The Exhibitor (1954)

MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR NT-3 tunity Drive. Among the activities were Lorraine Jackson, Victoria, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., held a teen-age jamboree for holidaying students; Joe Gatrell, Colony, Winter Park, Fla., had a store record display prior to the opening of “The Glenn Miller Story”; Tim Craw¬ ford, Rialto, Orlando, Fla., had a decor¬ ated lobby, an animated Santa Claus, and Christmas motifs at the candy counter; Herb Roller, Ritz, Sanford, Fla., presented the Duxbury School of Dancers in a half-hour stage show, along with the Seminole High School Glee Club; Joe Charles, Capitol, had a minia¬ ture display in his very small lobby which consisted of a doll in a bed ad¬ vertising “Susan Slept Here”; Lillian Parker, Brentwood, had a “name the star” contest in the lobby with passes going to winning guessers; Joe Fleischel, Athens, DeLand, Fla., tied-in with Ford and Mercury dealers for a joint theatre and auto advertising stunt in front of the theatre; Norris McCullum, Matanzas, St. Augustine, Fla., had a peep box in his lobby, and inside was a blowup of Eva Gabor as the slave girl in “Captain Kidd And The Slave Girl”; Lynn Good¬ year, Empire, Daytona Beach, Fla., tiedin with a bank for a “cartoon-a-scope” children’s matinee with 12 cartoons; Bob Skaggs, Florida, prior to his first-run of “Desiree,” sent promotional night letters to 100 local business leaders. Memphis Clifton Franks is the new owner. New, Mantachie, Miss., having taken over from H. McFerrin, former owner. . . . Valeria Gullett, C. J. Collier, and others attended the New Orleans bowl game. . . . Visitors on the Row were J. K. Jameson and J. K. Jr., Joy and Ken, Bald Knob and McCrory, Ark.; C. Carpenter, Jr., Sunset Drive-In, Ham¬ burg, Ark. ; Henry Pickens, Lyle, Car¬ lisle, Ark.; Anne Knoble, Temple, Leland, Miss.; Moses Sliman, Lux, Luxora, Ark.; William Elias, Murr, Osceola, Ark.; Ben Jackson, Mo-Jac Drive-In, Indianola, Miss.; and Joe Davis, Delta, Ruleville, Mississippi. Mr. and Mrs. Larry Lancaster, Sky¬ lark Drive-In, Newport, Ark., have returned home after a visit in Prescott, Ark., with Mr. and Mrs. C. R. Gray, owners, Drive-In. . . . Warren L. Moxley, ex-theatre owner, Blytheville, Ark., has bought radio station WFUL in Fulton, Ky., from Ken-Tenn Broadcasting Co. George Gaughan, traveling represent¬ ative, Theatre Owners of America, was presented on the interesting persons program at WMCT by Press-Scimitar amusement editor Edwin Howard. . . . Members of the Memphis Ski Club stirred up a great deal of interest and admir¬ ation Sunday when a couple of bets were paid off by its members. Danny Wahlquist, shipper. Paramount, made a bet with Paramount head shipper, John Coll, who is also president, Memphis Ski Club, that John’s new baby would be a girl, but was wrong. Dannjq along with Har¬ old Dobbs, another Ski Club member, had to make a jump at McKeller Lake on the skiis, no matter what the weather. This they did, gritting their teeth, and they were also in the WMCT-TV news¬ reel shows. New Orleans Charter of incorporation has been granted Johnson Theatre and Conces¬ sion Supply Company, Inc., motion pic¬ ture equipment, listing capital stock of $10,000. Percy Duplessis and Mathews Guidry, Pat, Lafayette, La., hosted managers and salesmen to a duck dinner at Toby’s, Lafayette, La. Among those attending were T. P. Thompson and E. E. Shinn, Paramount; H. B. Rosenthal, 20th-Fox; John Winnberry, Columbia; Henry Glover and Joe Fabacher, Allied Artists; Milton Dureau, Masterpiece; C. Sher¬ wood, U-A; and Don Wilmoth, South¬ eastern. Vinton Thiebaux, manager, Pat, assisted Duplessis and Guidry. Hurry up and get well wishes for Jack Downing, Haven, Brookhaven, Miss. . . . Frank Smith, territory representa¬ tive, Alton unit sales and installation, moved his headquarters from Marrero, La., to 119 Union Street, Bay St. Louis, Miss., where the family now resides. . . . Lewis Cox will reopen the Bayouland Drive-In, Donaldsonville, La., on Jan. 19, which has been equipped for CinemaScope presentations. Gaston Dureau, Jr., president; Hank Plitt, vice-president in charge of theatre operation; and J. T. Howell, buyer and booker, were on the Row for a UA and 20th-Fox screening. . . . Our thanks to Dixie Films for their renewal sub¬ scription to Motion Picture Exhibitor, and a great big thank you to all for the many lovely cards and gifts. Exhibitors visitors during pre-Christ¬ mas week were Lefty Cheramie, Rebsock. Golden Meadows, La.; Ernest Delahaye, Gwen, Maringouin, La.; 0. Gaude, Magic, Port Allen, La.; Milton Guidry, Lafayette, La.; E. R. Sellers, Opelousas, La. ; Frank Smith, the air conditioning man; Vinton Thiebeaux, Lafayette, La.; Ira Olroyd, Teche, Franklin, La.; Joseph Barcelona, Re¬ gina and Tivoli, Baton Rouge, La.; and F. G. Prat, Jr., Vacherie, La. “Wee Willie” Cobb, head. Exhibitors’ Service, and buyer and booker for sevei’al of Joy’s Theatres, checked in after an extended trek in the territory. . . . Jeanne Maxwell pinch hit for Lin Barker at Manley. . . . New Yorkers here for the holidays were Mr. and Mrs. William Goodrow and daughter, who were the guests of Goodrow’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. F. F. Goodrow. They were joined by the Goodrow senior’s younger son, Freddie, and family, Tribodaux, La., and daughter and son-in-law Mr. and Mrs. Jack Poleman III, New Orleans. Mr. and Mrs. Harold “Babe” Cohen motored to Tampa to spend Christmas with their son, Harold, Jr. Jeannie Johnson, the 18-year-old beauty from Detroit chosen by artists as the perfect pagan princess circa Attila the Hun’s time. Fifth Century, was here to boost Universal-International’s “Sign Of The Pagan,” which opened at the Joy. Mississippi exhibitors seen around were Herb Hargroder, Beverly Drive-In, Hat¬ tiesburg; W. F. Straub, Glo Drive-In and Straub, Wiggins; A1 Randall, Fern Drive-In and Fern, Woodville; and Curtis Matherne, booker for Henry Meyer’s Theatres, Biloxi. Film Row is a glowing spectacle on rainy days when Transway’s regiment of film pick-up and deliverymen amble from one exchange to another all attired in identical yellow uniforms. Out of town Louisiana exhibitors visit¬ ing and booking were Charles Bazzell, Gordon Ogden’s Theatres, Baton Rouge; E. R. Sellers, Yam Drive-In, Opelousas and the three drive-ins. Hub, Twin, and Laf, Lafayette; Ira Olroyd, Teche, Franklin; C. H. Goodwin, Rose Drive-In and Rose, Bastrop; Mickey Versen, CWall, Morgan City; Robert “Pops” Molzon, Royal, Norco; and Thomas McElroy, McElroy Theatres, Shreveport. . . . Jim deNeve, operator, Highway 80 and Varia Drive-Ins, Jackson, Miss, and the Rivoli Drive-In, Vicksburg, Miss., is bedded in a Jackson hospital due to a serious operation. R. L. Johnson, Johnson Theatres Ser¬ vice, was in Pascagoula, Miss., on busi¬ ness. . . . Chapman Davis and his man¬ ager, J. Thomas, Cave, Delhi, La., visited and checked bookings with representa¬ tive J. G. Broggi. . . . Mrs. William Sendy joined her husband and the other two musketeers, E. W. Ansardi, Buras, and S. J. Gulino on their rounds. W. E. Green, New York, president, and R. L. Bostick, Memphis, vice-president and southern district manager. National Theatre Supply, presided at the com¬ pany’s southern manager’s conclave, held at the Roosevelt Hotel. Managers attend¬ ing were W. C. Earle, St. Louis; J. C. Brown, Atlanta; R. D. Turnbull, Char¬ lotte; J. I. Watkins, Oklahoma City; F. R. Hansen, Dallas; C. C. Bach, Memphis; and T. W. Neely, Sr., New Orleans. Thank you, Harold S. Wyckoff, Para¬ mount salesman, for your renewal sub¬ scription to Motion Picture Exhibitor. Many industryites attended the funeral of Mrs. T. A. Pittman, who died after a brief illness. Pittman heads a string of theatres. . . . Leo Seicshnaydre, Republic chief, checked in after a trek in Louisiana and Mississippi. . . . Jimmy Thompson and Doyle Maynard, new owners, Don, Alexandria, La., were in buying and booking. Maynard also made the rounds in the interest of his Don, Natchitoches, La. A. L. Royal and Tom Garroway, heads. Panorama Productions, Inc., will soon be off to Hollywood to make arrangements for the shooting of their second movie. The first was “Jesse James’ Women,” being distributed by UA. . . . Mrs. Juliette Babin, after 13 years cashiering at the Saenger, resigned. . . . Florida exhibitors making the rounds were Mr. and Mrs. Tom Barrow, Crestview, and the Tringas brothers, Jimmy, Fort Wal¬ ton, and Charles J., Pensacola. Joy N. Houck, president, Joy’s Thea¬ tres, and co-head, Howco Productions, is on a constant soar winging back and forth to the west coast in the interest of Howco’s “Kentucky Rifle,” which pro¬ ducer Carl K. Hittelman has well under way, and in which the Houck s five-year Janmry 12, 1955