The Exhibitor (1952)

12 EXHIBITOR THE INTERNATIONAL ni' Canadian Comment A large turnout was expected for gen¬ eral gathering of the members of the Ontario district of the Canadian Picture Pioneers meeting. A meeting of the na¬ tional executive committee preceded the gathering, which finished off in a flourish with an old-time buffet and entertain¬ ment. Archie Laurie, secretary-treasurer, was looking after plans. Four new theatres, one a drive-in, high¬ lighted the busiest period of industry construction since last fall. Two theatre reopenings, work under way on three new houses, and announcement of plans for a drive-in were also included in the latest reports. Theatres were opened in South River, Ont., Val Laflamme, Que., Bois-des-Filion, Que., and Ruskin, B.C.; theatres reopened in Melville, Sask., and Sointula, B.C.; theatres are under con¬ struction at Alert Bay, B.C., Fairview, Alta., and North Battleford, Sask. The Delta Drive-In, Barrhead, Alta., opens soon. Charles Staples, owner, Queen, St. Stephen, N.B., and the Lockwood and Gordon Theatre Enterprises, Boston, com¬ bined to build a drive-in in the CalaisSt. Stephen area, and are surveying two other sites. Both partners had intentions of building an ozoner separately, and, when surveys indicated that the district could not support two drive-ins, they agreed to build one together. Possibly a new kind of exhibition is being developed in Canada because of the influx of newcomers to the country from Europe. Exhibition of foreign-language films is taking place under circumstances far from usual. Take for instance, Kitch¬ ener, Ont., where a German is exhibiting a 16mm. program each night to a group of 80 persons. His price to those attend¬ ing his small capacity “house” is 50 cents a person, with kids coming in at half price. In Victoria, B. C., two immigrants, a Yugoslavian and a German, partnered to road-show a German-Austrian film, “Finale.” They played Montreal, Winnepeg, and Edmonton with it before coming to the Victoria Ballroom, where they hope to return each month. Exhibitors in Ontario have been advised by their association that the Ontario Board of censors requires that the minimum size of new hanging signs indicating the program is “Adult” will be 60 inches in length, 10 inches wide, and the size of letters eight inches. Black letters on white background, warding “Adult Entertain¬ ment”, on both sides of sign. Only one sign is required, and it is emphasized that it must be suspended from the centre of the marquee, crosswise to the sidewalk. UA Concludes Deal With SRO For France New York — Arnold M. Picker, vicepresident, United Artists, in charge of foreign distribution, announced last week that the company had concluded a deal with the Selznick Releasing Organization in France, whereby UA would take over the physical distribution of SRO’s com¬ plete inventory of feature films, and serv¬ ice them through its network of exchanges in France. Negotiations were finalized in Paris by UA’s Charles Smadja, Continental sales manager, and Georges Rouvier, general manager in France, with Milton Kramer and Victor Hoare acting on behalf of the Selznick organization. United Artists has six exchanges in France. Certain Canadian exhibitors who have been among those receiving thanks from charitable organizations for donating their screens to advertising charity drives are beginning to wonder whether they are be¬ ing sensible in refusing screen advertising while offering such footage. The Motion Picture Theatre Association of Ontario, through Arch H. Jolley, executive-secre¬ tary, advised his members that he has received letters of thanks from eight such groups. Exhibitors wonder what with such a record number, practically one a week, whether they shouldn’t get paid. These trailers include recruiting trailers for the forces and government messages. They feel that since the newspapers and the radio get paid for advertising, why shouldn’t the theatres? The Imperial, Toronto, flagship of Fam¬ ous Players, has undergone a flattening. This has been in line with an order by Toronto City Council calling for the re¬ moval of projecting signs on the street which the house faces. Adjustments are being made similarly at Twentieth Cen¬ tury Theatres’ Downtown, Loew’s, and the Biltmore. The Imperial’s name sign has been moved to a position at the edge of the roof where it can be seen for long distances up and down the thoroughfare, while the once-effective marquee is now almost flush with the facade, making it most readable from across the street. The matter of the Canadian Broad¬ casting Corporation and the National Film Board coming into closer liaison in the TV field is seen with the organization of a special parliamentary committee set up to study the NFB. Harold Bishop and R. D. Hurwitz are planning the sixth annual meeting of the Manitoba Motion Picture Exhibitors Asso¬ ciation set for June 2 in the Frontenac Room of the Royal Alexandra Hotel. Winnipeg. The meeting, being chaired by President Dave Rothstein, will include a discussion of a variety of industry prob¬ lems. A banquet will be held during the evening. A big crowd attended a special preview of “The Pride Of St. Louis” at the Odeon Carlton, Toronto. The preview was plug¬ ged for almost 10 days in advance over a local radio station by all its disc jockeys. The radio station owner also owns the Technicians of Photophone Equipments Limited, RCA International Division associate company, who recently installed the RCA equipment in the Cine Technicians' Open Air Cinema at the Inter¬ national Film Festival in India are seen above, seated, left to right, R. Srinivasan, S. J. Mullan, and T. V. Hagarajan. H. S. Hadhava Rao stands. Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team so the preview was made all the more effective because of the tieup, with baseball caps, hot dogs, and soft drinks being given away gratis by the manufacturers whose prod¬ ucts are sold in the ball park. Responsible for the tieup were Sam Glasier, 20th-Fox, and Wannie Tyers, Odeon. A revision of a City of Toronto by-law which would have required theatres to provide one parking space for every six seats was effected by Joseph Singer, speaking for the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Toronto. The revision now provides that one parking space be re¬ quired for every 10 seats, though the the¬ atres asked it be made on a basis of every 12 seats. Casey Swedlove and his Linden, Ottawa, were formally committed for trial on a charge of conducting a lottery in Ottawa. The case arose from payment of $180 to a patron of the theatre for pho¬ tograph under the “Foto-Nite” plan. Canadian Clips: Winnipeg motion pic¬ ture men were cooperating with the Be¬ nevolent Fund of the Canadian Picture Pioneers by not running midnight shows on the eve of Victoria Day. Two such shows, at the Odeon and Garrick, were to be held for the fund at that time by the Winnipeg district of the organization at midnight on May 23. . . . Fred A. Cripps, for six years representative in British Columbia for Ansco, Canada, Limited, has become managing director, succeeding George H. Giles, resigned, who joined a radio manufacturing firm. . . . Gene Fitzgibbons, Kent, Windsor, is the newest member of the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario. Two Israeli films, shown in Toronto, were in opposition to each other. The Towne Cinema had RKO’s “Faithful City” while “Long Is The Road” played at the Royal Alexandra with a reserved seat policy. . . . The Moncton Drive-In opens in June. . . . John J. Fitzgibbons, Jr., Theatre Confections, Limited, heads the softball league of the industry. Teams include representation from Famous Play¬ ers’ head office, the film distributors, the projectionists’ union, Theatre Confec¬ tions, Limited, and Twentieth Century Theatres. . . . Dr. Roger Manvell, British ( Continued on page 22) May 28, 1952