Motion Picture Daily (Jan-Mar 1944)

12 Motion Picture Daily Tuesday, March 21, 1944 'Arms' at $108,000 In 3rd Week Here Leads N.Y. Grosses Manpower Shortage Is Severe in Memphis Area (.Continued from page 1) up well with $108,000 on its third week with $71,500 taken in on the first four days. The bill will hold for a fourth week. Also showing good staying power is "Lady in the Dark" at the Paramount, with $90,000 expected in the fourth week. The picture and a stage show headed by Xavier Cugat and band are set to hold for a fifth week. The second week of "The Purple Heart" and a stage bill featuring Count Basie and his band and Carol Bruce and Zero Mostel at the Roxy will yield $83,000 and will hold over. "Shine On, Harvest Moon," with Russ Morgan and his orchestra and Borrah Minnevitch and his "Harmonica Rascals" on the stage at the Strand will do about $50,000 on a second week and the bill will hold over. The single week for "Chip Off the Old Block" at the Capitol with a stage bill is expected to yield $47,500. M-G-M's "The Heavenly Body" and a stage show featuring Jimmy Durante and Bonita Granville will open at the Capitol Thursday. 'Song' at $47,500 The eighth week of "The Song of Bernadette" at the Rivoli will do about $47,500 and will continue. The final five days of the tenth week of "Lifeboat" at the Astor, ending Sunday night, brought approximately $8,800. M-G-M's "See Here, Private Hargrove," will start a run at the Astor tomorrow after a Red Cross premiere tonight. Fifth week of "Passage to Marseille" at the Hollywood will gross about $21,000 and it will continue. The first week of "Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves" at the Palace is expected to be $35,000 and will hold over. "Ladies Courageous" will do approximately $24,500 on its first week at the Criterion and will hold for a second. Initial week of "The Fighting Seabees" at the Globe is expected to yield about $25,000 ; the picture will hold. Claimed to be a non-holiday house record, "Voice in the Wind" is headed for $17,000 on its first week at the Victoria. The picture has been set for several weeks at the theatre. "The Falcon Out West" will do about $7,500 on its single week at the Rialto. The M-G-M-released documentary, "Tunisian Victory" will open at the Rialto on Friday. Monogram's "Women in Bondage" will open at the renovated Central Theatre, renamed the Gotham, on Saturday when the theatre joins first-run outlets. M-G-M's "Whistling in Brooklyn" will open at the State on Thursday. Storm Hits Business In Cincinnati Area Cincinnati, March 20. — The heaviest snow, sleet and freezing rain storm in several seasons has affected theatre attendance appreciably in the entire territory, making driving hazardous due to icy roads and halting intercity transportation. There has, however, been no halt in film deliveries. Chaplin Trial Today Hollywood, March 20— Charles Chaplin goes on trial in Federal Court here tomorrow on charge of violating the Mann Act in October, 1942. (Continued from page 1) Norman J. Colquhoun of Republic Pictures said : "It's tough. We're losing continually to the Army and to defense jobs. There's not an exchange in town that doesn't have a turnover every week. I never even get to know my employes' names anymore, so fast do they come and go." Many of the women being hired are also extremely impermanent, Colquhoun added, pointing out that an exchange will just finish training a new woman employe and she will leave. Words Can't Explain "Words can't explain how short we are," Ed Williamson of Warner Bros, declared. "I am working with only one man in our offices in addition to three salesmen and myself, and I have" only one man in the shipping department. I hire girls, but they're always leaving. Many go to join husbands in service. We've been cleaned out three times in the last year in the booking department." T. W. Young of 20th Century-Fox, J. J. Rogers of Columbia, Al Avery of RKO, Louis Ingram of MetroGoldwyn-Mayer, James Pritchard of Universal and Bailey Pritchard of Monogram all have been having the same trouble. A reception for M-G-M at the Variety Club recently was attended by some 35 women employes and less than 10 men including a local newspaper man and visiting M-G-M officials from Atlanta. Seventy-five to 90 of all film exchange employes here are women. Equipment Situation Bad The theatre equipment situation, while serious, is not causing theatre managers of the area quite as much worry as the manpower situation. New equipment is practically unheard of, but theatres are managing to keep operating by keeping old equipment in repair. "It takes a lot of patching," Robert L. Bostick. manager of National Theatre Supply, reports, "but we're keeping the established houses operating 3iid their owners don't have to worry about anv new competition. The big shortage is in cooling equipment, especially freon gas, vacuum equipment and chairs." There has been little effort to Edinaton, Others in Wilmer Circuit Bid (Continued from page 1) interest in the circuit," said Vincent, "and there have been some conversations ; but there have been no actual negotiations." The W. and V. group is of the oldest independent circuits in the business and numbers among its operations the Colonial, Rialto and State at Allentown ; State, Altoona ; Embassy and State, Easton ; Colonial, Rio and State, Harrisburg; Embassy and Ritz, Readine : Embassy, Johnsf"wn. and Penn., West Reading, all in Pennsylvania, and the Granby and Norva at Norfold and Carillom, Colonial, Lee, National and Park in Richmond, Virginia. change over from freon to some other cooling agent since an employe of a Memphis theatre was killed in an explosion several months ago. "As they run out of freon, they're going back to their old blowers," Bostick said. M. A. Lightman, president of the 80-house Malco circuit, reports his equipment needs are not serious. "We stocked up," he said, "when we could." "This last draft," he said, "is hitting us, though. Our big shortage is ushers and we're using some girls. However, we don't use ushers in the smaller houses." Women Managers A number of women have become managers for Malco. In Memphis, Mrs. Eddie Mae Baker became manager and Mrs. Nell McClaran assistant manager of Malco's first and second run downtown houses months ago. Mrs. Carrie Carimi is managing the Malco Capital and Mrs. Catherine Parham the Malco Joy. Mrs. E. W. Elrod is assistant manager of the downtown Malco, first run here. Over the circuit several women managers have been appointed, Herb Kohn, general manager reports, and some three or four more will be appointed within a few weeks. Mrs. Harry Gilliland has replaced her husband at Camden, Ark. ; Mrs. Harold Thomas has taken over for her husband at Fulton, Ky. ; Mrs. Roy Evans, wife of a newspaper man, is the manager at Newport, Ark. At Paragould, Mrs. Orris Collins has taken over for her husband at the Majestic and Capital, Malco affiliates. Using Circus Men In Memphis, Mrs. Dave Flexer is operating her husband's Ritz while he serves in the Coast Guard. At the downtown Warner, Howard Waugh, Warner zone manager, is having the customary usher troubles. He has as doormen and office assistants a group of women and former circus men including Joe Simon and Bob Courtney. Cecil Vogel of Loew's Palace and Arthur Groom of Loew's State also report a shortage of ushers ; no ushers are being used at matinees. "We just can't get them," Vogel reported. "We are depending on those of school age and they are just not available in the afternoon." R. C. Preview for 'Hargrove' Tonight Lt. Thomas Mulvehill, the Pvt. Mulvehill of "See Here, Private Hargrove," will hold a reunion with Sgt. Marion Hargrove, author of the bestseller, when the M-G-M film has its Red Cross military preview tonight at the Astor Theatre. The premiere will open the local industry's Red Cross drive and a number of tickets are going to those making extra contributions to the drive. George Hamilton Combs, news analyst, will broadcast from station WHN at 8:45, interviewing Sgt. Hargrove, Lt. Mulvehill, former Gov. Alfred E. Smith, Brig. General H. N. Gilbert and Mrs. David Challiner, vicechairman of the New York Red Cross. $155,812 to R. C. From Loew's, Inc. (Continued from page 1) per cent increase over last year, is j being given in Loew's name, and the remaining $75,812 in the name of some 14,000 exhibitors who played the "America Speaks" war shorts dis j tributed by M-G-M. In making the announcement, president Nicholas M. L Schenck complimented the exhibitors, ■ who paid for the shorts on a '|K<J rate" basis. They were produceafvj actual cost without overhead. ™ Meanwhile, in St. Louis 33 Fanchon I and Marco nouses "jumped the gun" 1 in the Red Cross campaign and reported $15,000 collected in the fouri I days starting last Thursday, according' j to Joseph Bernhard, national chairman for the industry here. This figure , compares with $34,000 turned in by 109 St. Louis theatres during the en-, tire 1943 drive. "We hope to double the amount collected last year," Harry Arthur of Fanchon and Marco wired I Bernhard. Roxy Tops 1943 Figure The Roxy Theatre in New York, another of the houses doubling their I collection time, already has topped the || a total of its 1943 collections in the first j six days of the present drive, Irving' \, Lesser, managing director, stated yes i terday. Starting collections last Wednesday, j the Roxy took in $8,536 in five days, and up to yesterday had exceeded $9,000, compared with $8,706 for the seven full days in last year's campaign. More than 200 American Red Cross volunteer workers, who will act as Brooklyn theatre captains, started over the week-end to visit the borough's theatres in order to set up collection 1 methods. Edward C. Dowden, chairman of the Brooklyn Chapter theatre committee, presided at a sendoff meet J ing, where other speakers were John Hearns, RKO district manager ; Myron Siegel, Century Circuit publicity director ; Irving Ludwig of Rugoff and Becker ; Lou Levy of the Brook i lyn Paramount Theatre, and Ben Simon of Loew's Metropolitan. Philadelphia First To Be Pledged 100% Philadelphia, March 20. — This region today became the first territory to achieve 100 per cent pledging of theatres for the 1944 Red Cross War Fund drive. Earle W. Sweigert, local chairman, announced receipt of 757 pledges, almost as many as the previously reported total of signatures in Newark, New Haven, Albany, Delaware and Maryland. Studio Red Cross Drive Is Lagging Hollywood, March 20. — The Red Cross "Invasion Year" studio drive is behind last year's drive at this point but has gained 4,000 subscriptions since a report at a luncheon held a week ago, chairman Frank Carothers has announced. The "Colonels," and "Majors" meeting at a luncheon at the Hollywood Roosevelt, set a goal of 23,000 subscriptions, 1,000 above the Red Cross war chest j record and pledged a tighter canvass j of upper bracket industry workers to increase total contributions. Warners, | Goldwyn, Paramount, and Universal studios reported amounts subscribed to date exceed figures for the 1943 drive.