The Exhibitor (1961)

ALBANY The first membership meeting of Variety Club under new chief barker G. Brandon Donahue again took up the sale of the local club house at 326 State Street as well as the benefit for Camp Thatcher scheduled for the Strand reopening on April 5 . . . The Troy Armory, rather than a theatre, will be the area outlet for TelePrompter’s closed circuit of the PattersonJohannson heavyweight championship bout. The Armory seats 6,000 persons . . . John Wilhelm, 20th -Fox branch manager, has been elected president of the Saddlewood Home Owners Association in the Village of Colonie . . . Charles Rossi added Monday night to the previous three-day schedule at the Strand, Mechanicville, which he recently leased from James E. Benton, Benton Theatres . . . Cinerama will open March 24 at the New Heilman on a 10-screenings a week policy at $2.50 top. ATLANTA Fred Coleman, owner, Roosevelt Drive-In, is more than a little perturbed with the ad department of a local newspaper. It seems that during the recent cold weather that part of his ad notifying his patrons of the provi¬ sion of heaters was left out. This was brought to the attention of the ad department and the next day in bold black letters his ad read “Heaters for your cat” . . . Mrs. Molly Puckett, Capital Releasing Corporation secretary, is on leave to await the arrival of the stork . . . J. W. Riley, Jr., Tennessee Eastman Recreation Club, director, at Kingsport, Tenn., is back at his office after a spell of illness . . . The Kirk¬ wood, owned by Earl Hathcock, has closed due to poor business. BOSTON A group of 75 college students demon¬ strated at the Metropolitan and Paramount. They said they were not protesting the films being played at either house, only the Amer¬ ican Broadcasting-Paramount theatres segre¬ gation policies in southern theatres. The demonstration was staged by the Emergency Public Integration Committee, and the group said it had notified the theatres they were going to picket and received permission from the police. The picketing was orderly. . . . Frank C. Lydon, executive secretary. Allied Theatres of New England, went to Augusta, Me. to attend a joint session of the Legis¬ lature, which was addressed by Dr. John F. Sly, director of Princeton Survey, Princeton University. Dr. Sly discussed background for various existing taxes. Although Governor Reed has recommended an increase in the sales tax to four per cent. Dr. Sly suggested that the tax base be “broadened” to cover many exempt items such as “admissions” (and this was his top recommendation) and that the increase to be held to 3 per cent for this session. Maine members of Allied have been alerted to the situation and appropriate steps have been taken to keep abreast of day to day developments. If and when Dr. Sly’s recommendation takes the form of a specific “admission” tax, a prearranged “grass roots” attack will be launched by key Allied men in the area under the direction of Robert M. Sternburg, president. Allied Theatres of New England. . . . Cantinflas (Mario Moreno) met the Boston press with John Markle, Columbia exploitation chief in Boston. Ac¬ companied by his manager, Jacques Gelman, and Columbia representative John Thompson of Chicago, he went to see his picture, “Pepe,” at the Gary. . . . Jane Fonda, film actress, who won the Laurel Award for the most promis¬ ing screen debut, was honored by the Harvard Hasty Pudding Theatricals in Cambridge and was named “Woman of the Year.” The young actress, daughter of stage and film star Henry Fonda, thus joined the ranks of Harvard’s all time favorites, Mamie Eisenhower, Kath¬ erine Hepburn, and Grace Kelly. NEW HAMPSHIRE NEWS — Colonial, Portsmouth, is showing extra after-school shows at 4:15 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday afternoons with children 35 cents and adults 75 cents. . . . Justus H. Beal, managing director, Jax Jr., Littleton, formerly operated by Interstate Amusement Company, was an usher and projectionist at this theatre in his high school days. . . . Scenic, Rochester, gave Three Stooges rings to all comers on a re¬ cent Saturday. . . . Pineland Hall, Center Ossipee, has been running scrambled words in its ads, the first five winners receiving passes. BUFFALO The Steuben, Hornell, has been leased to Dipson Theatres, Inc., according to word from James Maoris, manager. Majestic in the same town. The Majestic is owned by Dipson, and the two theatres will be under the manage¬ ment of Maoris. The Steuben will be closed for a short time after March 1 when the new operators take over, for redecorating and renovation. . . . Ardis Smith, drama and motion picture editor of the Buffalo Evening News, traveled to Toronto to cover the open¬ ing of the national company of “Fiorello,” in the fabulous O’Keefe Center, where the company of 70 concluded a two-week en¬ gagement which began with an advance sale of $150,000 and box office total of an added $30,000 or so. The reason Smith went to To¬ ronto was to try and give the local en¬ gagement a boost. The show wUl present two performances on the stage of Basil’s Lafayette on March 15. The regular policy at the Lafay¬ ette is first-run film plays. . . . Charlie Funk of the Century had a tie-up w'ith Sattler’s on “The Millionairess,” through which a “Look of a Millionairess” fashion outfit was placed in the store window, and entrants in the contest were asked to guess the total original retail prices of the various garments making up the ensemble. Entrants picked up entry blanks in the store’s Junior Shop. The store gave the stunt and the picture some good space in their ads. . . . Les Pollock, manager, Loew’s, Rochester, put on his an¬ nual Washington’s Birthday cartoon and prize show at 10 a.m. at which time he gave away to the kids some $800 in prizes, promoted from Noah’s Ark stores, and including six bikes. . . . Ben Weiner is in Buffalo working with George H. Mackenna, general manager, Basil’s Lafayette, on “Dondi,” which will be the Basil Circuit flagship’s attraction at Eastertime. CHARLOTTE Two employes of the Uptown at Durham, N. C., were assaulted by a youth in the bal¬ cony who was asked to leave. The victims of the assault, for which the youth later was fined $25 in court, were Bobby Hughes, 20, and Rachel Lewis, 18. ... A $25,000 damage suit was filed on behalf of a patron of the Lincoln, Winston-Salem, N.C., who claims she was seriously injured when a seat collapsed. The suit is directed against the Bijou Amuse¬ ment Circuit of Tennessee, operator of the Lincoln. It was brought in U. S. District Court on behalf of Connie B. Kennedy by her father, the Rev. E. C. Kennedy, Wilkes County, N. C. The suit alleges that the girl was permanently injured, and her right leg especially damaged when a theatre seat, to which she had been directed by an usher, collapsed as she sat down. CHICAGO Bernie Mach, secretary -production man¬ ager, Filmack Trailer Company, has en¬ tered the Highland Park Hospital for medi¬ cal treatment. Irving Mack, former Fil¬ mack president, and now a resident of Miami Beach, has temporarily returned to Filmack to fill in during his absence. . . . Mike Kavanagh, head, Michael Todd Theatre, here, is resigning to become head of Independent Booking Office in New York . . . The Mc¬ Cormick Place Theatre was completed in time for the Chicago Automobile Trade Associa¬ tion annual show. Seating 5,000 persons, it is the largest in the area with a stage 175 feet wide and 106 feet deep designed to provide space for everything from grand opera to pageants . . . The Blackstone, Dwight, RL, has been completely remodeled under the super¬ vision of Dick McDevitt, new manager who succeeds Mrs. Faye Calvin, who is now acting as cashier. CINCINNATI Allied Artists, where Milton Gurian has been branch manager since 1948, has moved to larger quarters on the groimd floor of the Universal Exchange Building at 1628 Central Parkway. . . . Meyer Adelman, Philadelphia, president. States Film Service, was in to con¬ fer with an architect about plans for exten¬ sive remodeling of a recently purchased building on Wade st. in the Film Row area. . . . MGM’s “Gorgo” opened to very good business in 22 area houses. The film has been booked into 45 other area houses for upcom¬ ing screenings. . . . Harold Moore, owner, Roxy, Clendenin, W. Va. and independent booker and buyer for area exhibitors, is in Staats Hospital, Charleston, W. Va. for a physical checkup. . . . J. E. Watson, former 20ffi-Fox publicist, and Gail Shepherd, for¬ merly in charge of group sales for the down¬ town Capitol, are now handling these assign¬ ments for UA’s “Exodus,” which opens March 22 at the Valley as a hard-ticket attraction. . . . Ira Sichelman, recently named 20th-Fox branch manager, was in West Virginia to meet house owners and managers. . . . James Denton has sold the 500-seat Rohs, Cynthiana, Ky., to Lawrence McGill. DALLAS Albert H. Reynolds, vice-president and general manager of Claude Ezell and Asso¬ ciates, was awarded the third annual John H. Hardin award as “the outstanding personality in the Texas drive-in industry in 1960.” Lee Sherron, Allied Artists, was awarded the “Booker of the Year” award. Both awards were presented at the closing session of the Texas Drive-In Theatre Owners Association meeting. Reynolds was the convention chair¬ man, is a TDITOA director, and was elected second vice-president for 1961. . . . Sue Ane Langdon, who is to be seen in “The Great Impostor,” paid a visit to Dallas on behalf of the U-I film which will open at the Palace. . . . “Gone With the Wind” will make its fifth visit to Dallas and is scheduled to open at the Majestic on March 30. The film opened in Dallas for its first appearance on Feb. 8, 1940, at the Melba, now the Capri, on a roadshow basis. . . . The Women of the Motion Picture Industry will present a style show in which their own members will serve as models. Members in charge include Dorothy Johns, Peggy Ames, Betty McDaniel, Frances John¬ son, Joyce Pringle, and Joyce Smith. . . . Paul Rice and C. H. Beaver, Paramount office in Oklahoma City, were in at the local Para¬ mount exchange for a sales meeting. March 15, 1961 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 13