Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1945)

'/what the picture did for me" Columbia SONG TO REMEMBER, A: Merle Oberon, Paul Muni — A Sunday feature which pleased my higher type patrons. A wonderful picture with excellent music and beautiful Technicolor. Wilde is a great actor. Played Oct. 14. — ■ J. C. Balkcom, Jr., Gray Theatre, Gray, Ga. General patronage. Metro-Gold wyn-Mayer AMERICAN ROMANCE, AN: Brian Donlevy, Ann Richards — Another good show in Technicolor. You can't go wrong by playing this one. Played Sunday, Monday, Sept. 23, 24. — Fred Flanagan, Moon Theatre, Stratton, Colo. Small town patronage. BARBARY COAST GENT: Wallace Beery, Binnie Barnes — A good show for a small town. No kicks. Play it. Played Saturday, Sunday, Sept. 15, 16. — Fred Flana•gan, Moon Theatre, Stratton, Colo. Small town patronage. CLOCK, THE: Judy Garland, Robert Walker—Contrary to any and all adverse criticism our patrons turned out well to see this picture. There was enough comedy to get them laughing and plenty of drama. The only objection we found was that the conclusion was long drawn out. It was too hard to keep the kids in their seats. Played Wednesday, Thursday, Oct. 10, 11.— A. C. Edwards, Winema Theatre, Scotia, Cal. Small lumber town patronage. GENTLE ANNIE: James Craig, Donna Reed— This was a good drawing picture and pleased my customers very much. It has the four necessary requisites, namely, some shooting, some action, comedy and romance. Played Friday, Oct. 12. — J. L. Thayer, Raymond Theatre, Raymond, N. H. Small town patronage. KEEP YOUR POWDER DRY: Lana Turner, Susan Peters, Laraine Day — Quite a nice evening's entertainment. It is a good story about our lady soldiers, of whom we have quite a few. Their troubles and trials are quite thrilling in places. Play this one if you haven't done so already. Played Tuesday, Oct. 16. — A. L. Dove, Bengough Theatre, Bengough, Sask., Can. LOST IN A HAREM: Abbott and Costello— Leo sure misfired in this one. Without a doubt this is the poorest Abbott and Costello that we have ever shown. Plenty of walkouts and complaints. If you haven't already played this, skip it and take something else. Played Thursday, Friday, Oct. 4, 5. — A. R. Dakin, Rice Lake Theatre, Bissett, Manitoba, Can. MARRIAGE IS A PRIVATE AFFAIR: Lana Turner, John Hodiak— Some liked it and some didn't. As far as I could see, it is just an average program picture with Lana Turner thrown in to draw the customers. Fair box office receipts. Played Thursday, Friday, Sept. 27, 28. — A. R. Dakin, Rice Lake Theatre, Bissett, Manitoba, Can. MRS. PARKINGTON: Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon — Lay off this' one, if you are a small town exhibitor. It certainly hurt us. Played Saturday, Sunday, Sept. 29, 30.— Fred Flanagan, Moon Theatre, Stratton, Colo. Small town patronage. NATIONAL VELVET: Mickey Rooney, Jackie Jenkins— It should be rated as one of the finest. We played it to capacity. Everyone praised it on the way out. We need a picture as good as this occasionally to keep our morale from a blackout. Played Friday, Aug. 31. — J. L. Thayer, Raymond Theatre, Raymond, N. H. Small town patronage. THIN MAN GOES HOME, THE: William Powell, Myrna Loy— These two stars playing together need no recommendation to exhibitors as we can always depend on a good account from them. I played this very late but it was good and I was told so, which is some change for an exhibitor. You can't go wrong with this one for good entertainment. Played Monday, Oct. 9. — A. L. Dove, Bengough Theatre, Bengough, Sask., Can. WHITE CLIFFS OF DOVER, THE: Irene Dunne. Roddy MacDowall — This picture is solid entertainment all the way through. Beautifully acted and a good story. Audiences very appreciative. Box office good. This feature can stand up anywhere. Played Monday, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 18.— A. R. Dakin, Rice Lake Theatre, Bissett, Manitoba, Can. Monogram LEAVE IT TO THE IRISH: James Dunn, Wanda McKay—We doubled this with "Range Law" to good business. There are lots of laughs in "Leave It to the Irish." The pictures were bought right so we made some money. Played Friday, Saturday, Oct. 12. 13.— Fred Flanagan, Moon Theatre, Stratton, Colo. 58 . . . the original exhibitors' reports department, established October 14, 1916. In it I theatremen serve one another with information about the box office performance of product — providing a service of the exhibitor for the exhibitor. ADDRESS REPORTS: What the Picture Did for Me, Motion Picture Herald, Rockefeller Center, New York 20. RANGE LAW: Johnny Mack . Brown — A good shoot 'em up Western. Played with "Leave It to the Irish." Played Friday, Saturday, Oct. 12, 13. — Fred Flanagan, Moon Theatre, Stratton, Colo. Paramount FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS: Gary Cooper, Ingrid Bergman — This Technicolor extravaganza has almost universal appeal. Played to capacity business the first night and to well above average business the other two nights. The direction throughout the picture is superb and the audience can forget easily the length of the picture because of the smooth continuity. The entire cast gave a wonderful portrayal of the plot. This is conclusive proof of the meticulous care given to every detail of transferring the printed pages to Technicolor celluloid. Cooper is always good. My personal opinion of Miss Bergman as Maria is this: it is the greatest acting I have ever seen. Played Tuesday-Thursday, Oct. 16-18— Walter Carroll Hall, Lyric Theatre, Gaithersburg, Md. Rural and small town patronage. NORTHWEST MOUNTED POLICE: Gary Cooper, Madeleine Carroll — Reissues do not, as a rule, bring out the crowd. This proved to be the exception. It was well attended and, of course, the picture is pne of the finest. Played Tuesday, Oct. 9. — J. L. Thayer, Raymond Theatre, Raymond, N. H. Small town patronage. OUT OF THIS WORLD: Eddie Bracken, Diana Lynn — Paramount did a good job on this one. It is just streamlined with good entertainment. It is tremendously funny. Patrons will come out smiling and pleased. I should rate it up with the best. Played Friday, Sept. 28— J. L, Thayer, Raymond Theatre, Raymond, N. H. Small town patronage. i . RKO Radio BACK TO BATAAN: John Wayne, Philip Ann— I thought people were through with war pictures but they came out good for this one and they were all pleased. I recommend this to any exhibitor. Played Sunday, Monday. Oct. 7, 8. — E. M. Freiburger, Paramount Theatre, Dewey, Okla. Small town patronage. PAN-AMERICANA: Philip Terry, Audrey Long— A good musical show with a weak cast. Business was average. Played Tuesday, Oct. 9. — E. M. Freiburger, Paramount Theatre, Dewey, Okla. Small town patronage. Republic BELLS OF ROSARITA: Roy Rogers, Gabby Hayes— As usual, this class of feature brings the house records up. This is among the better class of the Rogers series. It is full of action and clean entertainment. As we say these pay off the mortgages and make up for some of the poorer class of entertainment. Play it and bring in the country folks. Played Saturday, Oct. 6. — A. L. Dove, Bengough Theatre, Bengough, Sask., Can. FIGHTING SEABEES, THE: John Wayne, Susan Hayward — Played this late to good business. John Wayne is well liked here. Played Saturday, Sunday, Sept. 8, 9. — Fred Flanagan, Moon Theatre, Stratton, Colo. Small town patronage. FLAME OF THE BARBARY COAST: John Wayne, Ann Dvorak — Business was off but this was not bad enetrtainment. True, there was nothing at all original in the entire picture, but it should satisfy where action films are popular. Played Sunday, Monday, Oct. 7, 8. — A. C. Edwards, Winema Theatre, Scotia, Cal. Small lumber town patronage. FLAME OF THE BARBARY COAST: John Wayne, Ann Dvorak — This is a very fine entertaining picture. Seemed to please my customers 100 per cent. It should be rated as one of the better pictures of the year. Played Friday, Oct. 19.— J. L. Thayer, Raymond Theatre, Raymond; N. H. Small town patronage. LONE TEXAS RANGER: Bill Elliott, Alice Fleming— When I have "Wild Bill" featured on my weekend program I'm well pleased as he is a great favorite with my fans. Only wish he made more pictures. Played Friday, Saturday, Oct. 12, 13.— J. C. Balkcom, Jr., Gray Theatre, Gray, Ga. General patronage. MAN FROM 'FRISCO: Michael O'Shea, Anne Shirley — This is the biggest surprise we have ever had. The old II picture did very well. Don't let them sell it too high. |i Played Sunday, Monday, Oct. 14, 15. — Fred Flanagan, jl Moon Theatre, Stratton, Colo. MAN FROM MUSIC MOUNTAIN: Roy Rogers— All of I Gene's and Roy's pictures fill the house. Played Friday, Jl Saturday, Oct. 5, 6. — Fred Flanagan, Moon Theatre, j Stratton, Colo. OREGON TRAIL: Sunset Carson, Peggy Stewart— Routine Western which did average business. Played Friday. Saturday, Oct. 12, 13. — E. M. Freiburger, Paramount Theatre, Dewey, Okla. Small town patronage. Twentieth CenturyFox BELL FOR ADANO, A: Gene Tiemey, John HodiakThis excellent picture caught us and the audience flatfooted. Few had read the book. The title was such that it did not indicate the type of picture, nor the quality of it. Hence, it did not get the play it so rightly deserved. — A. E. Hancock, Columbia Theatre, Columbia City, Ind. HANGOVER SQUARE: Laird Cregar, Linda DarnellThis features does not have general appeal. Some customers praised it and some came twice to see it, but other customers walked out and condemned it. Certainly well acted but it is doubtful if it is a good box office picture for a small town. O'ur receipts were fair. Played Thursday, Friday, Oct. 11, 12.— A. R. Dakin, Rice Lake Theatre, Bissett, Manitoba, Can. HUDSON'S BAY: Paul Muni, Gene Tiemey— I picked up this old feature in place of current product. It still packs them in. Everyone liked it. Good print and good sound. Advise small exhibitors to play it for profits. Played Thursday, Friday, Sept. 20, 21. — A. R. Dakin, Rice Lake Theatre, Bissett, Manitoba, Can. WILSON: Alexander Knox, Charles Coburn — This opus did ordinary business. There was too much of it and too much election hullabaloo. A substantial reduction of the length would have helped it. I am not quarreling with the quality of the picture, except that it was too long. It was so long that quite a few of my customers did not sit through it. Maybe they were Republicans. The old songs helped a little but that was not enough.— -. A. E. Hancock, Columbia Theatre, Columbia City, Ind. United Artists BLOOD ON THE SUN: James Cagney, Sylvia Sidney — Played to an average audience'. Cagney superb in his role. As for Miss Sidney I can't say much for her comeback. An inteiesting and well produced picture. Played Monday, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 9. — J. C. Balkcom, Jr., Gray Theatre, Gray, Ga. General patronage. Universal BOWERY TO BROADWAY: Contract Players— A surprise package. Here is a top musical which failed to draw but pleased all who came. Wish us "little guys" could afford to preview pictures so we could have something to go on when selling them. Played Saturday, Sunday, Oct. 13, 14. — Johnnie Hynes, Community Theatre, Conde. S. D. COBRA WOMAN: Jon Hall, Maria Montez— A good show in Technicolor. The people raved about it. Play it by all means. Played Friday, Saturday, Sept. 21, 22, — Fred Flanagan, Moon Theatre, Stratton, Colo. Small town patronage. FRISCO SAL: Turhan Bey, Susanna Foster— Played on a double feature program to a pleased audience. Could have stood alone as it was very good. Played Friday, Saturday, Oct. 12, 13.— J. C. Balkcom, Jr., Gray Theatre, Gray, Ga. General patronage. HONEYMOON AHEAD: Allan Jones, Grace McDonald —Used on second half of double bill. Jones very good. Played Friday. Saturday, Oct. 12, 13.— A. C. Edwards. Winema Theatre, Scotia, Cal. Small lumber town patronage. NAUGHTY NINETIES, THE: Abbott and Costello— A corny comedy which pleased above average business. {Continued on following page) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 3, 1945