Motion Picture News (Jan - Mar 1928)

March I I II :.> S <M>7 Des Moines I^'^ 1 \< S 'I NA'IION'AL, wliicli had a Irail in tlu' liovvliiiH I'nntcst aiiKiiifj till' I )(.'S MoiiH'S i'lliii .exchanges, took a cropper last wfi-k when they lost three straiKl't k;i""-'s to Paramount, their closest rivals. This places Paramount in the lead by about one sami' 'llic First National team ascribe their defeat to the fact that b'lmer Tilton, manayrr of the I'irst National office and ■captain of the howling' team, went 1o lodge meeting and was not witli the bowlers last week. C. S. liaker of the (Irand theatre at (irand River, Iowa, recently made one of his rare visits to Des Moines. Harry Frankel, manager of the office of FBO, is not yet recovered from the effects of a l)ad attack of the "flai." Tie has been down to the ■office but is just able to give full time again, Tom North, representing; Timely Pilms, spent three days in Des Moines at the Pathe office. He is making a four weeks' tour of ex■changes. From here he goes to Omaha. The stafT of Paramount had a l)articularly nice party at the Boimie Mac Tearoom last Saturday. There was dancing and the wives, husbands and sweethearts were included. R. M. Copcland, manager of the Paramount office, was in charge of arrangements for the party. Dorothy Day, in charge of publicity for the houses of the A. H. Blank independent chain, was in Ames tn ciinl'cr with joe Benjamin flerbracht in urijrr to work fur better newspaper ('■ (ip 'ration there. Mr. (ierbracht has eh irge of three theatres there for the Common wealth Theatres t'ompany. A. J. Bissig, who was formerly with h'ox at the Des Moines ollice, is nf)w salesman for (dlnnibia I 'ictnres. Visitors in I'ilni Row were I. \\. M.ilbews of I'-lniore. Min'i., Joe I'enjamin ( ierbr.iclu of Ames, wlii> called at the Paramount office. Tnmes Martin of the Willard a'ld S'rand theatres at Creston, Iowa, C.I I led at the Universal office. Peter Krauth, who has been manager of the Opera House at Dem'son, Iowa, since its ojv.'ning recently resigned his position there. He was succeeded !)y Earl Dunlap of Denison, who now has the management of the house. fleorge Cohen has bong''* the Princess theatre at West Union, Iowa, which was operated by Pace and Bauma. The Palace and Grand at Muscatine, Iowa, which have been in charge of the Capitol F,nter])rises, are to be organized in a new association. Details of the new organization have not been completed but it is known that R. M. Shamburg will act as president of the new organization. Lionel Wasson. who is the assistant manager at the Canitol theatre in Des Moines, has had a wide experience in the film business in his few years. \\'e prophesy he will go far in tin film trade. He started as usher for his father at one nf ibe Shiili;irt lir>iises at Mailville, III lie is assistant to Nate I'rudciilejd ;it the Capitol theatre. Miss ( i|li( Reese, secretary to Manager Frankel of the I-'RO o'fCice, reports that her father, who was badly hurt in an accident in the mines, is now getting along nicely. Brooke Tillswfirth. wIk) was formerly with Pathe in Omaha, is now salesman out of the Des Moines office He will have Block B of the northern part of the state. The Opcr.i House at Barnes C"ity changed banrls last week. Ross King sold tlic the.'ifre tn K. E. Moore. The theatre ;it Inwood. Iowa, is to be operated by the American Legion there. Dana L. Stearns has sold the Strand theatre at Mount VVernon, Iowa, to Lawrence West, Seven Towa theatres have contracted for the installation of the V'itaphone which will be in operation liefore fall. The Cai>it-ol theatre at Sioux City started work of installing the equipment on March 1 and the Columbia at Davenport will be the next house on the list. .At Des Moines there has been some debate as to where the Vitaphone should be installed and the Des Moines theatre was selected after some debate. These three are BlankPublix houses. .Athers which will install the \'itanhone are four of the Central States theatres, the I'alacc at .Mason Ciiv. Ilie liiiglcrt at Iowa City, the Riallo at Fort Dodge and the Riallo at Cliiilnn, Work has slartefl on the instal lation at the l*'orl Dodge house, George W. Sampson has lieen given supervision of the Des Xtoiiu's office of Columbia with head(|iiarters at C>malia. .Mr. .Sampson was an exhibitor at Detroit before he was salesman frir I'athe. Ijiler as manager he won the 192.^ national prize for office efficiency and sales. A slinnp in business in genera! in Seymour, Iowa, has resulted in the closing of the theatre there. Earl Hook is the owner of the theatre at Seymour. The Exhibitors Poster Cf)mnany has now located in the same block with the Film F.xchange Building at the olfl Standard Chemical Com pany"s offices. Joe and Meyer Stern have charge of the organization and Dr. I^ssar of Omaha is also on the staff. I'". W. Holt of the Princess at Montezuma spent several days in Des Moines last week. Mr. Holt reports that bad roads hurt business. Fort Dodge now has six theatres operating again. The Plaza theatre was recently sold bv W'ilev Olstott to Mr. Schultz. Mr. Ofstott has just returned frf)m a visit in the west. Mr. Weise, who formerly operated here, has bought the Lyric theatre at Fort Dodge and the Princess theatre is onen on three days a week. George Gilnian is in charge of the Princess. Central Penn PETER MAGARO, pioneer motion picture theatre owner of Harrisburg, who several years ago leased the Regent Theatre. Alarket street, near Fourth, to the Loew interests, confirmed reports on March 10th that he has completed negotiations with the Samuel A. Holman estate, for the purchase of an "L" shaped property which divides his present extensive holdings at Fourth and Market streets. With -what he owned before the deal this gives him a very valuable plot fronting 76 feet on Market Street and extending 180 feet along Fourth street, close to the Regent theatre, and in the very heart of Harrisburg's business district. Mr. Magaro declines to state what what he intends to do with the property, which includes a number of stores and apartments, and a large, modern dance hall. There are unconfirmed rumors that he will build a theatre there. Other reports are that a large modern hotel is contemplated. A Han-a-plione device, the first of its kind in any Harrisburg thea tre, has just been installed by Manager Schemberger, at the National, Sixth and Dauphin streets. It was used the first time during the week of March 5 in connection with the feature film, "The Gay Defender," with Richard Dix. Miles G. Engleman, who, with his partner. Dr. F. R. Lichtenwalner, operated the Pen-Lo theatre, in Eniaus, under the name of the Ptnn Counties Amusement Company-, has bought out Dr. Lichtenwalner's interest in the property, and will continue to conduct the theatre as an individual. J. P. Mc.Ardle is remodeling the Pastime theatre, of Bethlehem, which has been closed for two years, and will reopen it on April 1 under the name of the ^'ictor. Matinee and night performances will be held daily. The Nathan Appell Amusement Enterprises, which control a chain of theatres in York and vicinity, have adopted a plan of issuing a weekly "Theatre News," which will be distributed in all the Appell theatres. It will contain news of the various programs and general in formation re<:rarding motion pictures and stars. To devote his entire time to playing organs in theatres, Robert C. Hencke, or.eanist in Loew's Colonial, in Reading, has resigned his post as organist of St. Joseph's Catholic church in that city, which he had held for about twenty years. Nathan .Anpell, head of the Nathan .Aui:>ell Amusement Enterprises, of York, has returned from the Pacific Coast, where he spent several months for the benefit of his health. The directors of the J. V. Schreck theatre Company, of Ashland, who recentlv announced plans for the erection of a new $200,000 theatre in that city, to be known as the "Temple," have awarded the contract for the structure to Georee C. White, of Ashland. William H. Lee, of Philadelphia, is the architect, and work on the excavations will begin at once. Valentine C. Luppert, owner of the new Park theatre, Williamsport, which is just being completed, has announced that this modern photoplay house will be formally ojjened on Marcb 26. with an elaborate program lasting all week. T'e dedicatory programs will inclu'e organ recitals by George R. Bouchard, a widely known theatrical organist, formerly of Williamsport and now of Buffalo. Robert Mix — no relation of Tom — has been appointed resident manager of the Park. He was formerly chief projectionist at the Keystone, also in Williamsport. The ballroom, which Mr. Luppert is putting in another portion of the same building, will be readv for opening earlv in Alay. In an exchange transaction involving $40,000, William R. Terkel has conveyed to H. J. Shapiro a garage in the Beechview section of Pittsburgh, for another building, and it is announced that Mr. Shapiro intends to remove the garage and improve the site with a modern motion picture theatre. The Academy of Music, in Williamstown, Dauphin county, has been reopened as a motion picture theatre by John R. Hancock, who operates the Lyric in the same town. He recently purchased the Academy from Donnelly & Kurtz.