Exhibitors Herald (Dec 1924-Mar 1925)

March 7, 1925 EXHIBITORS HERALD 63 ment have resulted in the collecting of considerable more revenue from a number of Toronto moving picture theatres that had not charged sufficiently for the amusement tax, according to an announcement by Hon. W. H. Price, provincial treasurer, who said that the Ontario act was quite hard to enforce. The Amusement Tax branch had checked up on those who had been short in their payments. . . . There were no attempts to heat the tax on the part of the exhibitors, it was announced, and no prosecutions were made, but, in some instances, the tax had not been up to the amount required by the law. Effectual steps have been taken to collect the whole amount prescribed. fiXCBWGE PLACE CALT lake CITY, UTAH.— Complete arrangements have been made for the second annual banquet for the members of the Intermountain Film Board of Trade, March 6. Big doin’s. Regular weekly meeting of the board comes first ; then the big spread. George E. Forrester, manager of the local Advertising club, and managers of the exchanges will speak. The committee in charge consists of Samuel Henley, Universal manager, chairman; W. G. Seib, Bathe manager and L. A. Davis, F. B. O. manager, members. All branch managers, salesmen, and male bookers will attend. Division managers have been invited. . . . Louis Marcus, Western division manager for Famous, is vacationing at the Del Monte golf links in California. . . . H. W. Braly, Famous manager, and F. S. Gulbransen, salesman, have been stirring up sales in Idaho. . . . Harry Lustig, division manager for Metro-Goldwyn, was here yesterday on his way to Los Angeles from Denver. . . . George L. Cloward, M-G local manager, is hitting the key centers of Idaho and Montana the next two weeks. . . . R. S. Stockhouse, Vitagraph manager, is spending the week in central Utah. ... E. A. Eschmann, Associated First National general manager, will be here soon from New York CiK on his annual trip of all exchanges. He will confer with W. F. Gordon, local manager. . . . Clayton D. Parker, Idaho salesman, and Claude Hawkes, Utah man for First National, in this week. . . . "Doc” Holah arrived from Idaho yesterday. . . C. L. Walker, Fox salesman, came in from his Idaho territory. . . . E. R. Wicker is going to open a new house at Delta, Utah, which will be his second theatre there. . . . John J. Gillette, Strand theatre, Tooele; A. L. Stallings, Kinema theatre, Richfield; and Gordon Thornberg, Bluebird theatre, Garfield, are visitors at exchanges this week. . . . Representative Petty, legislator and exhibitor at Hurricane, Utah, has been called home on account of the death of his father. . . . Buck Wade now has charge of Producers Distributing offices at Butte, Mont. He was formerly with Bathe. . . . Jack Rue, formerly Producers manager at Butte, is in the Portland territory. Producers will open an office there for the Oregon country which Rue will manage. . . . Carl Stern is making his first territorial trip this week since opening United Artists branch exchange here last week. . . . Doug in “Thief of Bagdad” opens at Paramount Empress theatre here week after next at a 50 cent admission price. . . . A nifty light arrangement this Here’s a Just Showman Doing Real Justice FAIRMONT, MINN., Feb. 24. — W. L. Nichols, popular Southern Minnesota exhibitor, is making a great hit in the role of justice of peace here. Justice Nichols has played to turnaway business since he took a hand in a squabble between the East Chain school janitor and the faculty. It seems that Justice Nichols must decide whether the janitor is competent and in the meantime the school is closed because of interest in the case. The first day of the trial brought a capacity house and on the second day turnaway business. Justice Nichols, like any good showman, obtained the largest court room but found that too small. Exhibitor Nichols, who conducts Fairmont's largest picture theatre in his nonjudicial moments, has received notice that there would be more than 40 witnesses in the case. week at the American theatre for First National’s “What Man Desires” resulted in wonderful business the first day. . . . C. G. Epperson, Famous southern Utah salesman, will show Hugh Braly around his territory next week. SEATTLE, WASH. — John J. Sullivan, Fox manager in this territory, has been elected president of the Seattle Film Board of Trade, succeeding Charles Harden, manager of United Artists, who became president upon the death of Paul G. Lynch, Pathe manager. M. J. Schalaifer, manager of Universal, was elected vice president, and Mrs. R. B. Lynch was named secretary, succeeding Miss A. K. McCullough. . . . Activity of the Film Board of Trade has been stimulating interest recently in fire prevention. The fire prevention committee, composed of J. A. Gage, manager of Educational, and J. J. {“Jack”) Sullivan, Fox, visited exchanges a few days ago and found Seattle ranking high in precautionary measures. . . February is Vitagraph month, and there is a brisk contest on among the exchanges throughout the country. The Seattle offices expect to give other branches stiff competition and Manager H. A. Black is working hard with excellent results. . . Third Avenue received a visit last week from W. R. Wadell, exhibitor of Duncan, B. C. . . B. F. Shearer has landed the contract for equipping the Colonial theatre with new chairs of the latest opera design. . . Chas. H. Feldman, manager of Producers Distributing, held a successful preview of “Charlie’s Aunt” at the Liberty theatre here February 4, and a similar preview at the Clemmer theatre, Spokane, the following week. Audiences in both instances were enthusiastic over the picturization of the comedy, states Mr. Feldman. . . Carl Stern, for merly manager of the local offices of MetroGoldwyn, will open his new United Artists exchange at Salt Lake February 27. On this date the change takes place whereby the Seattle offices handle the Montana business. Seattle will serve the Missoula section, and Salt Lake the balance of the state. There will be no interruption in service. When Arthur H. Huot, manager of Film Booking Office, returned from the Los Angeles convention the other day, he called in his sales force for a conference and to tell about the great convention gathering. . . Ned Martin, Univer sal’s western sales director, held a conference at the local offices a few days ago, and among those who attended were George Jackson^ Portland manager, accompanied by Matt Skorey and Ed Hudson of his sales staff. Fred Gage, Western division manager, and Jack Schalaifer, manager of the local offices, also were present. . . . D. J. Chatkin, Educational sales manager, was a recent Seattle visitor, who came to hold a sales conference with J. A. Gage, manager of the local offices. ^ " ■ llll t2T. LOUIS, MO.— Rumor has it that the new St. Louis theatre, Grand boulevard at Morgan street, now under construction, will be a vaudeville house playing Junior Orpheum acts instead of a feature motion picture house and that the Rialto, now playing Junior Orpheum, will become a first run picture house when the St. Louis opens. . . . W. E. {Billy) Truog, new division manager for Universal, has been assigned the territory which includes St. Louis, Des Moines and Omaha, and spent the past week here. . . . 0. F. Lessing, former office manager for the local Selznick office and more recently booker for MetroGoldwyn-Mayer, has resigned from his Metro post to join Jack Weil Productions. Lessing worked for Weil when he was manager for Selznick. . . . Charley Werner, manager for Metro-Goldwyn, is confined to his home by illness. The boys along Picture Row are hoping for his speedy recovery. . . . E. L. {Eddie) Alperson, former branch manager here for Universal, has joined as a special representative and has gone to New York for assignment. . . . Roy Dickson, Associated Exhibitors manager has decided to name that big boy of his ^‘Junior.” . . . Jack Underwood of Enterprise is as busy as a cat on a tin roof during a sleet storm ; what, with a lot of new pictures on his hands shipped from the home office. . . . Barney Rosenthal, Nat Steinberg & Company and Columbia Pictures Corporation, are getting ready for a big celebration of their first anniversary which will occur in March. They are staging a March Month in honor of the occasion and have booked many first runs on new features for the month. . . . Lous Stahl put on a Jubilee celebration at his Union theatre, Union and Easton avenues, February 15. . . . S. J. Hankin of Educational Pictures reports that the new Crossword Puzzle pictures being distributed by his exchange are going big in this territory. . . . Wesley Barry, appearing in person in conjunction with his latest feature, “Battling Bunyan,” being released through Associated Exhibitors, is going big in the local territory. . . . C. D. Hill of Producers Distributing Corporation went to Chicago to attend a sales convention. . . . Lee Landau of Granite City, III, visited Moberly and Sedalia, Mo., during the week to give a musical act the double-0. Lee is figuring