The Independent Film Journal (1954)

LOS ANGELES (cont'd.) mantled. . . . Arnold Shaak installed the latest CinemaScope equipment in his Ramona Theatre. . . . Madison Sehwer, for the past eight years comptroller for Lippert, opened his own production accounting service at 145 N. Robertson Blvd., Beverlv Hills. . . . The 800-car Skyway Drive-In, which recently opened in Las Vegas, Nev., will shortly get a wide screen and stereophonic sound. . . . Arthur Stern is the new mgr. of S-W’s Downtown Theatre in L.A. MIAMI Mrs. Edward Claughton has “Knock On Wood’’ set for six weeks at the Royal and Variety. . . . Tommy Knowles, relief mgr. for the Claughtons, now mgr. of the Embassy. . . . “Pinocchio” returned to the Florida, Sheridan and Coral. . . . Y.M.C.A. is going all out to give the youth of Miami a break by running theatre parties at the Royal and Variety Theatres The councilors ai*e admitted free and the first group of 300 were given one-third off the regular admission. . . . Bur¬ ton Clark of Wometeo is running special classes for managers of the circuit on “what to do until the repair man arrives.” MILWAUKEE The theatre collection drive of Variety Tent #14 will take place during the last week of July. Its goal is $50,000 for their Marquette Heart Clinic. Variety also made plans for its annual outing and golf tourna¬ ment to be held Sept. 13 at the Brynwood Country Club, with John Mednikow as chairman. . . . WTNJ-TV will be presenting 26 feature length movies especially for TV, which will eventually be released to thea¬ tres. Two have already been shown over the local Radio City Cinema program at 10:30 p.m. . . . Recently married was Tony Kolin¬ ski, booker at Warner’s. . . . L. F. Gran, pres, of Gran Ents., was married to his secretary, Ann Claire Stolga. . . . Ervin Morris, Moscoda Theatre, Muscoda, named his new son Larry Roy. . . . Eugene Anacker, 60, former projectionist at the FoxUptown, passed away. MINNEAPOLIS Work is progressing on Alex King’s new drive-in at Belle Fourche, S. D. . . . Charles The Rogers family — lovely Cheryl, Dale and Roy — and their little guest from Scotland, Marilyn Fleming, arrive at Hollywood's Egyptian Theatre for the world premiere of Warner's CinemaScope and WamerColor production "King Richard and the Crusaders." Jackson, Warner salesman, entertained the office staff at his summer home at Balsam Lake, Wis. It’s an annual affair. . . . D. A. Olson has opened his new 400-car Green Lake Drive-In at Spicer, Minn. . . . Frosch Theatre Supply installed a new wide screen in the Hollywood, Mpls., and the Heights in suburban Columbia Heights, along with anamorphic lenses, also a wide screen, high intensity lamps and power source in the Dale, St. Paul. Howard Goldman, operator of the White Bear at White Bear Lake, Minn., is re¬ covering this theatre’s seats and installing a wide screen. . . . Minn. Amuse. Co. is considering the installation of CinemaScope equipment in the Lyric so that pictures can be moved over from the 4,000-seat Radio City. . . . “Gone With the Wind” broke all house records at the loop Gopher. . . . “The Living Desert” was held over for a seventh week at the World. NEW HAVEN Groton area residents who filed an appeal to prevent building of an open air theatre there lost out when Judge Wm. J. Shea of Superior Court upheld State Police Com¬ missioner John C. Kelly’s action in grant¬ ing permission for the ozoner. . . . Jack Simons, a former mgr. of Loew’s Poli, Hartford, and more recently in theatre operations in Pittsburgh, joined StanleyWarner as mgr. of the first-run Palace, South Norwalk. . . . Harry Corlew, relief mgr. during illness of R. W. Barrett, Cap¬ itol, Willimantic, moved to Strand, Hart¬ ford, as asst. mgr. Nutmeg Theatres, Inc., 1 Lincoln St., New Haven, filed certificate of incorporation listing as officers Norman Bialek, Leonard Sampson and Robert C. Spodick, who oper¬ ate the Crown and Lincoln, New Haven; Art Cinema, Bridgeport; Fine Arts, Westport; and Norwalk and Empress, Norwalk. . . Hugh J. Campbell, mgr. of the Central Theatre, W. Hartford, is marking his 35th year in the industry. . . . Ernie Grecula resigned from Hartford Theatre Circuit to become office mgr. of the Symphony Society of Greater Hartford. Grecula had been serving as adpub mgr. and also mgr. of the Colonial Theatre. . . . Backers of the -East Hartford Drive-In, South Windsor, had to push back opening from July 15 to early August because of last-minute construction changes. The Dreamland, New Haven, closed for more than a year, has relighted. The DeLucia interests leased the suburban house to Vincent Terrazzano and Larry Cerrito. . . Conn, show business honoring retiring 20th-Fox branch mgr. Ben A. Simon with a testimonial dinner on July 20 at Waverly Inn, Cheshire. . . . Harry F. Shaw, div. mgr. of Loew’s Poli-New Eng. Theas., is serving as entertainment chairman for a benefit revue at the Yale Bowl on Aug. 3, with proceeds to go to the family of police officer Ralph Palma. . . . Return of “Duel in the Sun” has been set for New England Theas’. Paramount, New Haven, and Allyn, Hartford. NEW ORLEANS Floyd Murphy, who has been operating the Strand, Vicksburg, Miss., under lease from Paramount Gulf, effected a cancella¬ tion and returned the house to its former owners. . . . The Albany, Miss, drive-in on Ilyway 78 was opened with Bill Bryant as mgr. . . . Harold Cohen, Lippert Pictures of La., has been awarded the franchise for distribution of “Duel in the Sun” in this territory. NEW YORK World premiere of Columbia’s “On the Waterfront,” made by Elia Kazan, will be held at the Astor Theatre on July 28. . . . Alfred Hitchcock’s “Rear Window” will launch reopening of the Rivoli Theatre on Aug. 4 with a world premiere to benefit the American-Korean Foundation. . . . Fred J. Schwartz, president of Century Circuit, moved his New York office to 1560 Broad¬ way. Plans are under way to add 12 feet more depth to the screen at the Roxy Theatre as an experiment in connection with the improved CinemaScope lens, hoping thereby to give the viewer a greater sense of partici¬ pation. . . . The home office and managerial staff of Walter Reade Theatres will honor their president, Walter Reade, Jr., with a five week “President’s Month Drive” from Aug. 5 through Sept. 8. . . . U-I’s Techni¬ color “Magnificent Obsession” will have its N.Y. premiere on Aug. 4 at Loew’s State Theatre. . . . Mrs. Irene Savini, wife of Robert Savini, pres, of Astor Pictures, passed away last week. PHILADELPHIA Nate Milgram is now operating his own Deluxe Theatres Booking & Buying Service at 237 N. 13th St., and is presently servic¬ ing the Taft, Olyphant; Favini, Scranton, Liberty, Exeter, Pa., and the Blackwood in Blackwood, N. J. . . . Branch mgr. Charles Beilan is being honored by the local Warner exchange by having Aug. 22-28 dedicated to him as “Charles Beilan Week.” . . . Blue Bird Theatre, which is now play¬ ing Spanish films, has gone on a week-end policy for the rest of the summer. . . . Jack Engel, Screen Guild, attended a meeting of Lippert franchise holders in N. Y. . . . John Kenneth Kreamer, mgr. of Savar’s Rio Theatre in Camden for the past four years, died at the age of 54. Shep Bloom was upped from salesman to sales mgr. at 20th-Fox following promotion of Herman Hirschhorn to branch mgr. of the New Haven office. Hi Bettinger replaces Bloom as salesman here. . . . Ray Schwartz reopened the Walton Theatre after renovat¬ ing it completely. . . . Atty. Harry Norman is asking the Supreme Court to review the During a break at RKO's two-day regional sales meeting at the Warwick Hotel, N.Y., are (1. to r.): Barney Pitkin, New Haven; Nat Levy, easternsouthern div. sales mgr.; and Dave Silverman, Pittsburgh. 26 THE INDEPENDENT FILM JOURNAL— July 24. 1954