The Exhibitor (1959)

20 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR July 22, 19 59 8 NTAM BACKS THE BOOK that publicizes . . . What you see here is a reproduction of the cover of the special movie edition of BLUE DENIM which Bantam Books has on newsstands all across the country right now In all, 35,000 dealers with all the efforts of their combined sales forces are getting behind the pro¬ motion of this valuable property They are backing its distribution with display cards, posters, transpor¬ tation signs, and radio spots Coinciding with the national release of the power¬ ful Charles Brackett production, more than i 00,000 retail outlets will be displaying the book As you can see, BLUE DENIM stars Carol Lynley and Brandon de Wilde are prominently shown on bo'fi front and back covers, which means that these books <more than half a million of them) will be seen as posters directing newsstand patrons to their local theatres To support the release of this 35 cent Bantam edition, more than 400 field promotion men of fne Curtis Circulation Company stand ready to assist in distribution of locally-prepared posters mention¬ ing both the book and the movie In some cases, representatives of the publishing company may set up a book sale in the theatre lobby before and during the BLUE DENIM playdate In other loca¬ tions. special lobby displays can be created showing the book and heralding the arrival of the motion picture BLUE DENIM is a story for all of America Its message is a universal one, and it speaks to today's youth as no other film has Here is a reai oppor¬ tunity to take advantage of the proven technique, ""Read the Book See the Movie ” A recent Connecticut industry meeting for "The Jimmy Fund" in behalf of the Children's Cancer Research Foundation was attended by, left to right. Jack Sanson, SW Strand, Hart¬ ford; Harry Feinstein, SW northwestern zone manager; C. J. Lawler, Community Theatres, Inc., Hartford; William F. Murphy, Cine Webb, Wethersfield; and D. N. Amos, Lockwood and Gordon Enterprises, Boston. ALBANY Ray Smith, retired Warners branch man¬ ager and current buyer-booker for independ¬ ently operated theatres, inspected Alexander Film Company studios in Colorado Springs, Colo., during a visit with Mrs. Smith to their son Jack, serving in the Army at Ft. Carson . . . The Albany-Troy-Schenectady area may get another drive-in. There are about a dozen ozoners now operating in this section. ATLANTA Tom Jones, former manager, Grand, Bess¬ emer, Ala., has taken over the State, Bessem¬ er, from J. C. Howell. Don Hyde, former assistant, Alabama, Birmingham, Ala., re¬ placed Jones at the Grand . . . Jimmie Hob¬ son, young son of Prichard Hobson, Warners booker, was shaken up when the car in which he was returning from a Florida trip with friends overturned . . . The Harlem, Tennille, Ga., has been opened by T. J. Brett, Jr., also owner of the Arcade, Sandersville, Ga. . . . E. P. Clay, Conyers, Ga., theatre owner, is recuperating at a hospital here. BOSTON Alan Frieberg, who is a son-in-law of UA’s Milton Cohen, has resigned as manager of the Gary, owned by Ben Sack, and entered an¬ other field of business. He is replaced by his former assistant, Don Peterson. . . . Ernie Warren, owner, Paramount, Needham, presented 25 free passes to the Decorated Bicycle Parade in the big Independence Day Merchants Program, thus allowing 75 kiddies free admission to the theatre. . . . The pre¬ holiday week with cool, damp days brought boxoffice results up to a new yearly high. “Hercules” at ATC’s Pilgrim Theatre broke all existing records in its first week. . . . Jos¬ eph E. Levine, producer of “Hercules,” ar¬ ranged to be in his Boston office for the New England premiere of his film. Before leaving, he intimated that “Hercules Against The Gods,” now completed, may have a saturation opening in England in 1960. His next Ameri¬ can release is “Jack The Ripper” for which he has the Western Hemisphere rights, due for a fall release. . . . From Janus Films comes word that “Wild Strawberries”, a film done by Swedish director Ingmar Bergman, has been booked into the Exeter Street, here. Janus Films is also distributing “Smiles Of A Summer Night,” another Bergman picture originally released through J. Arthur Rank Organization. PROVIDENCE, R.I., NEWS— George Norton, assistant at Loews State, is putting in two weeks’ Tour of Duty with the Air Force, at Otis Field, as part of his Reserve Training activities. . . . Phil Nemirow, RKO Albee manager, and Bill Trambukis, head of Loew’s State, will act as Rhode Island’s co-publicity chairmen for COMPO, distributing and ‘plant¬ ing’ industry stories and transcriptions. . . . Eugene Picker, president; John F. Murphy, $ executive vice-president; and Charles E. Kurtzman, divisional-manager of Loew’s Theaters, were recent visitors in town. They spent considerable time with William J. Tram¬ bukis, manager of Loew’s State. . . . Special screenings of “Hole In The Head” were ar¬ ranged for employees of the Outlet Company, Southern New England’s largest department store and winners of a contest staged over radio station WICE, at Loew’s State, though the courtesy of Bill Trambukis, manager. BUFFALO The all-for-one and one-for-all policy may be adopted any day now by showmen of the Niagara Frontier if the promotional drive of Arthur Krolick, district manager, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres in Buf¬ falo and Rochester is successful. The plan is to persuade all film producers to space major shows evenly throughout the year, instead of bunching them into holiday feasts. . . . Colon¬ el William Shirley, UA field representative, celebrated his birthday with a party in Chez Ami. . . . Multi-lingual, blonde and at¬ tractive Aline Czartjarwicz, of Rome, came to Buffalo to do some tub-thumping for “Her¬ cules,” now at the Paramount. Aline is Euro¬ pean representative for Embassy Pictures, distributing the production through Warners. . . . Sale of the old Depew Theatre building to the Le-Mar Metal Products Company, has been announced. The company will move to the new location in September. The building owned by Joseph Warda, has been unused as a theatre for several years. Downtown theatres are much interested in a $100,000 year-long survey of the downtown Buffalo area designed to develop a program to meet challenges to the city’s economic fu¬ ture. The survey started July 20. CHICAGO Balaban and Katz paid a second quarter dividend of 50 cents, making $1 thus far for the year . . . Charles Teitel and Dan Goldberg, Teitel Films, have organized Cineguild Films, Inc., and their first announced production is “The Girl and The City” for September release . . . Harry Waterfall, S3, pioneer operator of theatre ticket agencies in Loop hotels, died in a hospital recently . . . Carl J. Stewart, owner-manager, Starlite Drive-In, Bloomington, Ind., was awarded a Doctor of Education degree at the University of Indiana. He also has a Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees and is assist¬ ant principal and guidance counselor at the local high school . . . Publicist Madeline Wood recovered in a local hospital from a serious heart attack which was followed by pneumonia . . . Ralph McLaughlin, United Film Carriers, is the proud father of a son, Richard Allen, born to his wife, the former Billie Campbell, of United Artists . . . Local theatre ushers were exempted in a bill pend¬ ing in the Illinois House which would set up a minimum wage of $1 per hour ... In June the Censor Board looked at 52 films, 18 from abroad. None were rejected, but 14 cuts were made . . . Myron Mandy, veteran B & K manager who directs the Will Rogers,