The Exhibitor (1959)

22 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR September 30, 1959 Research! Healing! Two of the many good reasons why every theatre should take up Will Rogers Aud¬ ience Collections, Now! Remember, you are a pari of The Amusement Indus¬ try's WILL ROGERS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL AND RESEARCH LAB¬ ORATORIES. ★ NEW JERSEY MESSENGER SERVICE 1018-26 Wood Street PHILADELPHIA WAInut 5-3944, WOodlawn 4-7380 MEMBERS NATIONAL FILM CARRIERS, INC. David E. BRODSKY Associates THEATRICAL INTERIOR DECORATORS 242 N. 13th St. L0 4-1188—89 Phila. 7, Pa. PAINTING • DRAPERIES • MURALS STAGE SETTINGS • WALL COVERINGS PROGRESSIVE ELECTRIC CONSTRUCTION CO., INC. 240 N. 13th STREET • PHILADELPHIA 7, PA. • Theatre Installations and Maintenance the showing. . . . Archie Holt, Universal International, is convalescing. . . . Russ Brown, formerly of the Dallas UniversalInternational office, is now in Portland. ST. LOUIS Lieutenant Governor Edward V. Long, Clarksville, Mo., owner, Senate, Elsberry, Mo., and a director of the Missouri-Illinois The¬ atre Owners, filed for the Democratic nomi¬ nation for a second term in that office. He is also an attorney, a banker, and a farmer. . . . The Gerald, Gerald, Mo., has been closed indefinitely. . . . The old Kentucky, Paducah, Ky., has been razed to make way for a new shopping center. . . . John Miller, formerly on the 20th-Fox sales staff at Houston and later a booker in Dallas, has joined the local sales staff of the company. ... A near riot resulted when more devotees than the Union could accommodate showed up for a rock ’n’ roll show, but police, with police dogs, soon had the situation well in hand with the crowd forming in orderly lines waiting for the sec¬ ond show. . . . An estate of $110,920.55 was left by Tom L. Bloomer, partner in Bloomer Amusement Company, Belleville, Ill., who died in April, 1958. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Hugo Niemeyer reopened the State, Bowling Green, Mo. . . . The Abby, Abingdon, Ill., reopened. . . . The Brown, Mount Sterling, Ill., reopened . . . The Pantheon, Springfield, Ill., reopened. . . . Robert Good, lessee, Capitol, Pickneyville, Ill., plans to remove the equipment from this theatre to the old Globe, Christopher, Ill., which he plans to reopen on lease. . . . The Grandee Drive-In, Sullivan, Mo., and the Family Drive-In, Dexter, Mo., closed for the season. . . . Lester Bona, Warner assist¬ ant sales manager, resumed his duties after a two weeks rest at St. Mary’s Hospital. . . . Robert Mitchum was in for a press luncheon in connection with UA’s “Wonderful Coun¬ try”. . . . Hugh O’Brian, TV’s “Wyatt Earp,” was in to headline the Missouri Valley Polo Benefit Game for the Muscular Dystrophy Fund raising drive. SAN ANTONIO Ed Williamson, midwestem sales manager for Warners, and H. C. Vogelpohl, local Warner exchange manager, attended division meeting in Chicago. . . . The Dallas Sym¬ phony Orchestra has been offered the large musical library of the Palace Theatre. The offer was made by James O. Cherry, city manager for Interstate Theatres. The library was accumulated in the early 1920s when the theatre staffed a 40 -piece orchestra on weekdays and a 70-piece aggregation on Sundays when a concert was presented. . . . Irving Spanier, a California sales representa¬ tive, was a visitor at the local Warner ex¬ change. . . . Sam and Arnold Schwartz, theatre owners from Eagle Pass, Tex., were in showing local film exchange managers their plans and specifications for the con¬ struction of the new Yolande in Eagle Pass. The building is expected to be completed in 1960. . . . Douglas Naylor, manager, Texas, held the monthly Pepsi-Cola show for local kiddies. . . . Ernest Rocket reopened the Tower, Itasca, Tex., and is operating full < time. . . . Bobbye Meredith, secretary to Bill Heliums, city manager for Interstate Thea¬ tres at Austin, Tex., was in a local hospital there for treatment of burns received on her arm and shoulder. . . . Henry Fine, publicist, has been commuting via air between the Batjac Productions film location in Brackett ville, Tex., where they are filming “The Alamo,” and San Antonio. . . . James E. Unger, city manager for the Interstate Theatre Circuit in Wichita Falls, Tex., has retired after 40 years in show business. . . . R. J. O’Donnell, vice-president and general man¬ ager, Interstate Theatres, with headquarters in Dallas, has offered John Wayne the use of Interstate’s Broadway. Only 100 miles from the Brackettville, Tex., location where Wayne is to film “The Alamo,” the Broad¬ way is the closest Todd -AO house in which rushes of the film can be previewed. . . . The Alvin Drive-In, Alvin, Tex., practically de¬ molished when Hurricane Debra swept across the Gulf Coast and left a trail of debris in its wake, is currently being rebuilt, according to Keith Curtiss Jr., manager. The huge CinemaScope screen was ripped and shattered, the tall fence enclosing the parking area was crushed in many places, the tall sign at the front of the theatre was battered, and the speaker system was damaged by heavy rains. The theatre is one of two in Alvin owned by the Long Theatres, Inc., Bay City, Tex. . . . According to reports, there is the possibility that a new theatre will be constructed at Austin, Tex., within the next few months. The theatre will be located in a new shopping center and will be one of the first to be erected here in several years. . . . Jack Cole, who joined Cole Theatres in 1950, has taken over full time management of the Cole, Rosenberg, Tex. Previously he had managed the Lamar, Richmond, Tex., and the Twin City DriveIn, Rosenberg. He will be in charge of the booking department of the Cole Theatre Circuit of which Mart Cole, Sr., is president and general manager. Roy Meyer has been named manager, Twin City Drive-In, suc¬ ceeding Cole. . . . High winds caused some $500 damages to a metal and wood wall at the San Pedro Outdoor Theatre on Labor Day. SALT LAKE CITY Ted Kirkmeyer, for many years manager, Uptown, has been transferred to Fox’s Villa in suburban South Lalt Lake. . . . The World, one of two art houses here, has closed temporarily. SEATTLE Alex Harrison, general sales manager for 20th-Fox, was in from New York. . . . Roger Hurlock, Allied Artists director, passed through enroute to Juneau, Alaska. He had attended a board meeting in Los Angeles Sept. 9. . . . Archie Holt, Universal salesman in Portland, is out of the hospital and is recovering at home. . . . Bob Parnell, Allied Artists salesman, was working the eastern Washington territory. WASHINGTON The Imperial, Brunswick, Md., will reopen on a part time basis. . . . The Showells, Ocean City, Md., closed. . . . The Basie, Hampton, Va., reopened and is now operated by Arnold Anderson. . . . The Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, Va., closed. . . . The Clover, Clover, Va., reopened. . . . The Palace, Petersburg, Va., closed. Citizens of Narrows and Giles County, Va., greeted the reopening of the Narrows by L. & R. Theatres, the new company which has taken over the operation of the Pearis, Pearisburg, Va. The L. & R. Theatre Corporation was named in honor of the Lucas and Reel families who operated the theatres for many years. The all new company con¬ sists of R. A. Carpenter, president, and Harley M. Davidson, vice-president, both theatre veterans. Frank Russell is managing the Narrows.