The Exhibitor (1954)

MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR NT-1 OF THK BRANCHES Cincinnati Christmas week attendance at prac¬ tically all local houses was reported ex¬ cellent, and in several locations boxoffice records were established. E. B. Radcliffe, Enquirer, gave “A” ratings to films at seven downtown and art houses, a rec¬ ord number of “A’s” in any one week. H. P. DeLong, owner. State, Ironton, 0., visited Film Row for the first time in three yeai-s. His twin sons, law students at Ohio State University, took over management of the house during the Christmas holidays, so their father could enjoy a well-earned vacation. . . . Frederic W. Ziv Company, headquarter¬ ed here, largest producer of syndicated TV films, has purchased the historic Hollywood studios of Eagle Lion-Pathe for $1,650,000. The purchase enables Ziv to expand its production budget from $5,000,000 last year to $9,500,000 this year. Lou Siebert, Allied Artists, and Nor¬ man Lentz, RKO, Indianapolis exchanges, were in, as were exhibitors Guy Greathouse, Aurora, Ind.; Fred Krimm, Roy Wells, and Moe Potasky, Dayton, 0.; Rob Harrell, Cleves, 0.; Charles Williams, Oxford, 0.; Raymond Young, Souuth Shore, Ky. ; James Denton, Owingsville, Ky. ; Walter Wyrick, Carlise, Ky. ; Charles Behlen, Lexington, Ky. Robert Dinkle, Raceland, Ky.; J. W. Smith, Warsaw, Ky.; and Howard Shel¬ don, Vanceburg, Ky. Local branch officials of Realart and Lippert were extending thanks to ex¬ hibitors and others who helped make it possible for the branch to win second prize in the eighth annual Lippert sales drive. . . . Milton Yassenoff, Columbus, 0., exhibitor, was among those from this area who witnessed the Rose Bowl football game in Pasadena, Cal., on New Year’s Day. . . . Mark Cummins, local exhibitor, has returned from a Florida vacation. . . . Lou Hoffheimer, formed Columbus, 0., exhibitor, has moved to Norfolk, Va. . . . Lester Rosenfeld, St. Albans, W. Va., exhibitor, is resting comfortably in the Kanawha Hospital, Charleston, W. Va. Sympathy was extended to William Clegg, Dayton, 0., exhibitor, on the death of his brother, and to William Burns, Warners head booker, and Robert Burns, Warners salesman, on the death of their mother. . . . Ann Zeller, Warners bookkeeping department, has announced her engagement to Kenneth Havlin. . . . J. E. Watson, MGM exploiteei’, is the proud grandfather of a baby boy. Universal-International is handling area distribution for “This Is Your Army,” Technicolor feature produced by Movietone News in cooperation with the U. S. Army, and which the Army is interested in having played in as many theatres as possible. Area exhibitors are cooperating in setting playdates. Cleveland The Ohio Censor Board has dropped its case against the local Group 16, charged with showing uncensored films. Since the suit was filed in the local courts, state censorship has been abol¬ ished by a ruling of the State Supreme Court. Sam Fritz, manager, Hilliard Square, plucked a second daughter fi'om his Christmas tree. The 7 pound 2 ounce young lady named Vicky Anne checked in at Lakeside Hospital. Santa Claus also brought a surprise present to Mary Lou Weaver, secretary to Warners branch manager Ernie Sands, when her son, Sgt. Forrest Weaver, brought home a brand new wife. After a short visit the newlyweds departed to report at the air force headquarters in Salina, Kans. 1. J. Schmertz, 20th-Fox branch man¬ ager, fiew to Miami to spend the holiday with his wife and family who preceded him. Ernest Sands, Warners branch man¬ ager, was in Florida completing his con¬ valescence from surgery. He planned to be back in his office after Jan. 10. . . . Arthur Ehrlich, who retired from the movie business after more than 25 yeai-s, is back in it. He has joined the newly opened Buena Vista exchange as booker. . . . Jerry Lipow, Paramount salesman, was in Buffalo on a pleasure jaunt. Imperial Pictures, which recently suf¬ fered the loss of its owner, Bernie Ru¬ bin, will continue operation under the same policy with Mrs. Bernie Rubin as head, in partnership with Alfred A. Sunshine. Sunshine, who will also con¬ tinue his well established Advanads business of manufacturing coming at¬ traction cards, takes over the product buying and sales. Mrs. Rubin will as¬ sume office responsibilities. Imperial Pictures, tbe only local independant state rights distributor, holds most of the leading independent franchises including Filmakers, Lippert, Distributors Corpo¬ ration of America. George Manos, who is adding a new drive-in in Cochocton, O., to his circuit of both conventional and outdoor theatres, has contracted with Selby In¬ dustries, Akron, O., for an all-steel CinemaScope tower which will have a 44 foot by 100 foot curved, tilted surface of the new Selby triangular truss con¬ struction. Jack K. Vogel, Wellsville, 0., archi¬ tectural engineer, who has specialized in drive-in construction in both North and South America, is doing a $75,000 re¬ modeling job for Harry Good and Ro¬ bert Gump’s Dayton Drive-In, Dayton, O. Major improvement is construction of a new modern concession building, in¬ creasing the screen size, and adding three more ramps. A patio wil be flanked by two all-year-round air conditioned 125 indoor seating areas, pi'oviding a total of 250 indoor seats. The functional, modernistic design used throughout pro¬ vides for smooth flow of traffic from the ramp area to either the concession, rest rooms, indoor seating areas, or the patio. Traffic provision is also made direct from the rest rooms to the patio. Alu¬ minum full glassed doors are provided for all front entrances. The three new additional ramps aS well as additions to the present ramps will feature a new ramp control system and 200 in-car heatei’s for contemplated year-round operation. Irving Field is giving up his lease on the Cortland, Cortland, 0., to devote all of his time to the manufacture and sale of a new lens which he developed. According to Field, this is a variable ratio anamorphic lens which adapts a regular 2-D lens to anamorphic print projection without any additional attach¬ ments. The lens is ground to Field’s original optical formula and has the advantage of giving superior light and depth of focus. Field also claims that it is easier to operate than any present exi§ting lens on the market and is low in cost. John Oliver, Paramount booker, re¬ signed to move to Florida and into a new business. Sam Wyman succeeds him at Paramount. . . . All of the exchanges celebrated the holidays with affairs in the downtown hotels and restaurants. . . . Paul Gusdanovic, head, Gusdanovic Circuit, and his wife left to spend the rest of the winter in Florida. . . . M. B. Horwitz, general chairman, 1. J. Schmertz 50th anniversary testimonial dinner on Jan. 17 in the Hollenden Hotel, is getting enthusiastic acceptances from film men from all parts of the country, with all indications pointing to an un¬ precedented attendance. . . . Leroy Kendis, Associated Circuit, and Mrs. Kendis are enjoying a vacation on the west coast. Albert “Happy” Hoak who used to be assistant manager and treasurer at B. F. Keith’s Toledo under Joseph Pearlstein, was recently honored by Lucas County officials for 22 years service as a deputy treasurer. He was one of 20 men with 20 or more years service in the county treasurer’s office who received a gold emblem. Detroit Boris Bernardi, who was for a long time manager, Roosevelt, and ad man for Wisper-Westman Theatres, was in town. Bernardi is now company man¬ ager for “Oklahoma!” National Com¬ pany, which was at the Shubert Lafay¬ ette. The Nedelanders who own the Shubert announced plans for operation of their newly acquired Riviera. James Nedelander has moved in from St. Louis to manage the 2,800 seat house. General policy will be second-run and stage pi'esentations with a fling at light con¬ certs and opera at times. Bill Green, Cinerama press man, has been in Montreal covering the opening of the 14th Cinerama exhibition. Green clipped a recent editorial from Colliers, the one pointing out the value of “This Is Cinerama” showings in foreign lands, forwarded it to Michigan i)apeis with January 12, 1955 UWKJkBl