Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1943)

Record Details:

Title:
Motion Picture Herald
Date:
Jul-Aug 1943
Publisher:
[New York, N.Y. : Quigley Pub. Co.]
Volume:
Motion Picture Herald (Jul-Aug 1943)
Leaf #:
000495
Language:
English
Subjects:
motion pictures, Motion pictures -- Periodicals
Collection:
Hollywood Studio System
Format:
Periodicals
Contributor:
Library of Congress, MBRS, Moving Image Section
Sponsor:
Library of Congress, Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division
Coordinator:
Media History Digital Library
Description:
Founded in 1915 by a Chicago printing company as a regional trade paper for Midwest exhibitors. In 1916, editor Martin Quigley bought out the owners, and over the next 15 years, he grew EXHIBITORS HERALD into one of the most important national, weekly trade papers in the film business. Quigley acquired MOTOGRAPHY in 1917 and MOVING PICTURE WORLD in 1927. In 1930, he acquired MOTION PICTURE NEWS and the new 'consolidated' publication became MOTION PICTURE HERALD. From the pulpit of his editorial page, Quigley preached the need to improve the motion picture industry and improve the quality of the films. He skillfully served as a mediator in disputes -- between distributors and exhibitors, between the film industry and the Catholic Church (Quigley was one of the architects of the Production Code). Quigley claimed that EXHIBITORS HERALD represented the 'independent exhibitor' and sections like 'What the Picture Did for Me?' certainly provided a forum for theater owners. But plenty of exhibitors viewed Quigley as a servant to the studios and large theater chains. In response, publications such as SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, INDEPENDENT EXHIBITORS FILM BULLETIN, HARRISON'S REPORTS, and BOX OFFICE were either formed or grew significantly in the years following Quigley's brief moment of consolidation in 1930. -- Eric Hoyt, 2014
Date Added:
November 17, 2022
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August 7, I 943 MOTION PICTURE HERALD 45 (Continued from opposite page) urday, July 23, 24. — Frank Raspa, State Theatre, Rivesville, W. Va. Small town patronage. BILLY THE KID IN THE MYSTERIOUS RIDER: Buster Crabbe, Al St. John— "Fuzzy" is the draw to this average Western. Played Friday, Saturday, July 23, 24.— Frank Raspa, State Theatre, Rivesville, W. Va. Small town patronage. Republic DESERT BANDIT: Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes— This is an average Western for Rogers. He will never do as well as Gene Autry. Had big house both days. Played Friday, Saturday, July 16, 17.— Cecil R. Atkinson, Star Theatre, Star City, Ark. Small town and rural patronage. HI! NEIGHBOR: Lulubelle and Scotty, Jean Parker —Very good business and the crowd enjoyed it. Why can't we have more pictures like this? Played Wednesday, Thursday, June 9, 10.— Robert J. iMeely, Times Theatre, Jonesboro, 111. Small town patronage. ICE-CAPADES REVUE: Ellen Drew, Richard Denning— This picture didn't click. Poorest ice picture we have played. Played Wednesday, Thursday, July 21, 22.— Harlan Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ont., Canada. IDAHO: Roy Rogers, Virginia Grey — We double billed this with "Give Gut, Sisters," and we did do business— Harlan Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ont., Canada. MOUNTAIN RHYTHM: Weaver Bros, and Elviry — An average Weaver Bros. Played with "The Traitor Within" to a fair crowd. Some said they did not think it was as good as some of the other Weaver Bros, pictures. Played Saturday, Sunday, July 24, 25.— Mrs. Gertrude V. Proulx, Au Gres Theatre, Au Gres, Mich. Small town and rural patronage. PURPLE V, THE: John Archer, Mary McLeod— Played with "Riders of the West" which made a good program for the weekend trade. Played Friday, Saturday, July 16, 17. — Miss Cleo Manry, Buena Vista Theatre, Buena Vista, Ga. Small town and rural patronage. REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR: Don Barry, Fay McKenzie — Fair "B" picture. Played Saturday, Sunday, June 26, 27.— A. W. Bates, Auditorium State Prison, Raiford, Fla. TRAITOR WITHIN, THE: Don Barry, Jean Parker—Another one of Republic's flops. We had walkouts on this one. Played it double with "Mountain Rhythm" to a fair crowd. Played Saturday, Sunday, July 24, 25.— Mrs. Gertrude V. Proulx, Au Gres Theatre, Au Gres, Mich. Small town and rural patronage. RKO Radio AVENGING RIDER, THE: Tim Holt— Wonderful Western. Above average. Hope RKO makes more of them. Played Friday, Saturday, July 16, 17.— Frank Raspa, State Theatre, Rivesville, W. Va. Small town patronage. BAMBI: Disney Feature Cartoon — Here's another masterpiece from the Disney Studios which is as beautiful in musical background as it is human in story and artful in color technique. Bambi is a story that everyone can't help but enjoy, so play it for sure if you haven't already. Played Sunday, July 4. — James A. Nelson, Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio. Small town, collegiate and soldier patronage. BOMBARDIER: Pat O'Brien, Randolph Scott, Anne Shirley — Excellent picture of its kind. Patrons seem to like war pictures provided there is sufficient comedy relief and romance. Picture did better than average business. Played week of June 30. — Peter D. Bathory, Lyric Theatre, Indianapolis, Ind. General patronage. CAT PEOPLE: Simone Simon, Tom Conway— Used this on double bill for weekend, but business was very poor. Played Friday, Saturday, July 16, 17. — A. C. Edwards, Winema Theatre, Scotia, Calif. Small lumbertown patronage. FLIGHT FOR FREEDOM: Rosalind Russell, Fred MacMurray — Here is one of the very best pictures of the past season. Business above average for midweek. Should be played on Sunday. Stars both good in an unusual story that holds interest. Played Wednesday, Thursday, June 23, 24. — Ritz Amusements, Inc., Park Theatre, North Vernon, Ind. Small town patronage. HITLER'S CHILDREN: Tim Holt, Bonita Granville— Word of mouth advertising can be one of the biggest handicaps as well as one of the biggest assets for any picture. Those who already had seen this one talked it 'down so that we didn't sell enough tickets to cover expenses. Many walkouts on this over-advertised war film. Played Sunday, July 11.— James A. Nelson, Hiram College, Hiram, Ohio. Small town, collegiate and soldier patronage. JOURNEY INTO FEAR: Joseph Cotten, Dolores Del Rio — This is about as close to being nothing as I have ever seen. Everybody wondered what it was all about. Ditch it; absolutely no good. Played Wednesday, Thursday, July 7, 8.— O'. E. Simons, Roxy Theatre. M'anno, S. D. Rural and small town patronage. MEXICAN SPITFIRE'S ELEPHANT: Lupe Velez, Leon Errol — Used on double bill with "Cat People" but business way off. Played Friday, Saturday, July 16, 17.— A. C. Edwards, Winema Theatre, Scotia, Calif. Small lumbertown patronage. NAVY COMES THROUGH, THE: Pat O'Brien, George Murphy — A natural for a small town. Made the mistake of playing it midweek. Played Wednesday, Thursday, July 14, 15. — Tom Poulos, Paonia Theatre, Paonia, Colo. WINGS AND THE WOMAN: Anna Neagle, R. Newton — Just why RKO would import a picture of this sort is beyond me, as they are not bad at making duds themselves. Played Friday, Saturday, July 2, 3. — O. E. Simons, Roxy Theatre, Menno, S. D. Rural and small town patronage. Twentieth CenturyFox CHETNIKS, FIGHTING GUERILLAS: Philip Dorn, Virginia Gilmore — This was a good picture but it failed to draw. The men and boys liked it fine. Played Monday, Tuesday, July 12, 13.— Miss Cleo Manry, Buena Vista Theatre, Buena Vista, Ga. Small town and rural patronage. CONEY ISLAND: Betty Grable, George Montgomery— Excellent entertainment. Audiences welcomed relief from war pictures. Far above average business. Cannot but do business anywhere. Played week of June 23. — Peter D. Bathory, Lyric Theatre, Indianapolis, Ind. General patronage. , CONEY ISLAND: Betty Grable, George Montgomery— Critics will never give this picture any award but your customers will. Some swell old songs, beautiful color and Betty Grable even better than ever. Business excellent and 100 per cent enjoyed. Played Saturday-Wednesday, July 17-21.— Ritz Amusements, Inc., Park Theatre, North Vernon, Ind. Small town patronage. DESERT VICTORY: War in Africa Feature: Just another little war picture with off -screen dialogue. Had lots of children come to me and ask if that was the picture. Played Wednesday, Thursday, July 14, 15. — F. R. Crist, Crist Theatre, Loveland, Ohio. DESERT VICTORY: War in Africa Feature— This is a wonderful picture but it sure failed to draw a crowd for us. All the women stayed away. Everyone that I talked to about the picture said that they were fed up on war pictures. Played Friday, Saturday, July 16, 17.— O. E. Simons, Roxy Theatre, Menno, S. D. Rural and small town patronage. DESERT VCTORY: War in Africa Feature— A fair picture of its type, perhaps the best to be filmed on the battle field. It was a good draw, with better than average Friday -Saturday business. Played July 16, 17.— D. A. Russel, Ness Theatre, Ness City, Kan. Small town patronage. HELLO1, FRISCO', HELLO: A small town natural. We did excellently and had lots of very fine comments. Played Monday, Tuesday, July 19, 20.— Harlan Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ont., Canada. IMMORTAL SERGEANT, THE: Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara — This picture is very depressing and no comments except, "Why do we have to play war pictures like this?" To hear the grumblings of the patrons is enough, without having a box office failure. Played Wednesday, Thursday, July 21, 22.— Miss Cleo Manry, Buena Vista Theatre, Buena Vista, Ga. Small town and rural patronage. IMMORTAL SERGEANT, THE: Henry Fonda, Maureen O'Hara — Another war picture. The fact that the rather meager attendance spoke very highly of it shows that in other times it would have been a high grosser. It isn't all war, but your crowd does not know that until it is too late to do any good. — W. Varick Nevins, III, Alfred Co-op Theatre, Alfred, N. Y. Small college town patronage. MY GAL SAL: Rita Hayworth, Victor MatureVery good. Suited my customers 100 per cent. The entertaining type that really pleases. The color and music were excellent. Played Thursday-Saturday, June 3-5. — H. B. Narfason, Foam Lake Theatre, Foam Lake, Sask., Canada. Rural and small town patronage. TALES OF MANHATTAN: Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers — Positively not a small town picture. Ditch it if you can. Played Sunday-Tuesday, July 18-20.— Tom Poulos, Paonia Theatre, Paonia. Colo. THIS ABOVE ALL: Tyrone Power, Joan Fontaine— Played this late but it clicked just the same.. Tyron Power is a great favorite with my customers. Played Thursday-Saturday, July 1-3.— H. B. Narfason. Foam Lake Theatre, Foam Lake, Sask., Canada. Rural and small town patronage. TO THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI: Maureen O'Hara, John Payne — This production has been elaborately conceived, with settings and a musical background matching in quality a supporting cast. The music deserves special mention as it has a secondary theme of unusual interest and beauty. Played Saturday, Sundy, July 17, 18.— A. W. Bates, Auditorium State Prison, Raiford, Fla. WE ARE THE MARINES: March of Time Feature — Very good feature length March of Time if your audience likes feature length subjects of this sort. Mine doesn't. Ran four performances with "Power of the Press" to a very measly attendance (and there was no sickness in town at that time either). — W. Varick Nevins, III, Alfred Co-op Theatre, Alfred, N. Y. Small college town patronage. United Artists CHUMP AT OXFORD: Laurel and Hardy— They cut this down to a streamliner. Good enough to repeat on any program. One of their best. Played Tuesday-Thursday, July 20-22. — H. Goldson, Plaza Theatre, Chicago, 111. Neighborhood patronage. FLYING WITH MUSIC: Marjorie Woodworth— Because this was rather short we ran it on a double bill with "How Green Was My Valley," a repeat run. I can think of nothing quite so worthless as "Flying With Music," which should have been condensed into a one-reeler, and then cancelled. Luckily for me "How Green Was My Valley" redeemed the evening. Played Tuesday-Thursday, July 6-8.— N. W. Huston, Liberty Theatre, Columbus, Kan. Family patronage. HANGMEN ALSOi DIE: Brian Donlevy, Walter Brennan— Another war picture. The chief fault with this one is that it's too long. Well done, but business below average. Played Wednesday, Thursday, July 14, 15. — Ritz Amusements, Inc., Park Theatre, North Vernon, Ind. Small town patronage. McGURRINS FROM BROOKLYN: Max Baer, William Bendix — A fair program picture that will get by. No standing of patrons with this type of picture. Played MondayWednesday, July 19-21.— Harlan Rankin, Centre Theatre, Chatham, Out., Canada. UNDERCOVER MAN: William Boyd, Andy Clyde — Not as good as "Hoppy" has made. — Miss Cleo Manry, Buena Vista Theatre, Buena Vista, Ga. Small town and rural patronage. Universal GIVE OUT, SISTERS: Andrew Sisters— This proved to be a natural. Really did business. Everybody liked it. Played Friday, Saturday, July 23, 24. — Harlan Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ont., Canada. HALF WAY TO' SHANGHAI: Irene Hervey, Kent Taylor — A fair program picture with no particular draw. Played Thursday-Saturday. July 22-24.— Harlan Rankin, Centre Theatre, Chatham, Ont., Canada. HIT THE ICE: Abbott and Costello— Best Abbott and Costello comedy as far as I'm concerned. Excellent business, above average. It's a relief to get away from the war picture-routine. After all, we are supposed to be in the entertainment business and this picture bears it out. Played week of July 7. — Peter D. Bathory, Lyric Theatre, Indianapolis, Ind. General patronage. HOWS ABOUT IT?: Andrews Sisters, Robert Paige — Billed this with "Truck Busters" to good business. This show is great and Universal sure does know how to make 'em. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, July 20, 21.— Frank Raspa, State Theatre, Rivesville, W. Va. Small town patronage. IT AIN'T HAY: Abbott and Costello— Not as many laughs as before but they still draw way above average. So far, every time we've had one of these pictures we had great opposition, but they still brought them in — especially the kids. Played Sunday, Monday, July 18, 19.— Frank Raspa, State Theatre, Rivesville, W. Va. Small town patronage. MADAME SPY: Constance Bennett, Don PorterGreat little picture from Universal. Played Friday, Saturday, July 16, 17. — Frank Raspa, State Theatre, Rivesville, W. Va. Small town patronage. SHADOW OF A DOUBT: Teresa Wright, Joseph Cotten— Not Alfred Hitchcock's best picture, but it was very good and well liked here. Attendance was satisfactory. — W. Varick Nevins. Ill, Alfred Co-op Theatre, Alfred, N. Y. Small college town patronage. SING ANOTHER CHORUS: Johnny Downs, Jane Frazee — A fair program picture. Nothing outstanding. A picture that will be forgotten after you've gone a block. Played Thursday -Saturday, July 22-24.— Harlan Rankin, Centre Theatre, Chatham, Ont., Canada. WHEN JOHNNY COMES MARCHING HOME: Allan Jones, Jane Frazee — My town usually goes for pictures of higher calibre than this. It is O. K. for what ts intended but Donald O'Connor saved the day for it as far as I am concerned. Average business. Played with "They Got Me Covered." — W. Varick Nevins. Ill, Alfred Co-op Theatre, Alfred, N. Y. Small college town patronage. Warner Bros. ACTION IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC: Humphrey Bogart, Mary Astor — Action good but picture drags too much. Could have been cut at least 30 minutes without hurting the picture. Audiences not buying. Lack of romance seems to hurt box office. Women are not going for it. Business less than average. Played week of July 14.— Peter D. Bathory, Lyric Theatre, Indianapolis, Ind. General patronage. {.Continued on page 48)