The Exhibitor (1966)

ALBANY First area boxoffice returns for Warners’ “Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?” were “sensational,” branch manager H. L. Gaines told industry people. The take at the 700seat Rivoli, Fallsburgh, operated by Kallet Theatres, Oneida, was said to be the highest in history for a WB release. Manager Martin Burnett, SW Strand, Albany, where the him is being shown at advanced scale, predicted a six-week run. . . . Alan Iselin and Howard Goldstein, of Schenectady, have not aban¬ doned plans for an “all weather” automobiler and hardtop in the town of Marcy, outside Utica, although various delays have been en¬ countered in starting work on the 1200-car drive-in and 400-seat indoor theatre. Goldstein, one time local salesman for 20th Century-Fox and now operating with his younger brother, Herbert, ozoners in Glens Falls and Castleton, S Vt., is also teamed with Iselin in the Platts¬ burgh Drive-In, Plattsburgh. . . . John, not Joseph, Bevins was appointed manager of Esquire Theatres’ Tri-City Twin Drive-In, Memands. . . . Ben Reznick, who recently added the Capitol, Hancock, to his string, operated theatres in Israeli before coming to this country. . . . The Capitol, Binghamton, N.Y., has been purchased by the Binghamton Savings Bank for more than $200,000; and : will be demolished and the site used for a parking lot for bank customers. Thomas J. i Stento, owner, made the sale. F. Fred DeRado, I veteran theatre executive formerly with the Comerford circuit, has been operating the Capitol since 1964. BUFFALO A number of top Buffalo industryites have received invitations from Jo-Mor Enterprises, headed by John Martina and Morris Slotnick, for a preview showing and gala opening of their new Rochester Panorama, Panorama Plaza, on Tuesday, Sept. 13, at 8 p.m. The preview will be a showing of the Cinerama production, “The Battle for Khartoum.” Bill Laney, former manager of the Teck, Buffalo, is general manager of Jo-Mor. Dan Fox will manage the new theatre. . . . James J. Hayes, | supervisor for Jo-Mor of Rochester on the downtown Cinema and the Wehrle Drive-In, has appointed Pat O’Rourke as co-manager at the ozoner. Pat formerly was an assistant at Shea’s Buffalo. Sark Stephen is manager of the outdoorer, which Jo-Mor recently added to their fast-growing chain in Kodak Town, Rochester, and towns around the latter city. . . . There was an SRO crowd at Melody Fair on Variety night in Wurlitzer Park. The attrac¬ tion was “Oliver,” and there was a buffet snack on the grounds following the show. Mel Berman, Tent 7 entertainment chairman, and Bill Kaplan, co-chairman, were assisted by Lou Fisher, Melody Fair head and also a barker. . . . James J. Hayes, past chief barker, Buffalo Variety Club, has been named chair¬ man for the new Sir Billy Butlin Incentive Plan, starting in September and continuing through March, 1967. Tent 7 of Buffalo shared the first prize of $30,000 in the 1965-66 drive and will receive a check early in October for $15,000 toward the club’s charity efforts. . . . Chief barker A1 Petrella called a meeting of the Variety Club crew for Monday night, Sept. 12. A Monte Carlo Night is being planned by the club in October, and Dick Aaron has been appointed chairman. Monday, Sept. 19, has been set for Tent 7’s annual telethon dinner. The Variety Club Sunshine Coach was in¬ cluded in the giant parade opening the Erie County Fair at Hamburg. Dick Backer ar¬ ranged it. . . . Daniel Vlassopulos, who has been operating the Strand, Palmyra, N.Y., since 1927, is closing the house this fall. The veteran exhibitor, who started in the exhibition department of the industry in Syracuse, has sold the entire Strand building to the Masonic fraternity, which is planning to construct a Masonic Temple on the site. ... As part of the continuing promotion of downtown Buf¬ falo, merchants in that area, in cooperation with the Buffalo Courier-Express, are going to offer free full-length feature films to the public. The films will be shown on four consecutive Wednesday mornings at 10 a.m. at the Cen¬ tury, starting Sept. 7. Features to be shown are “Gypsy,” Sept. 7; “The Music Man,” Sept. 14; “Robin and the 7 Hoods,” Sept. 21; and “The Pajama Game,” Sept. 28. Admission will be free, but one must apply for tickets by fill¬ ing out a coupon and sending it to the theatre editor of the newspaper. The merchants are expecting large crowds to take advantage of the free film offer and shop after the shows. . . . Harold Bennett, past chief barker, Tent 7, Variety Club of Buffalo, and present chairman of the club’s heart committee, is doing a lot of hard work promoting the Children’s Foun¬ dation, the charity activity of Variety. Bennett, who is a former manager of the Buffalo Na¬ tional Screen branch, is now associated in a sales capacity with radio station WADV, which has moved to the entire 22nd floor of the Rand building in downtown Buffalo. . . . Eddie Miller, manager, Center, downtown first run; Jake Stefanon, Lake Shore Drive-In; and A1 Wright, Buffalo outdoorer, got a lot of free newspaper space for “Beau Geste,” their cur¬ rent attraction, by offering a number of guest tickets to see the picture. The tie-up was with the Sandy Hide-Away department in the Sattler department store, which also offered hon¬ orary “Legionnaire” membership certificates to children accompanied by parent. . . . Louis Putze and Charles Rausch have been named to the board of directors of Graflex, Inc., a subsidiary of General Precision Equipment Corp. Graflex is one of four operations which make up General Precision Controls. The other three are the Strong Electric Corp., Na¬ tional Theatre Supply Co., and Controls Co. of America. . . . The Colvin, link in the Dipson chain in the Buffalo area, is to have the western New York premiere of “John F. Ken¬ nedy, Years of Lightning, Day of Drums,” starting Wednesday, Sept. 14, and Frank Quinlivan, Dipson district manager; Jerry Westergren, area director of advertising and publicity; and William Knudson, manager, Colvin, are working on a big advance promotion cam¬ paign. . . . The University of Rochester will offer two courses in motion pictures, taught byJames Card, film curator at the George East¬ man House, in the next academic year. . . . Anthony T. Kolinski, past chief barker, Tent 7, Variety Club of Buffalo, and former man¬ ager of the Buffalo WB exchange, was in visit¬ ing old friends along Film Row and lunching with Herbert Schwartz, new Columbia branch manager. Kolinski is now one of the top execu¬ tives of Herbert Slotnick Enterprises, Inc., Syracuse. CHICAGO Patrons for the first morning showing at the Chicago theatre opening of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Torn Curtain,” were treated to a piece of Hitchcock’s birthday cake. Chicago press, radio and tv friends air-expressed a huge birth¬ day card to Hitchcock who was in London. . . . Mrs. Rose Faller, 62, widow of Sigmund Faller, who owned the Bijou-Dream theatre in the early 1900’s, died in her home. Faller died in 1933. Mrs. Faller is survived by a daughter, Mrs. Mildred Huchberger; a grand¬ child; and three great grandchildren. . . . Herbert R. Ries, 62, general manager for the Shubert theatres in this area, died in his home. . . . H. L. Stern, a founder of the Balaban and Katz corporation and president of the organi¬ zation from 1919-1930, died recently in Mi¬ chael Reese hospital. Stern was associated with these firms at the time of his death: Alliance Theater Corp., Lawrence Stern and Co., an investment firm owned and operated by he and his brother, and was a director of E. Z. Painter Corp. . . . “Sweetest Day,” October 15, will be featured by movie house concession stands in this area. Promotional materials may be ob¬ tained from Sweetest Day Council. . . . Frank A. Jones named vice president, public relations for Bell and Howell Co. Lawrence Howe, vice president, law and administration, named to additional post of secretary, succeeding Jones. . . . “A Day with Universal” included a morn¬ ing showing of “Texas, Across the River;” adjournment for lunch at the Continental; HUGHES XENON ILLUMINATOR • Brighter Light • Power Savings • Flatter Field — No Hot Spots • No Cleaning or Maintenance • Simple & Immediate Starting • No Moving Parts • Cold Light — Protects Film • Constant Screen Brightness • Adapts to all Projectors • 1500 + Hours Tube Life • Finger Tip Control • Sharper Focus Join the switch to HUGHES XENON GET ALL THE FACTS HUGHES ELECTRONICS 5271 W. JEFFERSON BLVD. LOS ANGELES 16, CALIF. Phone Collect Today 213— WE 7-2160 August 31, 1966 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR 15