The Exhibitor (1961)

Drive-in Meet Set; Texas Honors Exhib DALLAS — President R. E. (Bob) Davis of Sherman, Tex., president, Texas Drive-In Theatre Owners Association, announced that Governor Price Daniel has issued an official proclamation designating the week of Feb. 11-17 as Drive-In Theatre Week. This rec¬ ognition was given the Association on the occasion of their forthcoming 10th annual convention to be held at the Statler Hilton Hotel here Feb. 13-15. Registrations begin at 9:00 a.m. Feb. 13, with the trade exhibits hall open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. No business sessions are scheduled for the first day except for a board meeting. There will be a get together cock¬ tail party from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. sponsored by the Alexander Film Co., Victor Cornelius, and Filmack Trailer Co. A breakfast at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 14, sponsored by American In¬ ternational Pictures, is to be followed by the official opening session of the convention at 9:30 a.m. Many other events are scheduled together with an interesting program high¬ lighted by the presence of John Stembler, president of TOA. The convention will close the evening of Feb. 15 with the Presidential Banquet and Dancing, sponsored by the Coca Cola Co. Davis states that with more exhibits than ever and the greatest number of advance registrations they have ever had, the first decade as an association should be a memo¬ rable one. This is the only drive-in associa¬ tion in the country and the annual conven¬ tion is the only exhibitor convention in Texas. "View" Overflows To B'way NEW YORK— Arthur Miller’s “A View From The Bridge,” currently playing to ca¬ pacity audiences at the Sutton, also opened at the DeMille, Broadway, marking the first time that the premiere of a film in an eastside art house has been expanded into a simultaneous westside presentation, it was announced by Carl Peppercorn, vice-presi¬ dent and general sales manager of Continen¬ tal Distributing, Inc. New Strand, Alma, Mich., Finally Set To Debut ALMA, MICH. — The postponingest opening on record for these parts is the being-built Strand. First announced for Thanksgiving, it has been put back and back, latest date for completion being early February, with attractions “Madi¬ son Avenue” and “Swinging Along” an¬ nounced definitely for the first time by builder and operater A. Carl Schmidt. Last week, local brows were slightly furrowed over a paragraph in The Alma Record referring to advance sale of tickets which was supposed to go on until opening date last November. Prints the worthy Record: “The deadline for pur¬ chase of 52 admissions for $25 as has been a Chamber of Commerce project will terminate today with tickets at this re¬ duced rate still available at the Chamber office in the City Hall.” It doesn't seem certain whether this statement of policy means patrons can’t get tickets they buy or whether they buy tickets they can’t get. Or, perhaps, that tickets may be purchased singly at the unique price of $.488080808 etc. CANADIAN Highlights By Harry Allen, Jr. G. E. BROUGHTON, Bancroft, Ont., who operates a standard theatre and a drive-in in a depressed area, feels the difficulties of the industry are due to the unwillingness of two sides to give. “It would appear to me — and I am wet behind the ears insofar as speaking to the old-timers of the movie industry — that our situation is parallel to the Berlin situa¬ tion. Neither side is willing to give.” Broughton enlivened the recent meeting of the Mo¬ tion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario with discussion from the floor. He feels that many of the problems of the industry could be solved by some honest-to-goodness panel discussion. “I could be wrong but I have heard it stated that a lot of damn good ideas have gone home with people because their nature would not allow them to get up and get their ideas across.” Broughton said he hasn’t any axe to grind with the distributors. “Our problems have been discussed in an unbiased and gentlemanly and fair manner and we talk the same language. I feel that it has been accomplished in my case, and possibly if there are more such cases, there should be an answer.” FOUR FILM COMPANIES in Canada are reported interested in the idea of a central shipping organization for motion pictures, according to Stanley Adleman, son of Meyer Adleman, president of State Film Service of Philadelphia. State Film Service claims the company will begin operations in Toronto shortly and will follow in other Canadian ex¬ changes in five cities. The matter which has been under discussion in this country for the past 10 years was brought in focus once again by a visit of the younger Adleman to Toronto. He has spent considerable time in the city examining the situation and discuss¬ ing the problem with various film company heads. The closest thing to central shipping in Canada is provided by Associated Screen Industries of Montreal, which does the physi¬ cal distribution in that area for several companies. State Film Service wants to establish on a national basis. Several efforts in the past have failed. A SURVEY of 94 Canadian daily newspapers has revealed that 17 have film critics, whose responsibility are the films. Another 25 combine it with drama, eight with radio and tv, two with both drama and radio-tv, and 12 were critics right across the board. The survey, made by the Canada Foundation of Ottawa, was to determine who writes the cri¬ ticism of music, art, theatre, books, radio-tv, and films. There were 67 names returned in the latter field, with three not making any reply. . . . The free-loaders on the motion pic¬ ture exhibitors of Ontario have been scared off by the nominal charge of $5 per theatre for non-commercial trailers. Last year the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario gathered in a total of $1,170 in this way, making it unnecessary for the organization to raise its dues for operational needs. The free-loaders who spend money with the press and tv have been hurt by the new policy of the Association, but the theatres have been just as happy. Among the bodies that still thought the charge too little to warrant objec¬ tion were the Red Cross Society, The National Sanitarium Association, the Metropolitan Toronto Safety Appeal, the Toronto United Appeal, the Belleville United Appeal, and the Hastings County TB Association. REEL CLIPS: Robert J. Widdicombe, an experienced property appraiser with a University of Toronto B.A. degree, has taken over as manager of Famous Players Canadian Corp. real estate department. He succeeds Harold Roberts who resigned some months ago to take a position with the Ontario Municipal Board. Widdicombe was connected with the Hudson’s Bay Co. in recent years, and before that he was with one of Canada’s largest insurance companies as a mortgage underwriter. . . . William Freedman will spend more time with the operations of his theatres following the merger of his Allied Theatres booking service with that of Associated Booking Service. There are 17 theatres in the Allied setup, while there are also 17 in the Associated. Danny May, who managed the Allied setup, moves in with Curly Posen. Wilson To Arizona PHOENIX, ARIZ. — The former tv editor of the folded Hearst Detroit Times, Andy Wilson, has a new assignment. On Feb. 14, there will appear here a new daily, The Arizona Journal, on which he becomes amusement editor. The new paper will be the largest in the country printed by a new offset process. Wilson states there will be extensive cover¬ age of movies, tv, stage, and all the perform¬ ing arts. Williams To Glen Alden Board NEW YORK — Charlton H. Williams has been elected as a member of the board of directors of the Glen Alden Corporation, it was announced by Albert A. List, president and chairman of the board. Williams will also continue as president of the Swift Man¬ ufacturing Company of Columbus, Ga., a re¬ cent acquisition of the Glen Alden Corpora¬ tion. New Distrib Firm Set NEW YORK — Lewis S. Ginsburg, former UA distribution executive in the New Eng¬ land area, has formed Vid-Ex Film Distribut¬ ing Corp. and Lewis S. Ginsburg Associates, for the distribution of feature films, shorts, and cartoons to both theatrical outlets and television stations. Ginsburg returned from a three -month business trip abroad where he acquired the rights to a group of 34 features, 10 in color, for tv release. Also a group of an additional 16 features for theatrical release. Among the features for theatres is a three-hour version of “The Count of Monte Cristo.” Broumas Adds Two BALTIMORE — John Broumas, president, Maryland Theatre Owners Association, has added two theatres to his circut. They are the Luray Drive-In and Page Theatre, both located in Luray, Va., and formerly owned by Dennis Allshire. 16 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR February 7, 1962