The Exhibitor (1965)

president. ... A special show where a can of food was the price of admission was held by Mitchell Kelloff, Uptown, Pueblo, Colo., dur¬ ing the holidays, and the food was given to the poor. . . . The 16 foot fence surrounding the Star Vue Drive-In, Longmont, was de¬ molished by the recent high winds this area has been experiencing, according to Dick Kline, owner. . . . Ray Davis, for 35 years associated with the Fox Intermountain Thea¬ tres in this area, who has been given the post of head of the Evergreen Theatres in Seattle, will be guest of honor at a bon voyage luncheon at Hotel Diplomat by the Rocky Mountain Motion Picture Association. . . . Funeral services were held in Colorado Springs for E. Merle Gwinn, 51, who died recently after a brief illness. Gwinn was man¬ ager of the Ute, Colorado Springs, Cooper Foundation house. He formerly owned the Zorn, Benkleman, Nebr., and was a salesman for RKO at one time. Surviving are his wife and four sons. . . . Ralph Batschlet, manager, Denver, has won another showmanship honor. He was recently given the honorary title of Master of Merchandising Arts (with a gener¬ ous cash award) by vice-president Bob Selig and merchandising director Jack Wilson, Na¬ tional General Corp. . . . Another unit of the fast growing organization of Wesco Theatres has been added by the acquisition of the Motorena Drive-In, Greeley, Colo. DETROIT Columbia Pictures moved from the Film Exchange Building where it has been for many years. The new address is 807 Fox Building. At one time, every exchange was housed in the Film Exchange Building, which had fire-proof vaults while film was still inflammable. Today, with exceptions of MGM, 20th Century-Fox, and Universal, ex¬ changes are all in the Fox Building. . . . MPE Detroit Bureau has a friend from out of town who for reasons of red tape had considerable difficulty in getting the knot tied here. Every¬ thing was worked out, and best man accompanied him to the florist to pick up the bridal corsage. DB solemnly told the bride¬ groom he had arranged to have a special twin bill in his honor at the Fox. The bridegroom looked across the street where the marquee read “Shotgun Wedding,” plus “Beauty and the Body.” . . . The combination hotel strike and lock-out completely disrupted the plans of Variety Club of Detroit and Variety Club Women, Tent 5, to hold their combination installation parties, banquets, and dances. Further, guests of honor chief barker James Carreras of London and executive director George C. Hoover of South Miami, who is touring with Carreras, cancelled trips. Aside from the confusion which regular guests underwent in do-it-yourself stays, Detroit’s largest convention, the 20,000-strong Society of Automotive Engineers descended on the Motor City. Tent 5 headquarters were also closed. Carreras is now tentatively scheduled to come here in March. . . . Clark Theatre Service of Detroit, buyers and bookers, have acquired the accounts of Arthur Robinson’s drive-ins, the Ypsi-Ann, and the Scio, Ann Arbor. The Ypsi is undergoing improvements. Installation of heaters has been completed, and for the first time it will be open year ’round. It has also been enlarged to 1, 460-car capacity. There is a new attraction board. Appointed for a second year as chairman of business contact for the Mayor’s Keep Detroit Beautiful committee, is Fred P. Sweet, managing director of the Telenews. . . . Tom Byerle, who for. the past six years has headed United Detroit Theatres buying and booking department, has resigned. On March 1, he will create a like service for the Nicholas George Enterprises. The fast-growing circuit consists of four indoor and five outdoor, with several more on the drawing board. Byerle has been with United Detroit for 20 years. . . . Norman Meyers, who for 18 years man¬ aged the Adams in downtown Detroit, has assumed the same capacity for the Translux Krim, Highland Park, Mich. . . . Health au¬ thorities here are predicting a measles epi¬ demic, which will reach its peak late March. The last such outbreak was in 1951 and came at a time when attendance in Detroit was already far below the per capita in any major city in the country. Schools closed and children stayed away from movies and all places of public gatherings. This period doubt¬ less contributed to the subsequent closing of many theatres. It also resulted in the forma¬ tion of an exhibitor promotion for new busi¬ ness which was extremely successful in 1962. The bright spot is that now there are new preventive techniques which the Detroit De¬ partment of Health is publicizing on radio, tv, and in the newspapers. . . . Barbara Stan¬ wyck was here for two days, her first visit in more than a decade, to promote “The Night Walker.” She received considerable publicity. The film opens at the Palms Jan. 27. . . . Last week, The Variety Club of Detroit and the Variety Club Women, Tent 5, were forced to cancel out the annual installation reception, dinner, and dance due to the hotel strike and lockout at the Hotel Sheraton Cadillac, which was affected along with other leading hostleries. Members were advised of cancellation at the last possible moment, and ironically, hours after they received notice, the strike was unexpectedly settled. With less than 48 hours to go, it was impossible to reinstate the affair, which would have been a sell-out. Also, guests of honor inter¬ national chief barker James Carreras and executive director George C. Hoover had been notified and already changed plans, postponing their Detroit call until March. HOUSTON As part of a number of prizes in a contest being conducted here by Ivy Russell, Ford dealer, are 50 tickets to see “Goldfinger” at the Metropolitan. . . . According to columnist George Christian, Houston Post, “The Con¬ fessor” has been put off indefinitely. John Frankenheimer wrote Christian that he was looking forward to directing the film in Hous¬ ton, but circumstances are such that shoot¬ ing has been ruled out at the present time and it is uncertain whether it will be shot in the city. . . . The Alray has booked “Point of Order,” the documentary film on the ArmyMcCarthy hearings. The Houston chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union is spon¬ soring the showing for one night. . . . Mildred Stoekard, amusement editor of the Houston, Chronicle, has selected her list of 10 best pictures seen during the past year. The films are listed in alphabetical order: “America, America,” “Becket,” “The Best Man,” “The Chalk Garden,” “Father Goose,” “Mary Poppins,” “My Fair Lady,” “Night of the Iguana,” “Seven Days in May,” and “Tom Jones.” . . . George Maharis, former star of the tele¬ vision series “Route 66,” was scheduled to come to the city on a promotional tour in behalf of “Sylvia.” . . . C. E. Hillis, manager of the Post Oak D-I, decided it was time for a repaint job on his huge 50 by 100 foot plywood screen following the run of the cow¬ boy and Indian epic, “Rio Conchos,” and he began an examination of the screen area. Impaled high upon the screen, Hillis found a four foot, steeltipped hunting arrow. He is wondering whether some Indian in the audience, mad at the way the cowboys were treating the Indians on the screen, took a potshot at a cowboy fleeing the scene. . . . Bob Hope is scheduled for a personal ap¬ pearance here on April 29. Bob Bixler, former motion picture publicist, is here to make the necessary arrangements. . . . Mrs. W. W. Fondren will be honored by the Variety Club of Houston, Tent 34, at the 1965 Heart Banquet Feb. 11 in the Grand Ballroom of the Rice Hotel. Mrs. Fondren will be honored as Houston’s Heart Personality of 1964. This will be the first time the club has honored a woman in this capacity. Mrs. Fondren’s in¬ terests have been primarily in hospitals, education, religion, and youth work. Her contribution helped make possible the Older Boys Building for the Variety Boys Club. . . . When Hollywood screen actor Robert Taylor visited Houston in behalf of his latest film, “The Night Walker,” he talked to two other Robert Taylors who live in the city. Prior to coming here, Taylor had visited Dallas, Fort Worth, and the Port Arthur Beaumont area. Also here was William Castle, producer of the film. . . . Hollywood, star Jean Pierre Aumont was here for a luncheon sponsored by the United Jewish Campaign women’s division. . . . Interstate Theatres’ ad in the local dailies is in the form of a large “I” for Interstate, with the word Inter¬ state on one side and Now Playing on the other side. In the middle is a listing of each of the 10 theatres, eight indoor and two D-I’s, with the name of the theatre, address, title of the film, and showing times. Also listed are those films for “adult” entertainment. JACKSONVILLE Ken Smith, Universal publicist from New York, came in to work out advance ex¬ ploitation plans for “Strange Bedfellows” with officials of Florida State Theatres. He and Tom Sawyer, head of FST’s home office advertising and publicity department, worked their way south to Miami, where FST has the world premiere of “Strange Bedfellows” coming soon. . . . John Tomlinson, Tom¬ linson Co., is now booking for C. S. Munn, Palm Beach, who has a private theatre located in his own home. . . . Chuck Scott, who has a starring role in “Moonshine Moun¬ tain,” put in personal appearances at Meiselman’s Midway Drive-In during the motion picture’s first local run at the Midway. . . . Jimmy Knight, who entertained a generation of moviegoers during his years as organist of the downtown Florida, now heads a musical trio which performs at the suburban Crystal Lounge. . . . Gus Luke, owner of the new Capri, Sylvester, Ga., visited here for talks with his booker, Marvin Skinner. . . . The Capitol, St. Petersburg, which has been ac¬ quired from Manny Oliver by Martin Kaplan of 227 Theatres, Inc., has been shuttered temporarily for renovation. . . . The Gulf and Tropical Drive-In, Venice, formerly operated by William Mitchum, are now being run by Fred Douglas. . . . Welcomed into WOMPI membership were Jewelene Lee, veteran cashier at the Imperial, and S. Elsie Summer¬ lin, secretary to W. A. “Bill” McClure, Uni¬ versal branch manager. . . . WOMPIs receiv¬ ing birthday honors of the month were Dawn Frock, Joyce Malmborg, Jackie Hess, Betty Arnold, -and Sunny Greenwood. . . . The male Motion Picture Charity Club and WOMPI are co-sponsoring an industry square dance in Knights of Columbus Hall Jan. 29. . . . WOMPI members employed by FST will 16 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR January 27, 1965