Motion Picture Daily (Oct-Dec 1956)

Friday. December 28, 1956 Motion Picture Daily 3 TENT TALK Variety Club News I TORONTO— Dan Krendel heads lie fund-raising committee of the jj-'ariety Club here. Krendel will appoint his own committeemen. Chet riedman, elected property master for Ms first term as a member of the rew, will head two key committees, both related to the major object of ■rearing income for Variety Village, ^riedman will be in charge of the [ouvenir program for the annual basejall game, as well as acting as publicity director for the tent. A SAN FRAXCISCO Women of Variety, organized wives of Variety ..'lub members, have elected Mrs. Rows Harvey as president to succeed Mrs. Jesse Levin, and voted Mrs. George Christopher, wife of the may>r, an honorary member. Other new fficers: Mrs. Sylvia O'Neal and Mrs. George Mitchell, first and second vicepresidents, respectively; Mrs. Sam Roth, recording secretary; Mrs. Frank Harr, corresponding secretary; Mrs. Monroe Belling, treasurer; Mrs. Nate Sontag, historian. Board members: Mrs. Rodda Harvey, Mrs. John Parsons, Mrs. Edward Levin, Mrs. Bernie Mannheimer and Mrs. Al Shmitken. A OMAHA— Four new members were elected to the crew of Variety Club of Omaha, Tent No. 16, at a dinnerdance recently at the Blackstone Hotel Ballroom here. The quartet includes Lyle DeMoss, assistant manager of WOW-TV; Abe Slutsky, owner of Playland Park; George Regan, branch manager of 20th Century-Fox; and Sam Stern, owner of the 40-Bowl. Re-elected were Frank Gartner, owner of Film Transport; Ross Lorello, owner Paramount Negotiates For Record Company In a move to further diversify its interests, Paramount Pictures has opened negotiations with representatives of the Dot Record Co., a small recording company, seeking to acquire that organization as a subsidiary of the production-distribution company, it was reported yesterday. According to a Paramount executive, an agreement setting a purchase price of $3,000,000 for Dot Records has already been set. The recording company specializes mainly in hillbilly and popular records. It was incorporated in 1950 with offices here and in Hollywood. Paramount Pictures now has extensive interests in DuMont Laboratories, DuMont Broadcasting Corp., KTLA, Los Angeles, International Telemeter Corp., Chromatic Television Laboratories, and Famous Players Canadian Corp. Houston Group Elects HOUSTON, Dec. 27. William Ratcliff, Epsom Drive-in Theatre owner, was elected president of the Houston Independent Theatres Association for the coming year. Alvin Guggenheim, Broadway and Yale Theatre manager, was elected vicepresident, with Dan Goodwin, Winkler Drive-In Theatre manager, as secretary-treasurer. Lowell Bulpitt is retiring president. of Ross' Steak House; Glenn Trump, public relations director of Ak-SarBen; Don Hammond, of RomeoHammond Productions; Pat Halloran, branch manager of Buena Vista Pictures; William E. Barker, manager of Co-op Pictures; Joe Jacobs, branch manager of Columbia Pictures, and Norm Nielsen, branch manager of RKO Pictures. File Trust Suit on Chicago Drive-ins CHICAGO, Dec. 27-A total of $1,500,000 in treble damages is sought by Morton Fink in a suit filed in U. S. District Court against five persons and corporations operating outdoor theatres. The suit alleges the defendants are attempting to monopolize the outdoor theatre trade in northwest Cook County, where Fink is trying to build an outdoor theatre. Defendants are Edwin Silverman and Essaness Theatres Corp., River Grove Theatres Corp., Melma Entertainment Corp., Harold and Theresa Abrahamson, as partners in Norwood Enterprises, and Ralph Smitha as president of Essaness Associates, Inc. Attorney for the defendants is Lewis Schimberg. Smith Circuit Sets Employee Benefits Special to THE DAILY BOSTON, Dec. 27-Details of a new comprehensive insurance, medical and hospitalization plan for managers and field executives of the Smith Management Co. here were announced today bv Richard A. Smith, vice-president of the company. Benefits now set up for company officials include: a $10,000 life insurance policy; $15 per day hospitalization; complete medical and surgical expenses up to a specified limit, and 17 weeks of unemployment compensation at full pay. District managers will be allowed "a slightly larger program," Smith said. Chicago Acadia Reopens CHICAGO, Dec. 27-The Acadia Theatre reopened Christmas Day, with Arthur Gould as manager. The theatre was completely remodeled while it was closed for several weeks. PEOPLE Gene Tunick and Stanley Kositsky, of United Artists' Philadelphia branch, will be honored Monday evening, Jan. 21, at a testimonial dinner held by the Motion Picture Associates of Phialdelphia at the Bellevue Stratford Hotel. Tunick was recently named Eastern district manager and Kositsky replaced him as Philadelphia manager. □ Tom Stanton has replaced Richard Galsworthy as manager of the Fox Theatre in Eugene, Ore. Galsworthy moved to Seattle to take over the management of the Egyptian Theatre there. □ Louis Roe has been appointed assistant manager at the MacDonald Theatre in Eugene, Ore., it was announced by Alton Robbins, manager for the Evergreen Theatre Circuit. □ Edward M. Warnecke has been named national membership chairman of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers for 1957-58, it was announced by Barton Kreuzer, president-elect of the Society. Warnecke, who succeeds John W. DuVall, has been SMPTE Eastern regional membership chairman for the past two years. □ Ben Odell has been elected to the newly-created position of executive vice-president of Cathedral Films, Inc., of Burbank, Calif., it was announced by Dr. James K. Friedrich, president of the company. □ Rudy Lehmann for many years sales representative for Republic Pictures in Atlanta has resigned. In 1957 one picture will not be forgotten., . The story that HAD to win the Pulitzer Prize!