Motion Picture Daily (Apr-Jun 1954)

6 Motion Picture Daily Friday, April 9, 1954 In the THEA TRE Equipment World • . . with RAY GALLO t * \ /I IRRA-SCOPE" is the name of I* 1 a screen surfacing material of aluminum for "all-purpose" projection at drive-in theatres, marketed by First-American Products, Inc., Kansas City, Mo. The screen material is designed to provide equal distribution of light over a 90° viewing range. Parabolic curves are rolled into the surface, forming vertical fluting to control light distribution horizontally. The material is lightweight and easy to apply with the large panels joining to give a "seamless" effect. Exhibitors are being offered a demonstration of the surfacing. Reviews "Jo-LoPerfumatic"is an automatic perfume dispenser designed for wall installation in women's rest rooms and lounges of theatres. Made by Jo-Lo Perfumatic Dispenser, Inc., Jersey City, N. J., the vender is now in use at the Radio City Music Hall in New York and is scheduled for early installation in their theatres by the Stanley Warner and RKO circuits. The unit offers the patron a choice of four perfumes at 10c a spray. A coin is simply inserted in one of the four chutes and the appropriate plunger pushed. (See photo.) • The General Sceintific Equipment Co., Philadelphia, has redesigned its automatic emergency lighting unit which provides instantaneous illumination when regular current fails. The unit is powered by a storage battery built into the portable set. It is equipped zvith a trickle charger to maintain the battery charge and. a built-in hydrometer to indicate the state of the battery at a glance. • A small cardboard device containing a ready reference of information on how to treat various types of floors has been developed by Multi-Clean Products, Inc., St. Paul, Minn. The 4 by 6 inch "Florule" features a rotating dial, which, when pointed to the name of certain floor, immediately discloses through a slot in the dial the proper floor materials to use, coverage in square feet per gallon for each, drying times and method of application. On the reverse side of the Florule is a catalog description of the company's floor treating chemicals together with packaging information. It is available free through the company's distributors. "Them" ( / / 'arncr Brothers) SUSPENSE-FILLED from beginning to end, "Them" promises to give a thrill to the entire family — from grandfather to junior. The chief attractions are "creatures" spawned in the New Mexico desert which threaten to overrun the earth, and the frenzied attempts of scientists and government officials to find and destroy their nest. In addition, interest is injected in scientific data on normal insects. It adds up to an exploitation "natural" which should account for excellent business for most houses. A fantastic mutation caused by lingering radiation from the first atomic bomb detonated is the reason for the monsters' growth. James Whitmore and James Arness, as police and FBI officials, respectively, are aided in their search for their nest by scientists Edmund Gwenn and Joan Weldon, as his daughter. The creatures are first sighted when the group investigates the scene where they first struck in the desert. There, Miss Weldon is attacked by a tenfoot monster but some sharpshooting by Arness saves her. After locating and destroying a nest, they discover that two surviving females have escaped and are ready to breed again. The scene switches to Washington where the armed forces are called into the picture to track down the survivors. They are finally located in Los Angeles' storm drains. The police and U. S. Marines are assigned to burn them out. In a suspenseful search through the tunnels of the drains, Whitmore finds the nest, rescues two trapped boys and informs the marines. The conclusion is spectacular as marines, armed with flame throwers, open fire in unison and destroy the remaining animals grouped in a crater. David Weisbart produced and Gordon Douglas directed from a script by Ted Sheedeman. Excellent effects and prop construction were provided by Ralph Ayres and Dick Smith, respectively. Running time, 94 minutes. General classification. Release, June 19. 'Southwest Passage" I Small-United Artists) (3-D) A BELIEVABLE story of the American Southwest desert land in pioneer days, plus competent acting by Rod Cameron, Joanne Dru and John Ireland, combine to make "Southwest Passage" an entertaining story in 3-D and Pathecolor. A notorious bank robber, Ireland is one jump ahead of a posse after a robbery, when he joins Cameron's caravan disguised as a doctor. Cameron attempts to lead the camel caravan across the American desert to chart a shorter trail to California and prove the practicability of camels in the West. Miss Dru, Ireland's sweetheart, joins the caravan soon after eluding the same posse hunting Ireland. The bulk of the film then evolves with the gruelling trek through the desert as a backdrop. Ireland is soon found out by John Dehncr, an unscrupulous mule-skinner after the stolen bank gold. Up to this point, Apaches have shied away from the wagon train because of apprehensions about the camels. But, when one of the beasts dies and is buried, they learn of it and lose their fears. Ireland returns to the caravan after having been expelled as a fraud by Cameron, and leads them to a water hole. There they are ambushed by the Indians. The Apaches are driven off by Ireland's strategy. He redeems himself in Cameron's esteem. Ireland turns his loot over to Cameron for shipment back to the bank, and the caravan again heads for California. "Southwest Passage" was directed by Ray Nazarro. The screenplay was by Harry Essex and Geoffrey Homes. Running time, 82 minutes. General classification. For release in April. "Massacre Canyon" (Columbia) A STANDARD Western with a couple of not too standard characterizations by Phil Carey, as a young but rum-loving West Pointer trying to forget a love affair, and Douglas Kennedy, a bitter but loyal sergeant in search of a commission, "Massacre Canyon" is pleasantly concise. Female attractions are Audrey Totter, a hardboiled and philosophical actress from the East in search of a husband ; Jeff Donnell, her sidekick, and Charlita, fin Indian miss who nearly succeeds in wrecking Army plans. The Army assigns Kennedy and two subordinates disguised as civilian traders to drive an unescorted wagon train. All goes well until they come upon a way station where Misses Totter and Donnell are marooned and where the latter recognizes one of the soldiers as her long lost fiance. This reveals information about a gun shipment to the Indian girl who alerts a band of renegade Apaches. Carey, who has also been at the station soaking himself in rum, joins the soldiers against his will. In the course of the skirmish that follows, Carey becomes a man again, finds affection in the glances of Miss Totter, and the stalwart Kennedy, for his heroism, seems destined to get the commission he has always wanted. Wallace MacDonald produced and Fred F. Sears directed the brisk and to-the-point story and screenplay by David Lang. Running time, 66 minutes. General classification. Release, April 7. 'Witness' April 15 "Witness to Murder" will have its world premiere at the Holiday Theatre here on April 15. Tenn. House Closes NEWPORT, Tenn., April 8.— The Park Theatre here, of Newport Amusement Co., has closed its doors. Ticket Price Scales Held in Cleveland And Philadelphia Theatres in Philadelphia and Cleveland, two cities with local amusement taxes, retained the price line, to a Lrge measure, according to reports from Motion Picture Daily field correspondents. In Philadelphia, meanwhile, the City Council's finance committee is considering an amendment to the local amusement tax ordinance. Under the change, the tax, instead of applying to each 10 cent admission or fraction thereof, it would apply to each 10 cent or major fraction thereof of six cents or more. Amendment Seen Helpful At the Philadelphia committer hearing, representatives of the industry said the amendment would be helpful but urged other concessions to simplify bookkeeping and accounting procedures. Several industry witnesses asked for outright appeal of the city tax. The Philadelphia price pattern, if it so can be called, seems to be passing on to the customer the savings in admissions below 50 cents, sharing the Federal tax savings on admissions of from 50 to 60 cents and keeping the reduction on admissions over 60 cents. In Cleveland, with the exception of cutting the 55 cents admissions to 50 cents and 85 cents to 84 cents for convenience, most theatres in that area have retained the full tax reduction. Old admission scales have been retained without any complaints. Cleveland exhibitors feel that the public is no longer price-scale conscious due to the lack of price uniformity, with the price on many pictures over the past year being boosted. City Tax Is Added In the city of Cleveland, the three per cent city tax is added to the established scale to maintain the old admission scales. In towns where no city tax prevails, most theatres have retained the tax saving. Report 311 New 'Scope Theatres Three hundred and eleven additional theatres have ordered or have installed CinemaScope equipment, including stereophonic sound units, in a ten-day period, it was disclosed here this week, by 20th Century-Fox. Al Lichtman, distribution director, now on the Coast, relayed the information through the home office here. Lichtman said the rate of installations in the 10-day period, which ended last Saturday, reached a new high. He added that the new installations pushed the total of CinemaScope equipped theatres in the U. S. up to 3,234. Drive-ins Using Medium Meanwhile, reports were received at 20th-Fox that 11 drive-in theatres in the Southern exchange area and one in the West planned to install CinemaScope equipment, including stereophonic sound. The next reported drive-in CinemaScope opening was reported to be the SkyView Drivein, Augusta, Ga., which plans to begin showing "The Robe" on April 22 on its new 120-foot wide screen.