Exhibitors Herald (1927)

July 30, 1927 EXHIBITORS HERALD 15 B & K Deal On To Take Over Control of L & T Theatres Report Plan Calls For Closing Smaller Houses Ascher Brothers Dispose of Twelve Out of Eighteen Theatres Operated Year Ago Negotiations between Balaban & Katz and Lubliner & Trinz whereby B & K through Publix will take over the 25 theatres of L & T in Chicago were confirmed Monday by executives at the offices of both circuits. Report Plan to Close Small Houses Asked about reports current in Chicago film circles that the proposed deal would have as its objectives the physical amalgamation of the L & T chain, in which B & K already has half interest, and the shutting down of the smaller theatres of the former, an executive of B & K said he preferred not to make any statement. McAuley Named Head Of Equipment Order /. E. McAuley was elected president of the Theatre Equipment Association at the annual meeting of the organization in New York City July 18 and 19. Complete details of the business sessions of the conclave will appear in "Better Theatres" next week. Bandits Make 2 Theatres Victims; Carry Out Safe ( St'eciat to the Herald) DETROIT, July 26. — ^Two motion picture theatres here were the victims of thefts last week, a safe containing $330 being taken from one of them and removed to a barn, where the bandits were frightened away after vainly trying to open it. In the other theft, $200 in receipts was procured. The safe was stolen during the night from the Your theatre but was recovered, unopened, when neighbors, aroused by pounding noises in the barn, called the police. The $200 was obtained from the La Salle Garden theatre, when one bandit held up Julia Siemer, cashier, with a revolver, then jumped into a slowly passing automobile manned by his accomplice. Gordon Page, doorman, witnessed the robbery. **Peter the Hermit** Sues Car ewe Group in Contract Dispute (Special to the Herald) HOLLYWOOD, July 26.— “Peter the Hermit,” one of Hollywood’s most picturesque characters, has brought suit against Edwin Carewe, Harry D. Wilson, and Count Ilya Tolstoy for $130,000 for alleged breach of contract. He states he was promised the leading role in ■“Resurrection,” but the part was assigned to Rod LaRoeque. The “Hermit’s” real name is Peter Howard. He lives in the hills back of Hollywood subsisting on vegetables and herbs. He appeared in “The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” and “Souls in Bondage” several years ago. He is a native of Ireland. Carewe Productions will file answer to the complaint this week. United Artists Issues Expensive Brochure on New Season* s Product (Special to the Herald) NEW YORK, July 26. — United Artists has issued an expensive brochure announcing its 1927-28 program, and it is now being mailed to the press and exhibitors throughout the country. Theatre men throughout the country see a possible direct effect from the working out of the Chicago situation upon other cities in which Publix operates. They are half-expecting similar absorption of lesser circuits with a weeding out of the smaller theatres. The B & K plan in the L & T negotiations, according to the reports, is to shut down a number of the small neighborhood houses and gradually educate the neighborhood audiences to patronize the firstrun theatres located in the neighborhoods or downtown. Three of the L & T houses are first-runs. Aschers Unloading Theatres L & T theatres reported slated to be closed after proposed transaction are the Michigan, Oak Park, Paramount, Pershing, Vitagraph, West End, Wilson, Madison Square, Lakeside, Knickerbocker, Covent, Biograph and several others. It is understood that in cases where the theatres would be dropped the property would be put to nontheatrical use, such as alteration into stores for either sale or lease. Among other developments of importance in Chicago theatre circles is the gradual unloading of Ascher Brothers theatre holdings. Twelve of the eighteen houses which the Aschers operated up to a year ago have been disposed of, the most recent deals having been the sales of the Metropolitan, Highland and Colony to “Big Parade” Breaks Cleveland House Mark (Special to the Herald) CLEVELAND, July 26.— "The Big Parade” is creating a sensation in Cleveland, according to reports from that city. At the Stillman theatre, where the MetroGoldwyn-Mayer war picture opened Sunday, July 17, at popular prices, crowds of record size were lined on the sidewalk until late at night, and the box office clicked the highest receipts ever recorded for a picture of that length. Popular demand for the picture, which had been shown in Cleveland twice before, increased during the week. the National Playhouses (Cooney Brothers). The Metropolitan, Frolic, Lane Court and others have been sold to individual owners. Of the six now being operated, reports have it that the new Sheridan has been sold to B & K, though continuing under Ascher operation, but these reports have not been confirmed. Another report is to the effect that Marks Brothers has entered into an agreement to operate several of the theatres originally controlled by the Andrew Karzas Enterprises, one of them the Woodlawn. It is also rumored that Marks Brothers will build on several sites owned by Karzas, with the latter to have a financial interest in the holding company. $2,500,000 Cooney Bond Issue The Cooneys have obtained an issue of $2,500,000 first and refunding mortgage gold bonds, series A, to yield 6^2 per cent, and to be floated by G. E. Barrett & Co., New York, and Frederick Pierce & Co., Philadelphia. The purpose is partly to call in $410,000 of outstanding issues, and partly to complete the Avalon, now being erected on the South Side. Part will also go for other corporate uses. None of this money will be used to invade the loop. The Cooneys plan to come into the loop, but not before the first of the year at the earliest. The original loop project, calling for a lease in a skyscraper office-theatre building on Monroe, a short distance from State, is still pending but is made dubious by the lack of room for enough seats, as 5,000 capacity is desired. One other desirable loop site is now being considered. With completion of the 2,400 seat Avalon, Cooneys will have ten South Side houses, with a total seating capacity exceeding 20,600. Keith-Albee Opening 20 Theatres in Fall Ouststanding among theatre developments in other parts of the country are the plans of Keath-Albee and affiliated circuits to open twenty new theatres by fall, the first being the B. F. Keith Memorial theatre in Boston. Twelve will be in Greater New York. All will be combination houses. Another chain is in prospect in New York State with Len Garvey of Clinton at the hand. He is building at New Hartford and plans to have seven theatres at the outset.