The Exhibitor (1965)

Theatre Circuit Execs Join Croup To Support Para. Management Team Koken To Be Honored At Industry Luncheon NEW YORK — The theatre, concessions, and vending industries will honor Lee Koken at a special luncheon to be held at the Ameri¬ cana Hotel in Wednesday, Oct. 13. Koken recently resigned from his RKO Theatres post. Bert Nathan, president of Bert Nathan En¬ terprises, Oceanside, L. I., is chairman of the event, with Charlie Okun, retired Coca-Cola executive, co-chairman. The testimonial luncheon committee consists of Ed Finneran, Pepsi-Cola Co.; Mike Garone, Coca-Cola Co.; Abe Fogel, Union News Co.; Jack Levin, chief barker, New York Variety Club; Ben Newman, Newman Weisman Associates; Harold Newman, vice-president, Century Theatres; Leonard Pollack, Loews Theatres; Sam Rubin, vice-president, ABC Consolidated Corp.; Mike Stein, Stein Woodcraft Corp.; Jack Yellin, Stanley Warner Corp.; Lou Abramson, executive director, N.A.C., Chicago; and Joe Alterman, TOA, New York. Koken had been with RKO 32 years. For the last 18 years, he headed the concessions and vending phase of the theatre chain and also was in charge of in-plant feeding for the various other Glen Alden industrial divisions. Prior to that, he was a New York theatre division manager and previously managed many of New York’s larger RKO theatres. Koken is a past president of N.A.C., having served two elective terms. He is also active in various charity fund drives such as Boy Scouts, U.J.A., and the N. Y. Variety Club. For Variety, he is this years “Celebrity Ball” coordinator and spearheads the raffle awards. Odeon Shifts Managers TORONTO — Announcements of managerial changes in British Columbia theatres were made by Odeon vice-president and general manager Frank H. Fisher. Bob Kelly, an Odeon theatre manager for the past 20 years, has resigned to take up a position as general manager of a winter sports club. His post at the Odeon-New Westminster will filled by Bob Fraser, formerly of the Cor¬ onet, a theatre now taken over by Jim Moore in his move from the Odeon-Vancouver. Paul Roberts, formerly acting manager of the CircleVancouver, has been appointed manager of the OdeonVictoria; his successor at the Circle is Bruce Jacob, former assistant manager of the Vogue. Len St. Laurent, previously acting manager of the Totem-North Vancouver, has been ap¬ pointed manager of the same theatre. The new manager of the Odeon-Vancouver is John Bernard, formerly of the Park, a post now occupied by Mrs. Anne Burrell. Mrs. Burrell’s position at the Odeon-West Vancouver has been taken over by Bill McDonald, leaving his previous appointment as Fraser theatre manager to Ron Keillor, former assistant. Foreign Press Awards LOS ANGELES — Elke Sommer and Stephen Boyd accepted the winning plaques in behalf of Joseph E. Levine from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at a party honoring the winners of the organization’s 1965 annual awards for outstanding foreign films. “Casanova 70” and “Darling,” Levine pres¬ entations via his Embassy Pictures, and Reade-Sterling’s “Circle of Love” were unanimously voted award winners by HFPA members. Agnes Moorehead accepted the plaque for “Circle of Love.” Russell V. Downing, left, president and managing director, Radio City Music Hall, New York, and Charles Boasberg, general sales manager for Para¬ mount Pictures, conclude an agreement for the forthcoming engagement of “Judith” at the New York showplace. Mort Segal To MGM As Assistant To Terrell NEW YORK — Mort Segal has been appoint¬ ed special assistant to Dan S. Terrell in all areas of advertising, publicity, and promotion, it was announced by Terrell, MGM executive director of advertising, publicity, and pro¬ motion. Segal will resign as publictiy director of 20th Century-Fox to assume his duties in the newly created MGM post, effective Oct. 18. Terrell stated, “The appointment of Segal is a further move designed to strengthen the growing MGM publicity, promotion, and ad¬ vertising departments in relation to the incdeased line-up of important films about to be released and going into production.” In addition to the roadshow presentation of “Doctor Zhivago,” which has its world pre¬ miere at Loew’s Capitol, Dec. 22, MGM will be releasing its strongest list of major attrations in years as well as preparing an important production program for the next year. Joining 20th-Fox as publicity manager in January, 1963, Segal subsequently became publicity director and assumed the respon¬ sibility for the supervision and development of all production and distribution publicity campaigns. He was previously assistant publi¬ city manager for Paramount Pictures. Priar to joining Paramount, Segal had been a producer of plays on and off-Broadway. He began his career as a theatrical publicist. Levine To Relight Paramount NEW YORK — Joseph E. Levine, one-third owner of the property with partners David Rosenthal and Philip Levin, announced he will reopen the Paramount Theatre early or mid-December with United Artists’ James Bond feature, “Thunderball.” NEW YORK — Heads of the nation’s leading theatre circuits as well as individual stock¬ holders have volunteered to serve on the ex¬ ecutive panel of the Paramount Stockhold¬ ers and Customers Protective Committee, it was announced by Sumner M. Redstone, president of Theatre Owners of America, who organized the committee on the direction of the board of directors. The executive group, which has been au¬ thorized to take whatever steps it deems nec¬ essary to support the Paramount company and its management through the Stockholders and Customers Protective Committee, consists of: Jack Armstrong, president, Armstrong The¬ atres, Bowling Green, Ohio, and president, Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors; Myron Blank, president, Central States Theatre Corp., Des Moines, ant trea¬ surer, Theatre Owners of America; Harry Brandt, president, Brandt Theatres, New York, and president and chairman, Independ¬ ent Theatre Owners Association; Samuel Ehrenberg, partner, Ehrenberg & Sons, clothing manufacturers, Clifton, New Jersey; S. H. Fabian, president, Stanley Warner Corp., New York, and director, Theatre Owners of Amer¬ ica; Marshall Fine, president, Associated The¬ atres, Cleveland, and chairman of the board. Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors; Eugene V. Klein, president, Na¬ tional General Corp., Los Angeles; Harry Mandel, president, RKO Theatres, New York, and vice-president, Theatre Owners of Amer¬ ica; Ben Marcus, president, Marcus Theatre Management Corp., Milwaukee, and chairman, executive committee, Allied States Association of Motion Picture Exhibitors; E. D. Martin, president, Martin Theatres, Columbus, Geor¬ gia, and director and former president, Thea¬ tre Owners of America; David Means, invest¬ ment counsellor, Bangor, Maine; Samuel Pi nanski, president, American Theatres Corp., and honorary chairman of the board, Theatre Owners of America; Sumner M. Redstone, chief executive officer, Northeast Drive-In Theatre Corp., Boston, and president, Thea¬ tre Owners of America; Sheldon Smerling, president, Beacon Enterprises, Beverly Hills, Calif.; John H. Stembler, president, Georgia Theatre Company, Atlanta, and chairman, finance committee, and former president, The¬ atre Owners of America; and Mitchell Wolfson, president, Wometco Enterprises, Miami, Florida, and director and former president, Theatre Owners of America. The committee, of which Redstone is chair¬ man, was created as a manifestation of the confidence of the stockholders and thousands of theatre owners and operations in the ex¬ perience and ability of the present Paramount management, the TOA president stated, Red¬ stone added that market conditions are now ideal for Paramount to devote its full re¬ sources to its major business — “the produc¬ tion and distribution of motion pictures for the theatres of the world, a task for which the present management team is well qualified.” IFIDA Fills Awards Post NEW YORK — Norman Robbins, vice-presi¬ dent and general manager, National Screen Service, will serve as accessories chairman for the International Film Awards Dinner, October 6, 1965 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 7