtually all are minors or women working part-time, and not dependent upon their theatre jobs for a livelihood. He contended that due to the special nature of theatre operation, employes such as ushers, cashiers, and doormen should be con¬ sidered apart from other industry labor. He cited the recent decrease in theatre attendance, and said that any increase in the minimum hourly wage would place on theatres an extra financial bur¬ den they could not bear. Russell M. Moss, executive vicepresident, Home Office Employes Union, Local H-63, IATSE, appeared as a labor spokesman, and questioned the inability of theatres to pay higher wages. He argued that the theatre industry was unjustified in seeking to pay its help less than the federal minimum of 75 cents an hour. Sidney Young, Screen Employes Guild of the United Office and Professional Workers of America, recommended $1 per hour minimum for all theatre labor. Others speaking in favor of a higher minimum were Tom Murtha, IATSE official, and Charlotte Campbell, IATSE Local B-52, which covers RKO cashiers. Francis X. Giaccone, chairman of the board, said that “anything over 75 cents Adolph Schimel Heads Yeshiva Scholarship Group NEW YORK — The appointment of Adolph Schimel, vice-president and general counsel, Universal Pic¬ tures, Inc., as chairman of the mo¬ tion picture industry scholarship fund at Yeshiva University last week was announced by Dr. Samuel Belkin, president, Yeshiva Univer¬ sity. Schimel succeeds G. S. Eyssell, president, Radio City Music Hall. Schimel announced the appoint¬ ment of the following industry lead¬ ers to the committee: Barney Balaban, Paramount; Nate Blumberg, U-I; Jules W. Catsiff, Skouras The¬ atres; Irving H. Greenfield, Loew’s; Monroe Greenthal, Greenthal Adver¬ tising; Charles Moskowitz, Loew’s; Harold Rodner, Warners; Sam Ro¬ sen, Fabian Theatres; Abe Schnei¬ der, Columbia; George P. Skouras, Skouras Theatres; George J. Schae¬ fer, and G. S. Eyssell, honorary chairman. In addition to industry-wide schol¬ arships established annually at the university, many persons in the in¬ dustry are maintaining annual scholarships, including Balaban, Blumberg, Rosen, Louis B. Mayer, Skouras, and others. is not a matter for the board.” He made it clear that the concern of the board was only minimum wages applying to women and minors; but the minimum wage established for the industry will apply to men workers as well. Other labor representatives were Michael J. Mungovan, IATSE projec¬ tionists, and A1 Harding, Actors’ Equity, while also appearing for management was Samuel Rosen, vice-president and treasurer, Fabian Circuit. The board will meet in Albany on June 21 to consider minimum wages in the amusement industry as a whole. armed bandit, who took $714 in cash, and forced the aide to bind and gag the manager, and then accompany him through noon day crowds along 42nd Street to a point near Eighth Avenue. Finding the money, all in small change, too heavy, he tossed $637 of it and his gun into a trash can, ducked into a subway, and escaped. William Brandt last week turned over to the Cerebral Palsy Society of New York a check for $15,000 representing collections made for the cause in ITOA theatres. New Jersey Livingston Berk and Krumgold, New York the¬ atre realty specialists, announced last fortnight that they had sold to Mid-West Drive-In Company, headed by Philip Seen at a recent Paramount press party in New York City are, from left, Hal Wallis, Joe Hazen, A. W. Schwalberg, Ted O’Shea, and Max Youngstein. Charlton Heston, new Hal Wallis discovery, was introduced to the trade and press contingent present. June 21, 1950 NEW YORK