The Exhibitor (1960)

NEW ORLEANS The U Drive-In and the Meridian, Miss., Drive-In, are now open weekends only. . . . Mrs. Anne Long closed the Parkway Drive-In, Winfield, La., until next spring. . . . The local WOMPI launched their initial Christmas party for the youngsters of needy families of Greater New Orleans at the Famous. Like the previous parties, there was a visit from St. Nick, who distributed toys and goodies. . . . F. F. Goodrow has severed his connec¬ tion with Valiant as distributor in the local exchange territory. His connections with Howco now take up most of his time. . . . Mrs. Harold Scallon, former billing clerk at NSS, gave birth to a son. . . . M. A. Connett, head, Connett Theatres, Newton, Miss., is up and about again after hospitalization. ... St. Mary Drive-In, Derwick, La. is now on week¬ end operation. . . . Citronelle Drive-In, Citronelle, Ala., is also now on week-end operation. . . . Mrs. James Fitzhugh closed the Crosby, Crosby, Miss., indefinitely. PHILADELPHIA Variety Club, Tent 13, will hold its installa¬ tion dinner at the Bellevue-Stratford Hotel on Jan. 16 in honor of incoming chief barker Lester H. Wurtele; and outgoing chief barker Martin B. Ellis. . . . The Women’s Auxiliary of the Tent will hold a deluxe dinner in the Burgundy Room of the Bellevue at the same time that the men are holding their stag affair in the main ballroom. . . . Variety Club Tent 13 will hold it’s New Year’s eve party on Dec. 31 in the clubrooms. ... A Christmas party for the Tent’s Children Campers will be held in the clubrooms on Dec. 17 with Santa Claus personally handing out gifts. . . . Columbia branch manager Lester Wurtele is recuperat¬ ing nicely at home following his recent hos¬ pitalization. ... It was reported that the Clearfield is to be sold for non-theatrical use by Lew Rovner. PITTSBURGH “Ben-Hur” engagement at the Warner was extended an additional four days, clos¬ ing on Dec. 23, instead of the 18th, as originally announced. The MGM epic will be followed by “The Alamo,” John Wayne pro¬ duction released through United Artists. Con¬ trary to expectations, “Alamo” will not be road-shown, but will play continuous perfor¬ mances at advanced prices. . . . Melrose Carrick, was reopened after extensive redecorat¬ ing by the Warren Brothers, Floyd, Marty, and Ernie, area drive-in operators. House had been closed for several years, and was last operated by Stanley Warner circuit. . . . Karl Krug, former drama and movie editor on the Sun -Telegraph, absorbed through merger with the Post-Gazette some months ago, has added a movie-host chore to his Channel 11 duties. . . . Bill Finkel, former theatre owner and one-time Variety Club chief barker, died fol¬ lowing a heart attack. He was a brother of Morris Finkel, owner, Mt. Oliver and Arcade, and father of TV producer-director Bob Finkel. . . . Josie Costa and Johnny Costa, TV favorites of KDKA-TV’s “Funsville” program, appeared in person at a special holiday kiddie show staged by Whitehall-Brentwood Mer¬ chants’ Association and the Whitehall the¬ atre, managed by Bob Suits. . . . Tony Coutsoumbis scheduled an advance Saturday morning preview of Columbia’s “3 Worlds of Gulliver” at the downtown Harris, with ad¬ mission a toy for an under-privileged child. ST. LOUIS B. Gerald Cantor, president of National The¬ atres, arrived in St. Louis to attend the Major League baseball meetings being held at the Hotel Chase. Accompanied by Eugene Kein, vice-president of NTA, Cantor was at the meetings in an attempt to get an Ameri¬ can League franchise in Los Angeles. . . . Perry, Perry, Ill. will reopen after the first of the year under the ownership of the local American Legion. Steve Durbin will manage the theatre. . . . Odrey, Bluff, Ill., closed for a few weeks, and plans to reopen for Christ¬ mas. . . . Palace, Johnston City, Ill., Cluster Circuit, will reopen soon. . . . The Holiday Drive-In, St. Louis, will not close as planned but will remain open weekends. . . . Canna, Gillespie, Ill., reopened after remodeling. . . . With the exception of the Airway and Man¬ chester, all St. Louis drive-ins are down to weekend operations. . . . The Ford, Griggsville Ill., has been taken over by Robert Kopps. SAN ANTONIO Burglars took nearly $1,000 in merchandise and equipment from the Lackland Drive-In concession stand. . . . Gregoray Morales has announced that he is closing the State, Sierra Blanca, Tex., and will move to Arizona. . . . G. R. Garza has taken over operation of the Buccaneer Drive-In, Corpus Christi, Tex. Garza has been long time manager of the drive-in. Arnulfo Gonzalez, the former owner will devote his attention to his interests in the Laredo, Tex., area where he resides. . . . The Elk Drive-In, Friona, Tex., was levelled by a tornado recently, suffering damage es¬ timated at $65,000 to $70,000 by owner W. E. McGloughlan. . . .The Aztec will hold a special cartoon showing on Saturday, Dec. 17 starting at 10 a.m. with admission being one toy. “Capt. Gus,” local TV personality, will appear on stage and award one girl and one boy bicycle. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Joe Cuevas celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with an open house. He is a proiectionist here with the Interstate Theatre Circuit. . . . George Whaley has been named manager of the Joy. ... A contract has been entered into by Azteca Films, Inc., and Clasa-Mohme, under which Azteca will physically distribute the Clasa-Mohme Spanish language films in this area. Gordon Dunlap, who has been man¬ ager for Clasa-Mohme, has been employed in a similar capacity by Azteca. Jewell Truez has been moved by Azteca to its Los Angeles of¬ fice. . . . The Texas, Knox City, Tex., was destroyed by fire which also gutted several other nearby business stores. . . . The Plaza, Laredo, Tex., is receiving additional boxoffice results with their gifts of dinnerware on Wednesday and Thursday nights. ... A big and costly fire gutted the Venus, Victoria, Tex., which is owned by Frels Theatres. It took several fire fighting units more than three hours to control the fire. Damage was estimated at $450,000. SEATTLE Variety Club held a theatre party preview at the Neptune Theatre. . . . Allied Artists moved closer to the film exchanges. Their new address of 2401 Second Avenue is that of Universal with whom they are sharing a split office. . . . Don Conley, Buena Vista district manager, was in town from Los Angeles. . . • Sam Davis, Metro branch manager, has re¬ cuperated from his recent illness to the ex¬ tent that he now comes to the office daily for short hours. WASHINGTON, D.C. The following closings have been reported: Bakers Air Park Drive-In, Burlington, W. Va.; Cavalier Drive-In, Elkton, Va.; Culpeper Drive-In, Culpeper, Va.; Emporia Drive-In, Emporia, Va.; Kilmarnock Drive-In Kilmar¬ nock, Va.; Midway Drive-In, Rehoboth Beach, Del.; Pitts Drive-In, Front Royal, Va.; Pitts Warrenton Drive-n, Warrenton, Va.; Rex Petersburg, Va.; Sky Vue Drive-In, Martinsburg, West Va.; Starlite Drive-In, Cumberland, Md.; Super 113 Drive-In, MUford, Del.; 219 Drive-In, Deer Park, Md;. Vil¬ lage Drive-In, Village, Va.; York Drive-In, Tabbs, Va.; Ruckersville Drive-In, Ruckersville, Va.; Highland Drive-In, Blue Grass, Va.; Skyline Drive-In, Waynesboro, Va.; Manassas Drive-In, Manassas, Va.; and Page Drive-In, Luray, Va. . . . The Center, Cen¬ terville, Md., reopened. . . . The Clarko, Berryville, Va., has reopened and renamed Op¬ era House Theatre. It is being operated by the Blue Ridge Playhouse, Inc. 20 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR December 14, I960