The Exhibitor (1955)

MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR NT-3 The Lincoln, Union City, N. J., pre¬ sented a bathing beauty contest. . . . The Ritz, Elizabeth, N. J., will present on its stage on June 17, a “Rock ’N Roll” presentation. Albany Paul L. Jacobson, son-in-law of S. H. Fabian, and a resident of Albany for two years while serving as treasurer and assistant to the president, Van Cul¬ ler Broadcasting Corporation, has re¬ turned to New York and accepted a position with the National Broadcasting Company. The Jacobsons have put their fine Holmesdale Avenue home up for sale. . . . WTRI, a UHF station in which Stanley Warner holds a 50 per cent interest, has proceedings pending before the Federal Communications Commission to revoke FCC approval to the purchase of control in WROW-TV by the Lowell Thomas group, and the subsequent switch of the Columbia affi¬ liation from WTRI to WROW. The latter move forced WTRI to go off the air last winter. Recent testimony before the FCC indicated that Van Curler lost more than $475,000 on the WTRI opera¬ tion. However, the station management still has hopes of getting back into the picture, via .an FCC okay to its request for allocation of VHF Channel 10, at Vail Mills, if the current appeal against WROW is rejected. WROW and others are also seeking Channel 10. Meanwhile, Troy Broadcasting Company, operator of radio station WTRY, Troy, and holder of the other 50 per cent interest in WTRI-TV, has announced it will be¬ come an independent outlet on Nov. 15, when the Columbia tie-up ends. WROW is obtaining that hookup. Richard B. Wheeler, general manager, WTRI-TV, will remain in Albany for the present, according to reports in industry circles. The new offices and studios are closed, but can be reopened. A long-successful short subjects pro¬ ducer, Ralph Staub, visited Albany in connection with the picture he is making of Variety Club charitable projects. Staub shot scenes at the Variety-Albany Boys Club Camp Thacher, with Tent 9 officers cooperating. Perfect weather and surroundings helped to make the 1 4t,h annual Variety Club golf tournament at Shaker Ridge Country Club, Colonie, what chief bar¬ ker George H. Schenck termed “one of the most successful ever.” It was the 13th in the series, but the committee decided the number had connotations of bad luck which made a bypass advisable. There were about 45 golfers and 65 diners, at $10 a ticket. The new cham¬ pion, with a gross score of 82, was Charles Stevens, advertising manager, Norman Kill Dairy Company. Irwin Ullman, 1954 chaimpon, predicted last winter that he would assume the Tent 9 crown, although Stevens had never played the difficult Shaker Ridge course before. Ralph Ripps, MGM salesman, the champion two years ago, finished runner-up, with an 84. Ullman racked an 85 for third place, and took the driving honors, with a tee-off that went 270 yards. June 15, 1955 Seen at the recent screening of Warners’ “Mister Roberts,” Strand, Albany, were, left to right, R .B. Edmonson; I. O. Law¬ rence; M. L. Grooms; A1 LaFlamme, SW Theatres; Mary Flynn, Upstate Theatres; Leon Duva, Morrisville, N. Y.; Jim Evans, Warners booker; Harry Aranove, Warners salesman; Mrs. F. Meier, Colony, Schenec¬ tady; Irene Econome, Fabian Theatres; D. E. Senecal; R. K. McCollcm; J. M. Stomart; W. Carr; H. Goebel, Jr.; M. A. Maroun; R. S. Smith, Warner branch manager; and Phil Rapp, Plaza, Schenectady. W. Gordon Bugie, Paramount sales¬ man, took honors for coming closest to the pin. Norman Weitman, U-I branch manager, took the booby prize, with an estimated 158; he played only six holes. Keeping faith with the tradition of a prize for every guest, sweaters, golf shoes, table radios, record albums, and other articles were awarded. Bob Adler, Allied Artists booker, walked off with a rotissimat, donated by Harry Lamont, president, Lamont Theatres, and former chief barker. Stevens won a sweater; Bugie, shoes. Generous donators in¬ cluded circuits, branch managers, ex¬ chief barkers, and business establish¬ ments. Jack Goldberg, second assistant chief barker, and delegate to the recent Vari¬ ety International Club convention in Los Angeles, reported at the dinner that he was deeply impressed by the num¬ ber, importance, and scope of charitable projects undertaken by individual Tents, stressing that they were “all for chil¬ dren, crippled, retarded, diseased, or under-privileged.” He urged each mem¬ ber to bring in an associate member, from radio, television, or other fields, to increase the range of the Tent 9 Camp Thacher program, for which $12,500 is expended annually. Among those participating in the tournament, attending the dinner, or both, in addition to the foregoing, were: Norman Jackter, Columbia branch man¬ ager, a member of the arrangements committee; Ken Farrar, Tri-State Candy Corporation, assistant manager and com¬ mitteeman; Aaron Winig, brother of ex¬ chief barker Nate Winig; Ray Smith, Warners branch manager; Clayton G. Pantages, 20th-Fox branch manager; Milt Levins, Columbia head booker; A1 Marchetti, U-I head booker; George Seed, Fabian manager, Cohoes; Dick Murphy, manager, Proctor’s, Troy; Phil Rapp, manager, Plaza, and Lou Rapp; George Lourinia, manager, Fabian’s Saratoga Drive-In, Latham; Sid Dwore, Cameo, Schenectady; Dave Rosenbaum, Capitol, Elizabethtown; Leon Duva, Morris, Mor¬ risville; Leonard L. Rosenthal, counsel, Upstate Theatres, Inc.; Lewis A. Sumberg, property master; Ju’es Pe rim utter, head. Perlmutter Theatres, and former chief barker; Sylvan Left, Utica and Watertown exhibitor, and upstate repre¬ sentative for Real art Pictures; Sidney Kulick, Bell Pictures Exchange, New York; Sidney Urbach, dough guy, and Bob Lamont, office manager, Lamont Theatres. Visitors on Film Row included: John G. Moore, Paramount assistant division manager for the east, who was en route to Schine Circuit offices in Gloversville; Harry Rogovin, Columbia district man¬ ager, Boston, who trekked to Kallet Theatre headquarters, Oneida, with branch manager Norman Jackter; Peter Dana, U-I division manager; Joseph Gins, district manager, and Irving Sochim, short subjects sales manager. William J. Jarvis, chief projectionist, Troy, since Moe Mark opened the house in 1923, died in St. Mary’s Hospital. A brother and several sisters survive. Mrs. Vicki Grygiel, U-I biller, vaca¬ tioned for a week in New York with her husband, and spent a week at home entertaining his two sisters, Dominican nuns stationed in Puerto Rico. . . . James McCabe, Warners head shipper, flew to Miami, Fla., for a session of fishing. Donald Nelly, Columbia assistant ship¬ per, was on vacation. ... A. O. La Flamme, Strand manager, marked the first two weeks in August for a vacation at Lake George. . . . George Seed, Fabian city manager, Cohoes, will not take his fortnight until November. Seed’s wife, who established the Bette Seed bridal shops in Albany, Menands, and Latham, will return to that field with a Loretta Lane store in the new Latham develop¬ ment. Opening date is July 5. . . . Alvin Kosoff is a new 20th-Fox salesman. New York State Buffalo At a signal from the boxoffice of the Teck to Paul Swater, managing director, Mrs. Frank J. Clark w.as intercepted at a matinee and presented the special “This Is Cinerama” orchid. Mrs. Clark purchased the 100,000th ticket to the show, which opened March 16. Swater told Mrs. Clark and her husband that, as a milestone patron, she had confirmed the management’s selection of Buffalo as one of the 15 Cinerama cities on the continent. Cinerama in Buffalo has drawn 50 per cent of its patrons from western New York, some 20 per cent from distant sections of the state, and 30 per cent from Canadian cities and towns. The old Academy has been purchased by the Marine Trust Company of West¬ ern New York, from Michael D. Perna, owner, according to a deed filed in the c aunty clerk’s office. Revenue stamps attached to the deed indicated a purchase price of approximately $135,000. It is reported that the trust company plans to erect an office building on the site, with parking space in the basement.