The Exhibitor (1950)

EXHIBITOR NT-1 NEWS OF Till: Chicago With Tom Flannery, Whiteway presi¬ dent, and Maurice Wells, writer of “If I Knowed You Were Coming I’d Baked a Cake,” were hosts at the reopening of Saturday night “bingo” games at the Variety Club. . . . Herbert W. New¬ comb, S. R. Stanley, and Bertis B. Wil¬ kins opened their 460 Drive-In, Carmi, Ill. ... Jim Belden, retired police officer, greets many friends as he takes tickets at the Garrick. . . . George T. Landis is preparing to build a 700-car drive-in near the southern limits of Indianapolis. . . . Leon Robbe opened his 400-car Family, St. Johns, Mich. Sterling and Dixon Theatres putting in a $100,000 outdoor near Morrison, Ill. . . . Ansel Winston, RKO city man¬ ager, and Matt Plunkett, manager, Grand, displayed real showmanship with a group of Comanche Indians, in¬ cluding a tribal princess, brought from an Oklahoma reservation for “Comanche Territory.” Lou Santucci is relief manager for the downtown B and K’s. . . . Bob Friedman was named to the U-I book¬ ing department. . . . Herb Elisburg, until recently director, Oriental, was appointed to an executive position with Schoenstadt Theatres. . . . Leo H. Arnstein, Daniel J. Gluck, and B. Weitzenfeld formed the Cicero Theatre Cor¬ poration. Dallas Monogram western star Whip Wilson participated in the three-day Brownsfield, Tex., rodeo. He will ride his allwhite horse in a parade which will launch a three-day Independence Day celebration on July 3 at Amarillo, Tex. In each of the two cities, he appeared in person in connection with “Gunslingers.” D. R. Crow and L. B. Crow purchased the 500-seat Haskell, suburban house, from Don Dixon, who owned it for 18 years. L. B. Crow who owns and man¬ ages the Sunset, will be general man¬ ager. . . . D. B. “Snuffy” Smith has been named office manager, Eagle LionClassics. Smith was office manager for Realart before the Dallas office was sold to Harold Schwartz. Norman J. Calquhoun is the new branch manager, and Jake Lutzer is division manager. Mrs. Evelyn Neeley, Mrs. Norma Clark, and Mrs. Jean Hammer came with Calquhoun and Lutzer to the new organization. Mrs. Betty Knoll and Mrs Doris Brown, Eagle Lion, went with Tower, and Don Grierson, office manager, Eagle Lion, went with RKO. Seen booking and buying were: Audry Cox, Lamesa, Tex.; Mac Howard, Rain¬ bow, Houston, Tex.; Tom Summar, Jose¬ phine, San Antonio, Tex., and Mrs. C. W. Matson, Dixie, Rockdale, Tex. . . . W. E. Cox, Seminole, Tex., was in chang¬ ing programs for his new Chief DriveIn scheduled for opening. Due to the terrific storm which hit West Texas, tearing down hundreds of feet of his fencing, ripping the roof from his con¬ cession stands, and causing great dam¬ age to his ramps, he was forced to delay opening. . . . Thomas Guinan, home office field representative, Eagle LionClassics, was in Dallas for the instruc¬ tion work needed in the exchange due to the recent merger and numerous changes. . . . Harold Schwarz returned from Chicago. Denver Tom Bailey, after attending the Lippert sales meeting in Chicago, went to Salt Lake City to install Nelson Soehlke as branch manager and Fred Palosky as booker. Both recently resigned at Eagle Lion. A. G. Edwards resigned as office manager, Eagle Lion, and joined Bailey at the Lippert exchange in Den¬ ver as booker. . . . A1 Kolitz, district manager, RKO, made a weekend visit to see his mother in Cincinnati. . . . Robert Jones, Western Service and Sup¬ ply stock clerk, has been made manager, Longmont, Colo., Drive-In. Dick Tedrick, a University of Colorado medical student, has taken on the stock job. Seen on Film Row were: Mr. and Mrs. Leon Coulter, Loveland, Colo.; Tom Knight, Riverton, Wyo. ; Merle Gwinn, Benkelman, Neb.; Lola Staley, Kiowa, Colo.; C. E. McLaughlin, Las Animas, Colo.; Neil Beezley, Burlington, Colo.; Frank Childs, Sterling, Colo.; David Thompson, Cope, Colo., and Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hall, Akron, Colo. Des Moines Allied Independent Theatre Owners of Iowa and Nebraska voted to hold a fall board meeting in Des Moines on Nov. 14 and 15. It was also decided to hold the 1951 annual convention in Des Moines on April 10 and 11 and the 1952 annual back at Omaha. It was also agreed to drop the summer meeting at the lakes, and instead hold a series of regional meetings at Yankton, S. D., Grand Island, McCook, and Norfolk, Neb., and Des Moines, Mt. Pleasant, Sioux City, West Union, and Lake Okoboji, la. . . . Bob Leonard, manager, Paramount, returned following an oper¬ ation. . . . Larry Hensler resigned as a salesman for Warners. . . . The Orpheum, Strawberry Point, la., following remodeling opened its doors free to all patrons on the opening day. . . . The Time, Albert City, la., is trying a “Fam¬ ily Night” stunt with the entire family admitted for 60 cents. . . . G. V. Flem¬ ing, Lynch, Neb., has taken over the Royal, Dunlap, la. Kansas City In Topeka, Kans., the Orpheum closed its doors for the annual summer vaca¬ tion. The theatre will be reopened early in September, Gene Sappington, man¬ ager, announced. Visitors on Film Row included: John Courter, Gallatin, Mo.; A. E. Jarboe, Cameron, Mo.; Albert Orear, Bonner Springs, Kans.; Donald Barton, Johnson, Kans.; J. E. Daniels, Marionville, Mo., and Bob Robison, Grant City, Mo. . . . Babe Cohn, manager, Paramount, suf¬ fered a heart attack, was at Menorah Hospital. Betty Bridge resigned as branch man¬ ager’s secretary at Monogram. . . . Floyd Liberty, head shipper, Central Shipping Bureau, returned from a vacation in St. Louis. . . . Boyd Craft has been appointed new manager, El-Jon, Brunswick, Mo. He replaces Hobert Summy, moved to Sedalia, Mo. . . . Shirley Ann Erickson and Carol Rowland are new members, TEI booking office. . . . Pat Fowler, Paramount staff, was vacationing in the Canadian Rockies. . . . Irving Helfont, head, MGM contract department, was in to confer with A1 Adler, branch man¬ ager. . . . W. D. Fulton, local Vogue, and the Avenue, and State, Kansas City, Kans., is a patient at Research Hospital. Los Angeles At the FWC southern meeting with Charles Skouras, one slogan took hold: “ ‘Luck’ is seldom against the man who puts a ‘p’ in front of it.” . . . The Los Angeles County United Cerebral Palsy Association was carrying its message to the public through the theatres . Toe Jarno is having old unlighted roof signs converted to a medium of telling the public “Movies Are Better Than Ever,” atop his Westlake. . . . Fox West Coast decided to honor all fathers on June 18 with free tickets for them. . . . Sherrill Corwin loaned the Forum for a Hadassah benefit. . . . Herb Bregstein will dis¬ tribute art pictures under a new incor¬ porated company, Beverly Pictures, Inc. Milwaukee Miss Estelle Steinback, Fox-Wisconsin public relations expert, is making the Downer her temporary headquar¬ ters. Miss Steinback was one of the guiding lights in bringing about those Children’s Programs which started at the Shorewood. The Marshfield, Wis., New Adler had 25 of Central Wisconsin’s most beauti¬ ful girls parading on the stage in an effort to locate “Miss Respectfully Yours” for WDLB. Bill Fischer, Campbellsport, Wis., has copyrighted a gimmick, a small version of an album, a one-fold sheet containing spaces for eight photos. His Campo gives free with each adult admission a star photo which has a redeemable value. The pictures are placed in the correct space on the albums, and, when filled, may be turned in for $1 in cash. In addition to the redeemable value, another prize of $150, upped $10 each week, is offered winners who answer quiz questions. Fischer secures not only fi-ee advertis¬ ing, but even manages to make about $15 each week on his mailing pieces. He puts a penny stamp on them, and shoots them into the mail, covering the entire area. He uses only two sponsors each week, and has a long waiting list of advertisers. June 28, 1950 MIDWESTWESTERN