The Exhibitor (1957)

]8 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR Sack Takes Plymouth From Shubert Chain Boston — The Plymouth, Boston, for many years a legitimate theatre, has been taken over by Benjamin Sack and after complete renovations will become a first run showcase for motion pictures. The acquisition of the Plymouth by Sacks marks the second Shubert-owned theatre that Sacks has absorbed in the past year. Last summer he signed a lease on the Majestic from the Shubert interests, re¬ modeled it on a huge scale, equipped it with Todd-AO projectors and sound, and changed its name to the Saxon. For its gala opening, the attraction was “Okla¬ homa!” Currently it is showing “Around The World In 80 Days.” In taking over the Plymouth, Sack will change its name to the Gary, in honor of his youngest son. It will be remodeled along the same lines as the Saxon with Louis Chiaramonte, Merchandising Dis¬ play, designing the plans and supervising the remodeling. The Gary is the third fii'st run motion picture house in Boston under the Sack banner. He operates the Beacon Hill as well as the Saxon and two theatres in Fitchburg, Mass., the Fitchburg and the Saxon. the entire building for two nights. Arthur Stein, city manager, ordered a caterer to supply sandwiches, coffee, cold drinks, popcorn, candy, etc., which were sold in front of the damaged building on tables erected for the emergency. A week later the concession building was repaired, re¬ painted, and put in working order. . . . ■The gala opening of E. M. Loew’s Au¬ burn (Mass.) Drive-In was held. . . . Since the death in March of Oze Tessier, who owned the Rialto and Royal, New Bedford, his son-in-law, Russell Turner, is running the Rialto. The Roy has been closed for some months but plans are in the wind for Turner to reopen it in the fall. PROVIDENCE. R. I., NEWS— The Lons¬ dale Drive-In announced a special give away. Some lucky boy or girl was to pedal home on an English-built bicycle. . . . Dick Partridge, WHIM star, made a personal appearance on the stage at the Route 44 Drive-In. . . . Many surround¬ ing open-airers are lining up local radio and TV personalities to entertain early arriving patrons until darkness enables the evening’s screenings to be shown. Spe¬ cial stage sound equipment and amplifiers are being installed to overcome the norm¬ ally unfavorable outdoor acoustics. In¬ creased patronage is anticipated. Buffalo In connection with his “Calypso JoeHot Rod Rumble” show general manager George H. Mackenna, Basil’s Lafayette, put a Calypso Amateur Contest on his stage, with WEBR’s popular personality, Bob Wells, acting as master of cere¬ monies. The contest aroused a lot of interest and attracted many entrants. Mackenna also presented calypso hats to the first 500 ladies attending the open¬ ing night’s performance, thus adding to the general hilarity of the premiere. . . . Andy Griffith, star of “A Face In The N. C. Exhibitor Succeeds In Killing DST Bill _ DURHAM, N. C. — Harry Buchanan, Hendersonville, N. C., theatre oper¬ ator, has been given credit for mak¬ ing the House of Representatives of the North Carolina Legislature change its mind about daylight saving time. The House recently voted in favor of a bill which would institute day¬ light time on a statewide basis in North Carolina. Drive-In operators feared the bill, if enacted into law, would wreck their business, which thrives only after dark, reasoning that darkness would come an hour later and that some patrons would feel that 9 o’clock is too late to begin going to the movies. Buchanan swung into action, but¬ tonholing members of the House, and the next day, it reversed itself and killed the bill 51 to 41. Crowd,” visited to do some tub-thump¬ ing for his first starring production. Andy, star of the Broadway stage hit, “No Time For Sergeants,” was welcomed at the air¬ port by Mayor Steven Pankow and pre¬ sented with the key to the city. Follow¬ ing a luncheon in his honor at Hotel Statler at noon, Griffith appeared on half a dozen radio and TV stations. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Del Shute, managers of the Nunda, Nunda, N. Y., donated their the¬ atre for a showing of the cancer film, “Breast Self Examination,” which ap¬ proximately 350 women viewed at its recent showing under the sponsorship of the Nunda Hospital Guild. . . . W. E. J. Martin, drama and motion editor, Buffalo Courier-Express, and William Barney, roto editor, look very photogenic posing with Clark Gable during their visit to Hollywood, where both Martin and Bar¬ ney appeared in Paramount’s “Teacher’s Pet.” . . . Elmer F. Lux, past chief barker, Buffalo Variety Club, is a member of the arrangements committee planning the annual Spring Dance of the Greater Buffalo Advertising Club, June 8 in Kleinhans Music Hall. Charlotte The House Finance Subcommittee of the North Carolina Legislature recom¬ mended license tax relief for movie house operators which would save the operators an estimated $90,000 a year. Operators recently asked the committee for a reduc¬ tion in their license taxes, stating that unless such a cut was forthcoming some houses would have to close in the face of diminishing returns. . . . Roy Rowe, Burgaw, N. C., theatre operator and a Court Upholds Chicago Censors In "Game" Ban CHICAGO — The city ordinance regulating the Chicago Police Censor Board, which has been under numer¬ ous court attacks, was declared to be . constitutional by the U. S. Appellate Court. The decision was rendered concurrently with a ruling which up¬ held the censor board’s ban on “The Game Of Love.” After viewing this picture, the three high court judges branded the film as being “obscene and immoral.” Buffalo NSS Office Uses N. Y. Warehouse Buffalo — Area exhibitors will get Na¬ tional Screen Service supplies from that company’s New York warehouse through the Buffalo NSS office starting early in June, according to a letter from Harold Bennett, branch manager here. After that time, the Buffalo NSS office no longer will carry any stock. In the letter to exhibitors, Bennett said, “Although we took a long stride forward in 1952, by making the Buffalo office a full exchange, we have never been able to overcome one obstacle in achieving superiority of service. I refer to ‘short’ shipments. “These ‘shorts’ have been the result of release schedules and booking ‘breaks’ that more and more frequently are a far cry from the former Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Jamestown pattern. “Today, area and saturation dating al¬ most has become a rule rather than an exception. . . . Now, with modern elec¬ tronic machines, we again can take a long stride forward. We will have as our ‘stock room’ the entire district warehouse in New York, where materials are re¬ ceived from the plants as soon as the manufacturing process is completed. Thus ‘shorts’ will practically vanish except in those instances where a picture is played so early that some items still are in production. Should that occur, we will be in a better position than ever to service you by sending appropriate substitutions and thus take care of your needs in the interim. . . . We shall have a private line teletype between Buffalo and New York open continuously from nine a.m. to five p.m., Monday through Friday, In addi¬ tion, the latest type of automatic photo¬ graph equipment will give me an exact copy of your entii’e week’s booking order in a fraction of the time formerly re¬ quired to transcribe one program change.” member of the N. C. State Senate, has been renamed a member of the board of trustees of the University of North Carolina. Chicago World Theatrical Enterprises, Inc., owner of the Quincy and Quincy DriveIn, West Quincy, Ill., filed suit in Palmyra, Mo., asking cancellation of the lease held by the General Drive-In Theatres, Inc., present operators of the outdoor. The suit asks for possession of the property, damages, an accounting and the ap¬ pointment of a receiver. ... A reception for Elizabeth Wetter, 50 years in the in¬ dustry and 45 of them with Universal, is being arranged by Lou Berman, publi¬ cist. She started her career with Carl Laemmle. . . . Harold Bridge was named manager, Paramount, Fort Wayne, Ind. . . . The 3,000-seat Tower, closed for several months, is being offered for sale. The Tower Building Corporation has opened the house and the theatre build¬ ing, which contains’ apartments and stores, for inspection. . . . B and K trans¬ ferred Ken Edgerly, a manager for 30 years, from the Garrick to the Berwyn, so that he could be near his home. George Romaine went from the Marbro to the Garrick. (Continued on page 23) June 5, 1957