The Exhibitor (1966)

CHARLOTTE There were some red faces when the new $375,000 Reynolds Cinema held its formal opening at Winston-Salem, N.C. There was no sound. Charles B. Trexler, president of Stewart and Everett Theatres, Inc., operators of the house, told a sympathetic audience that he and the rest of the management “could have crawled under our seats.” After a practically soundless formal dedication program, the start of the feature film was delayed briefly while the sound equipment was fixed. The new house, located in the Reynolda Manor Shop¬ ping Center, has 750 seats and a smoking lounge. Entrance and exit to the auditorium is made easy by five aisles, with a broad aisle passing between the auditorium and foyer. Exits on either side of the aisle permit spec¬ tators to leave the building without passing through the foyer, should the foyer be filled with incoming patrons. The auditorium has foam lounge chairs, and the theatre is designed for the ease of wheelchairs, as there are no steps to any of the interior facilities. The tem¬ porarily balky sound system is a four-track high fidelity-stereophonic system, which can handle any type of film, including 70-mm. The house was designed by Wheatley, Whisnant and Associates of Charlotte, and is the 73rd in the Stewart and Everett chain, which operates in North and South Carolina and in Virginia. CINCINNATI Variety Tent Three and Colosseum honored William Garner, UA salesman, at a luncheon in the Vernon Manor. Gamer, who has been transferred to the company’s Philadelphia ex¬ change, is a past chief barker for Tent Three and Colosseum president during the past three years. Don Womack, UA sales manager, was elected to succeed Garner until annual meet¬ ing in May. . . . Roy White, Mid-States presi¬ dent, has returned from a west coast trip, and William Brower, BV branch manager, from a sales meeting in Hollywood. Chester Fried¬ man, Warners field representative, was in Miami for the world premiere of “Hotel.” . . . Patti Rehme is new Universal office staffer, and Paul Enright, 20th-Fox booker, has re¬ turned after a long illness. . . . Jocelyne LaGarde, featured in UA’s “Hawaii” was a guest at a cocktail party preceding an invitational preview of the film at Mid-States’ new Salem Mall Cinema, Dayton, O. . . . “Hawaii” pre¬ mieres here at the new Kenwood Mall Cinema. Feb. 14, with a benefit for Our Lady of Mercy Hospital. The film opens its engagement at the Salem Mall Cinema sponsored by the Dayton Chapter of Brandeis University women’s com¬ mittee Feb. 16. It also opens at Cine-Stage, Columbus, O., on the same date. COLUMBUS , O. Continued good business for “Doctor Zhi¬ vago,” now in its ninth month at Hunt’s Cinestage, prompted a holdover beyond the Feb. 15 closing date. Scheduled opening Feb. 16 of “Hawaii” has been indefinitely post¬ poned. . . . Samuel T. Wilson, who retired Jan. 1 as theatre editor of the Columbus Dis¬ patch, is recuperating at home following sur¬ gery at Riverside Hospital. . . . “Murderers’ Row” closed its four-week run at Loew’s Ohio and Loew’s Arlington. . . . Manager Charles Sugarman of Cinema East will close “Alfie” Feb. 7 after a run of seven weeks. . . . Down¬ town theatre district may add up to $45,000,000 in new state office buildings within the next few years. Governor Rhodes is backing the multi-million-dollar expansion. Sites under consideration include the State House Annex Producer-director Sidney Lumet and star Kenneth Haigh were among the notables at a special preview of Lumet's "The Deadly Affair," held recently at the Plaza Theatre in New York where the Columbia release will soon have its American premiere. and on E. Broad St. opposite the State Capitol. All are within a stone’s throw of RKO Palace, Loew’s Ohio, Grand Cinerama, and Hartman legitimate theatre. DALLAS Stefanie Keehn, a junior at Southern Metho¬ dist University, was selected as Dallas’ Miss Astro-Nette to represent the city at the world premiere of “The Reluctant Astronaut” in Houston. She was to join Astro-Nettes from 17 other Interstate and Texas Consolidated The¬ atre cities throughout the state to compete for a week’s trip to Hollywood as the National Miss Astro-Nette. . . . Bill Risenor, manager of the Inwood, an Interstate Theatre Circuit operation, has had 26 sell-out performances through the 38 showings of the roadshow “Flawaii.” . . . “Alfie” is the new record holder at Cinema II at NorthPark. It broke the pre¬ vious record held by “Doctor Zhivago,” which held the highest opening week gross. . . . L. F. McNally, manager of the Wilshire, wel¬ comed the roadshow engagement of “The Sand Pebbles.” This marks the third roadshow film for the Wilshire which was converted into a roadshow house last June for the en¬ gagement of “The Blue Max.” . . . Virgil Miers, Dallas Times-Herald, was in New Or¬ leans to attend the world premiere at the Saenger of “The Busy Body,” starring Sid Caesar, the William Castle film. DES MOINES A charge of violation of the state’s child labor laws was filed against the manager of a closed-down West Des Moines theatre. An Iowa department of labor investigator charged Leland Dale Mercer, manager of the Lyric Cinema, West Des Moines, of employing two 15-year-old boys, one as a cashier and one as a ticket-taker. Mercer was earlier charged with exhibiting an immoral and obscene motion picture, and the license for the theatre was revoked. The state labor laws require a child under the age of 16 to have a work permit and prohibits the minor from working after 6 p.m. . . . Robert Flauher has been named as man¬ ager of theatres in Clinton, Iowa, operated by Central State Theatres of Des Moines. The four houses consist of the Capitol, Cinema I, Drive-In, and Lyons. Flauher previously man¬ aged theatres in Mason City, Clarion, and Eagle Grove in Iowa and in Nebraska. . . . The Women of Variety in Des Moines helds its annual installation and awards dinner, with Mrs. Martin Copperman taking over as presi¬ dent. . . . Max Weigman, projectionist at the Capri, Des Moines, is in Mercy Hospital fol¬ lowing heat attack. . . . John Hill has reopened the Maple, Mapleton, la., taking the house over from Charles Vickers. DETROIT Jack Zide, American International franchise holder for Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis, heads for New York for meet¬ ings with Leon Blender, AIP general sales manager, and Milt Moritz, vice-president in charge of publicity. . . . The Variety Club of Detroit, Tent 5, held its January meeting at the new Howard Johnson’s Motor Inn on Washington Blvd. Past chief barkers were honored by receiving bronze plaques inscribed with their name and the year they served as chief barker. Among the chiefs honored were Irving and Adolph Goldberg, Jack Zide, Wil¬ liam Wetsman, Ben Rosen, Woodrow Praught, Eddie Stuckey, Irving Belinsky, and Arthur Robinson. . . . The Variety Club of Detroit women held their monthly meeting and pre¬ sented Mrs. Jack Zide, outgoing president, a solid gold charm the shape of the Variety Heart in recognition of two years as president. The women will hold their annual fashion show March 2, for the benefit of the Variety Club Growth and Development Center at Children’s Hospital. . . . Jack Krass, owner, Main, Royal Oak, Mich., is in the northwest branch of Grace Hospital, Detroit. HOUSTON The Avalon has changed its name to the Capri and is operating on an “adult” policy. . . . The Houston Street and Newsboy Club, one of the city’s oldest boys’ organization, be¬ came a part of the Variety Boys Club Tent Number 34. The merger was designed to bene¬ fit the 50 boys still belonging to the old club and the 3,863 members of the Variety Club through a combination of facilities and per¬ sonnel. Included in the transaction were 70 acres of improved property in San Jacinto County near Coldspring, which will retain the name of the Houston Street and Newsboys Camp. Ronald Johnson, executive director of the Variety Boys Club, said the camp will be used by the combined clubs for weekend and vacation trips. Improvements include a five acre lake stocked with fish, shower and bath¬ room building, a camp building, and deer blinds which are used for wild animal observa¬ tion. Sonny Look, newly elected president of Variety Tent 34, said three trustees and two board members of the 48-year-old Newsboys Club would be named at a later date to serve on the Variety board of directors. ... A “Comic Caption Contest” is being co-spon¬ sored by Mexicana Airlines, Hilton Interna¬ tional, Interstate Theatres, and the Houston Post. Each day for six days, the Houston Post will publish a scene from “The Reluctant Astronaut.” Contestants are asked to write their own, funniest, most appropriate caption. Prize is a free all expense paid trip to Guadala¬ jara, Mexico, via Mexicana Airlines, accom¬ modations for one week at the GuadalajaraHilton Hotel, and a cash prize of $200. . . . The Sound of Music” which established a record breaking run in its road show engage¬ ment of some 90 weeks at the Alabama, is scheduled to return for an engagement at the Majestic on Feb. 9. A continuous run policy is planned. . . . The Town & Country D-I is open now at Pasadena. Admission policy is $1 per person. . . . The opening performance of “The Sand Pebbles” at the Gaylynn was for Rotary Club activities. . . . The Houston pre¬ miere performance of “Grand Prix” on Feb. 1 at the Windsor Cinerama will be a benefit for George W. Strake, Sr., Memorial Jesuit Col¬ lege Scholarship Fund. 16 MOTION PICTURE EXHIBITOR February 1, 1967