The Exhibitor (1961)

ALBANY The Community, Saratoga Springs, N. Y., became the property of two Albany theatre men. Sylvan Leff and Sidney Urbach, who took over ownership from the Walter Reade Enterprises, Oakhurst, N. J. They also ac¬ quired the Community, Hudson, in the deal. They also own and operate drive-in and regu¬ lar theatres in Vail Mills, Utica, Watertown and Pittsfield, Mass. Leff stated the two new theatres in their “chain” will be operated imder the ownership of the Community The¬ atres, Inc. He added that “I have a lot of faith in the theatre business. We’re sinking a lot of money in this; but I believe that pictures are getting better and I feel the business will continue to improve.” ATLANTA ing Mrs. Rindcen’s gardening assignments in Kenmore; and, of all things, the movies. . . . Charlie Funk, manager. Century, is all smiles. His current attraction, “101 Dalmatians,” broke all records for the house during Easter week and Charlie really passed out the pop¬ corn and ice cream. The longest lines ever seen around the Century were the talk of the town. . . . Zinn Arthur, executive assistant to Joshua Logan, famed producer and direc¬ tor, arrived for radio, TV, and newspaper ap¬ pearances to plug the coming of the Warner Bros, production of “Fanny.” . . . Judy Gar¬ land, making a one-night stand in Kleinhans Music Hall, took the place by storm. . . . The projected West Side “art” type theatres, in the remodeled Arnett, Rochester, is going to be “done in gold,” with all new fittings and a thoroughly contemporary look, according to Maury Slotnick. The opening is envisioned for early summer. Work has begun on a remodeling and mod¬ ernization of the Martin Circuit’s Rith, Tal¬ ladega, Ala., managed by Robert Cox. . . . Z. H. Pirtle and Billy Fults have assumed ownership of the Monteagle Drive-In, Monteagle, Tenn. . . . Ed Gilliam, husband, Mrs. Christine Gilliam, Atlanta censors, is recup¬ erating at home following surgery. . . . Mrs. George Rosser, wife of George Rosser, booker, Martin Theatre Circuit, is home following surgery. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Preston Henn, owners of theatres in Georgia and Florida, are the proud parents of a baby girl. . . . Mrs. Bob Moscow, whose husband operates the Rialto here and her mother-in-law has re¬ turned after a European vacation. BUFFALO Carl J. Rindcen. dean of Buffalo showmen, has retired to golf and gardening after a half century of managerial activities in the city. When Rindcen closed his desk the last time in Shea’s Teck not long ago, he concluded the all-time record run under the Shea Theatres banner — 55 years. Rindcen was the last of the original Shea showmen to depart the Loew theatres, now Honored by the Shea name. His last virtuoso performance and one of his most expert and successful was the merchan¬ dising of “Ben Hur” in its long, prosperous, reserved-seat engagement in the Teck. Rindcen was recruited by the late Michael Shea in April, 1906, as a telephone boy of 15, in the old Shea’s Court Street theatre. Ten years after his enlistment in the Shea forces, he was a theatre treasurer. Later, he man¬ aged the Shea community theaters, separately and as a circuit. At the crest, there were 13. For 14 years, Rindcen was house manager at Shea’s Buffalo. What now? Rindcen’s hobbies are Pamela J. Ronnie, his granddaughter, who entertains him in Batavia; golf; execut¬ CHICAGO Williams Downes, veteran electrical engi¬ neer with B&K for many years, passed away. . . . William Lyon Evers, 72, retired B&K corporation employee and former manager of the Crystal, died. . . . Barney Balaban, presi¬ dent, Paramount Pictures, slipped into town for the marriage of his niece, Susan Balaban, to Steve Flaxman. . . . David B. Wallerstein, president, B&K, talked from the heart to the committee of the third annual Variety Club of Illinois Heart Award dinner which will honor ‘Uncle Joe’ Swedie. Swedie devoted his time, money, and beat-up car to help hospitalized and underprivileged children by showing them movies and being a good friend. “Swedie is a little big man,” said Wallerstein. “His whole story would really make good movie material.” Nat Nathanson, midwest manager. Allied Artists and chief barker. Variety Club, was busy taking orders for tickets for the testimonial banquet to be held May 2 in the Gold Room of the Pick Congress Hotel. . . Three local independent exhibitors, Basil Charuhas, Bill Galligan and Milt Levy, have broken ground for their first drive-in, the Cascade, on North Avenue just off Wheaton, Ill. Scheduled to open late in June, the Cascade will accommodate 1,600 cars and the screen will be 75 feet high and 125 feet wide. There will be an elaborate playground area for children while the »'efreshment area will be run by a leading con¬ cessionaire. CINCINNATI States Film Service has taken over film inspection and shipping for Paramount, ef¬ fective April 15. . . . Caroline Wesley has succeeded Lisa Gardner as 20th-Fox booker’s clerk. . . . Sam Weiss, Columbus, O., sales¬ Seen at a recent meeting of the Theatre Owners of North and South Carolina at Hotel Golds¬ boro, Goldsboro, N. C., were Charles B. Duncan, membership chairman; Howard B. McNally, director; Mrs. Lucille E. Price, executive secretary; W. G. Enloe, Mayor of Raleigh; Frank H. Beddingfield, chairman of the board; and R. E. Agle, president of the association. man for Universal, is in Holmes Hospital here for a physical check-up. . . . Jessie Mar¬ tini, 20th-Fox inspector, is recovering from surgery. . . . Two former Paramount em¬ ployees, Carole Fahrnbach and Karyl Harrison recently became mothers of baby boys. . . . Phil Chakeres, president, Chakeres Theatres, returned to his winter home in Miami Beach, Fla., after spending a week in the circuit’s home office in Springfield, O. ... Jay Goldberg, co-manager, Realart, spent several days in the Kentucky territory. . . . The art Esquire has discontinued screening German films on Sunday afternoons, after having run them for six weeks. They are being continued, however, at the nabe Nordland, where they have attracted good weekend audiencs since last October. COLUMBUS, O., NEWS— John Wayne’s “The Alamo” became one of the year’s solid boxoffice hits by playing a fourth week at Loew’s Ohio. . . . Walt Disney’s “One Hun¬ dred and One Dalmatians” has been attracting big business at RKO Palace. . . . Rein Rabakukk, manager, Loew’s, Indianapolis, was a local visitor. Rabakukk formerly was assist¬ ant manager Loew’s Ohio. . . . Robert Little, manager, Bexley Cinema, reports continued interest in his monthly Sunday matinee Ger¬ man language film programs. The bill in¬ cludes, features, short subjects, and newsreels in German. . . . Robert Gates, manager, RKO Grand, was host at a press, radio and tele¬ vision showing of “Cinerama Holiday.” . . . Bernard Ginley, manager. Southern, was host to the Press Club of Ohio’s annual Gridiron Show presented on the Southern stage. CHARLOTTE Howard Benton, former operator of a movie house at Benson, N.C., was elected mayor of the town April 4. . . . The State, Newton, N.C., was damaged badly by fire the night of April 5 with damage estimated by manager Cecil Pharr at between $25,000 and $40,000. The house is owned by Everett Enterprises of Charlotte, and some 250 persons were view¬ ing the feature film when the fire broke out. All filed out in orderly fashion when in¬ formed by Pharr that the building was on fire. Four fire trucks fought the blaze for two hours. . . . County police have issued a war¬ rant against Walter E. Pinson, president of American-Astor Exchange here, charging him with distributing an immoral and obscene film. The warrant was issued as a result of testi¬ mony in the Superior Court trial of W. F. Lemmond, Jr., owner and operator of a local drive-in, charged with showing an obscene and immoral film in the showing of “Sun Lovers’ Holiday,” a nudist film. Lemmond was appealing a lower court conviction and the trial ended in a mistrial when the jury was unable to reach an agreement. He had been fined $350 and given a 90-day suspended sentence in the lower court. During the ap¬ peal trial, testimony revealed that he had obtained the film from the American-Astor Exchange here and county police then brought the charge against Pinson. DALLAS The Joseph E. Levine Showmanship Cara¬ van came to Dallas to spread the word about a $4,000,000 exploitation campaign which Levine’s Embassy Pictures has set up for three movies — “Morgan the Pirate,” “Thief of Bagdad,” and “Wonders of Aladdin.” With Levine on his Caravan, which has already visited New York, Chicago, and Atlanta and had Los Angeles and San Francisco to go, are George Jessel, Edward S. Feldman, and 18 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR April 26, 1961