The Exhibitor (1950)

NT-4 EXHIBITOR Florida Miami Flamingo’s A1 Brandt is very proud of the record run of “The Red Shoes,’’ in its 50th week. . . . Vacations are the thing these days, and Mark Chartrand, Wometco, is enjoying his. . . . Giving the paint brush and inspiration a short rest is Paul Allen, foreman, Wometco’s art shop, using his vacation for the practical purpose of a bit of house building. Originally planned for June, the groundbreaking ceremonies for the 1600-seat Gateway, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., will take place on July 10 with Womet¬ co’s Sonny Shepherd due to coordinate the ambitious festivity. Giveaways, prizes, and a preliminary parade of some 1000 youngsters are expected to launch the theatre construction. Claughton’s Curtis Miller was taking time out for a well earned vacation, with Ed Claughton Jr., filling in. . . . The Essex now has Earl Christy as as¬ sistant, and the Strand changed mana¬ gers, Edgar Pearce doing the honors. Winter Haven The Ritz and Grand, celebrating their 35th anniversaries, had a special section of The Winter Haven Daily News-Chief covering the history of the theatres, etc. The same management runs the Outdoor Drive-In. B. B. Garner, Lakeland, Fla., is president, Winter Haven Enterprises and Talgar Theatre Company. Bolivar F. Hyde, Jr., has been associated with Garner for 25 years. Frank Sparrow is local manager. Louisiana Shreveport A new $135,000 drive-in will be erected at Mansfield Road and 70th Street. George Mercer, owner, Grove, will operate. North Carolina Durham North Carolina Theatres, Inc., which for years has been leasing the municipal auditorium, which it has been operating as the Carolina, has asked City Council for permission to sublease the building to C. L. Abercrombie, Danville, Va. Abercrombie has long been connected with North Carolina Theatres, which also operates the Center and Rialto. City Council referred the request to its finance committee for study, which later recommended approval of the transfer of the lease. The lease runs to 1961, and theatre officials told the city that its transfer was being asked in compliance with a court order requiring North Carolina Theatres to dispose of one theatre in cities where it operates more than two. Henderson A short circuit in a switch box in the air refrigeration system at the Steven¬ son called out firemen. Smoke and fumes were carried through the theatre by the air-conditioning blowers. Lew Herb Returns To The Charlotte Area (After leaving the Atlanta territory, Lew Herb turned north, and visited Charlotte — Ed.) Here we are back in the Charlotte territory after an absence of almost a year, and we noted a few changes among the exchanges, supply stores, and book¬ ing offices. The Warner office seemed to have had the most changes since our last visit so we stopped in to chat with Frank Neel, who took over the post of branch manager when Ralph Iahuzzi trans¬ ferred to the Atlantic branch. Neel and Car¬ rol Ogburn are about the only two members of the key personnel left in this office since our previous visit, and we noted, too, that the booking staff had changed somewhat. The sales staff has been aug¬ mented by the addition of Marsh Funderbuck, former Republic salesman, who left distribution about a year ago, and went into exhibition when he built a drive-in, which he later sold, and re¬ turned to selling. Other newcomers to the office include salesman George Graves and head booker Herb Schlessinger as well as office manager Frank Jene, who came here from Atlanta to take over the office. The booking staff is now composed of Harry Gosey, Bob Woolf, Bob Blichenstein, and Charles McGee, of which only Gosey and McGee were here a year ago. In RKO, we learned that Roy Branon still held the reins with a steady hand, while the former office manager, Clay Jessup, had relinquished that post to Jack Webb in favor of a sales position. During the course of our brief stay in Charlotte, he made another change get¬ ting out of distribution entirely in favor of allying himself with Exhibitor’s Ser¬ vice. Salesmen Dyer and Mitchell were no longer in evidence at RKO, with Dyer transferring his allegiance to Screen Guild, while Mitchell was out of the business. Bill Sims is still there, and Harry Rogers transferred from Atlanta some time ago. Behind the booker’s desk, Dean Lynch is still there, holding down the head position, aided and abetted by Bob Little and a newcomer, Sam Sanders. Kay, on the ground floor of the Film building, 300 West Third, was still pretty much the same so far as personnel gees, with one exception. Office managerbooker C. G. “Hickey” Lawing was re¬ placed by former Columbia booker Reidy Lawing. Joe Bishop still headed the branch, and Bob McClure was still on the road. Across the hall, Astor was one of the few that has the same people in evidence. Bob Pinson and his son, Charlie Leonard, and Max Holder as well as the rest of the crew were still as enthusiastic as ever about current product. Upstairs in this same building, the Screen Guild office was our next port of call, and we were greeted cordially by Mrs. Millie Logan, office manager-head booker, who was holding down the book¬ ing desk all by herself due to the absence of Maryon Meacham, who had had an accident when she spilled a pan of hot grease on her leg, causing severe burns. Scott Lett still heads the branch, of course, and, Gene Dyer was holding the sales position. Physically, both the Screen Guild and National Screen Service offices were ren¬ ovated and remodeled, but the NSS office was still under the able direction of Bob “Pappy” Simril, with the sales force, Starr and Gregory, unchanged. Another office which we found un¬ changed, except for its physical appear¬ ance, was Monogram, headed by Hal Jordan, who recently had the entire office renovated. Evelyn Johnston still held down the office manager-booker post, and greeted exhibitors with a cheery smile. Salesmen Stout and McLeroy still cover the territory, as before, but up at Col¬ umbia we found them to be short-handed in the sales department, and the only familiar face on the sales force was Paul Hargette. Of course R. D. “Skinner” Williamson and Carl “Pat” Patterson, as branch manager and office manager, were very much in evidence, but Herb Robinson and Bill Henderson were no longer there while Harry Kerr had been added to the sales crew. Ernest Simpson was still at the book¬ er’s desk, aided by George Downey, who came from Chicago some time ago. Downey is president of the newly organ¬ ized Film Club formed to provide recrea¬ tion facilities for the bookers, shippers, etc., with quarters on Church Street. Next door in Republic only one change was noted. At the booking desk, R. T. Belcher replaced Bob Dumfelt, but the rest of the crew, headed by Cy Dillon, was still intact. Jack London and Bob Finlayson were still the ace salesmen, Mitchell Little ran the office, and Mrs. Billie Harris headed the booking depart¬ ment. Among other office personnel we noted that Elizabeth Thomason was still cashier, assisted by Isabel Gordon, while several new faces were in evidence, in¬ cluding Mrs. Louise Baucon, Myrtle Hill, and Vera Robinson. Over in the Brevard Court, we dropped in to say “hello” to Barney Slaughter, who headed Film Classics, and learned that he had made several changes, too. Former salesman Bill Lewis was in Memphis as branch manager, and a couple of new men were Herb Robinson, formerly with Columbia here, and B. J. Keehan formerly with Columbia in Pittsburgh. The U-I office had had a few changes, also. Jimmy Greenleaf was still branch head, but Paul Cockrill joined the sales staff, composed of Jules Williamson, George Royster, and Bill McClure, while the office was under the direction of W. M. McClure, and the booking staff was composed of John Alwran, Hap Bell, and Jack Griffith, the latter the son of Walter and Pauline Griffith, both well-known industryites. July 5, 1950