The Exhibitor (1956)

26 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR Paramount Officers Lead Dallas Meet Dallas — A three-day joint meeting of Paramount’s Roxy Mountain and south¬ western divisions was held here last week, with discussions of sales programs for current and forthcoming product led by George Weltner, president, Paramount Film Distributing Corporation, and world¬ wide sales head; Jerome Pickman, vicepresident in charge of advertising, public¬ ity, and exploitation; and Sidney G. Deneau, western sales manager. Weltner and Pickman arrived from New York, and Deneau, who had toured midwest branches, was due from Kansas City. Phil Isaacs, Rocky Mountain divi¬ sion manager, came from Denver for the meeting with James Ricketts, branch manager. Tom W. Bridge, southwestern division manager, and Frank Rule, branch manager, who headquarter in Dallas, were meeting hosts. Other branch managers who attended the parley were C. H. Weaver, Oklahoma City; Harry Hamburg, Kansas City; Harry Hass, St. Louis; F. H. Smith, Salt Lake City; Donald R. Hicks, Des Moines; and Marion Anderson, Omaha. Pictures up for discussion at the meet¬ ing included “The Man Who Knew Too Much,” “The Leather Saint,” “That Cer¬ tain Feeling,” “Pardners,” “The Proud And Profane,” “The Mountain,” “Gunfight At The O.K. Corral,” “Hollywood Or Bust,” “The Vagabond King,” “The Loves Of Omar Khayam,” and others. Des Moines The Rialto, Adel, la., operated by Al Christianson, was destroyed by fire. Total loss was estimated at $100,000. . . . F. R. Thompson, 74, in the theatre business for 37 years, sold his Rose, Audubon, la., to John Renftle. . . . Sylvester R. Nothem, 59, former Remsen, la., exhibitor, was sentenced to three years on charges of income and admission tax evasion and placed on probation. He was charged with collecting $21,189 in admission taxes and reporting only $12,535 from 1947 to 1953. Nothem claimed he was heavily mortgaged and feared losing his theatre. . . . The Iowa-Nebraska Allied group has agreed to hold a summer meeting at Loke Seen at the recent sneak preview of Paramount's "The Mountain" at the SW Montauk, Passaic, N. J., were, left to right, Russell Holman, Para¬ mount eastern production chief; George Kemp, Montauk manager; Barney Balaban, president, Paramount Pictures; Hugh Owen, vice-president and eastern sales manager, Paramount; and Anthony Williams, district supervisor, Stanley Warner Theatres. Fred M. Wilcox, director, MGM's "Forbidden Planet," recently congratulated Audrey Earhardt, Bayside, L. I., winner, "Miss Inter-planetary Girl" contest held in conjunction with the opening of the film at the Globe, New York. Okoboji. The group, at its recent annual convention at Omaha, voted to reduce association dues. . . . The Variety Club held its annual stag golf tournament last week. Detroit More than $50,000 is being invested in the Krim, art film house in suburban Highland Park, by Sol Krim. The theatre is being remodeled to make it “one of the most luxurious theatres in the mid¬ west.” ... A high of 6,325 feet was snip¬ ped by the Detroit Police Motion Picture Censor Bureau during April. Most of the cuts came out of American films, while one French film lost only 45 feet consid¬ ered objectionable. In addition, the censors made 30 personal inspections of theatre display advertising and issued one cor¬ rection ticket. . . . School children are seeing “Oklahoma!” at special student prices through the courtesy of Dillon Krepps, managing director, United Artists. Krepps and Peggy Smith, public relations staff, pay visits to schools to give talks. . . . Frank Upton and William Green, Music Hall, were in Kansas City to super¬ vise the installation of Cinerama there. . . . Clarence E. Williamson, was readying his Algiers Drive-In for opening. . . . Charles Weigle was elected president, IATSE, Local 737. Charles Shafer, owner, Wayne Drive-In, denied rumors that the Ford Motor Com¬ pany is buying the theatre. The theatre property adjoins the new Lincoln-Mercury plant now under construction. . . . Sid Bowman, United Artists branch manager, is recuperating at home after a month’s stay in the hospital following a heart attack. . . . Otto Ebert, former branch manager, RKO, now is handling the Bos¬ ton territory, with Lloyd Krause succeed¬ ing him here. . . . Del Rittel, Rialto and Rivola, has been elected president, Co Circuit Partner Dies After Lengthy Illness DETROIT — Frank A. Wetsman, 59. partner in the Wisper and Wetsman Theatres for 25 years, died recently after a long illness. He was also a part owner, Guardian Glass Company, was on the board of directors, Sinai Hospital and the Jewish Home for the Aged, and served as trustee, Clover Hill Park Cemetery. Surviving are his wife, Lillian, a son, William, and three sisters. operative Theatres of Michigan, succeed¬ ing Fred DeLodder, who retired as presi¬ dent and director in order to devote all of his time to a motel that he is construct¬ ing in St. Petersburg, Fla. Other newlyelected officers of the booking and buying organization include J. C. Peck, vicepresident, and Milton London, secretarytreasurer. Directors are Lew Wisper, Irving Goldberg, Harold Smilay, Saul Korman, Ray Forman, and James H. Ross. Houston Alvin Guggenheim, manager, South Main Drive-In, was named general man¬ ager, Broadway and the Yale, operated by Bill O’Donnell. W. L. Edwards is man¬ ager of the Yale. . . . The world premiere of Allied Artists’ “The First Texan” is scheduled for the Majestic here today (June 13). . . . Buddy Gould, last man¬ ager of the closed Kirby, and now assist¬ ant to John Arnold, Majestic, has reported to work following a vacation. The Kirby is being torn down to make way for an expansion program of the City National Bank. . . . Julius Gordon and his wife re¬ turned from their trip to Monaco. He is head, Jefferson Amusement Company, Beaumont, Tex. Mrs. Gordon went as special correspondent, Houston Press. . . . Kenneth McElmurray, former assistant manager, Majestic, is now assistant, South Main Drive-In. J. P. Forrester has been manager temporarily, and will continue on as assistant. . . . Sid Coats was named assistant manager, Tower, here. Jacksonville The city’s oldest active industryite, Haines Drayton, and Mrs. Drayton invited a wide circle of motion picture friends to their 50th wedding anniversary cele¬ bration in the Garden Center tomorrow (June 14) .... The main address on con¬ cession sales at the Alabama and Georgia Theatre Owners and Operators convention in Atlanta was given by Robert Harris, director of concessions, Florida State Theatres. ... A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Spiering. He manages Roy Smith’s theatre supply house here. . . . Recently equipped for CinemaScope were the Starlight Drive-In, Chipley, Fla.; Ritz, Arcadia, Fla.; Trail Drive-In, Naples, Fla., all independents; and the Grand, Winter Haven, Fla., operated by the Talgar Theatre Company. Jun Tsuchiya, Consul General of Japan in New York, recently received from Phil Wilcox, adver¬ tising director, Parents Magazine, the publica¬ tion's movie of the month medal awarded to the Japanese color film, "The Phantom Horse," dis¬ tributed by Edward Harrison. This is the first time that a foreign film has been selected for this honor. June 13, 1956 i