Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

WHAT THE PICTCRE DID FOR ME Columbia th?J-°TN?IE\KNOWS Penny Singleton, Ar pJtf t AxcSlle,nt Sunday attraction. Played Feb. 23.-James C. Balkcom, Jr., Gray Theatre, Gray, COWBOY BLUES: Ken Curtis, Jeff Donnell This is a good musical Western and there is enough comedy to suit the Saturday crowd. Business was average. 1 nia is my first report to this department and I Will try to send m more as I get a lot of good from the opinions of other exhibitors. Played Saturday, Feb. 22 —Mrs. D. H. Gray, Gray Theatre, Brodhead, Ky. CRIME DOCTOR'S MANHUNT, THE: Warner Baxter, Ellen Drew— In a town where they like this series of detective yarns, this one stacked up OK Business was off due to terrible wind and cold. Played Sunday, Feb • 23 -Joe R. Hayworth, Playhouse Thea tre, Pink Hill, N. C. Small town patronage. IT,rS,GRE£J T? BE YOUNG: Leslie Brooks, Jimmy Lloyd-One of the good little Columbia musicals. It moves fast and there is plenty of comedy. Clicked WLth regulars here and drew the teen-agers, too. Business O.K. Played Thursday. Feb. 27 —Joe R Hayworth, Playhouse Theatre, Pink Hill, N. C. Smali town patronage. LONE STAR MOONLIGHT: Ken Curtis, Joan Barton-Doubled with "Hot Cargo" to bad business. These musical Westerns are all made after the same m j'-n -olks ore tlTmg o{ seeing the same thing. Played Friday, Saturday, Feb. 28, March 1.— C. M Hulbert, Gem Theatre, Cornell, Wis. MR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Dennis O'Keefe, Marguerite Chapman— Quite a good murder story. O'Keefe is good m a straight role. The beautiful villainess seems on her way toi high places, if looks have anything to do with it. Probably because we played it too soon, an uncommon complaint, believe me business was below normal. Flayed Sunday, Monday, ir • ^— J°hn R Coney, Waldo Theatre, Waldoboro, Maine. Small town patronage. RETURN OF MONTE CRISTO, THE: Louis Hayward, Barbara Britton— This was also played long before national and word -of -mouth advertising had a chance to help with it. The attendance was not noteworthy. It is a good period melodrama with a surprise ending. It was generally well received in spite of a general antipathy to this type of picture in this vicinity. Played Wednesday-Friday, Dec. 25-27.— John R. Cooney, Waldo Theatre, Waldoboro, Maine. Small town patronage. TALK ABOUT A LADY: Jinx Falkenburg, Joe JJesser — A good Friday and Saturday picture on a double bill. Good for a small town. It does a good job of filling in and it was well liked. Played Feb 22.— Albert Hefferan, Century Theatre, Coopersville, Mich. Small town patronage. TARS AND SPARS: Alfred Drake, Janet Blair— Very good musical comedy that drew very well. Played Wednesday, Thursday, Feb. 19, 20.— D W Trisko, Star Theatre, Stanley, N. D. TWO FISTED STRANGER: Charles Starrett, Smiley Burnette— As good as any of the Durango Kid Westerns. Burnette is helping this series a lot. Business good. Played Saturday, March I.— Joe R. Hayworth, Playhouse Theatre, Pink Hill, N. C Small town patronage. Film Classics COWBOY AND THE LADY, THE: Gary Cooper, Merle Oberon — Very good reissue. I received a good print— S. T. Jackson, Jackson Theatre, Flomaton, Ala. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer HOUDAY IN MEXICO: Walter Pidgeon, Ilona Massey — The ones who came twice to see and hear this beautiful film kept business up to average. It did not do the business to which it was entitled. It is always the same out here when Latin music is concerned. Played Sunday. Monday. Feb. 16, 17— Elaine George, Star Theatre, Heppner, Ore. NO LEAVE, NO LOVE: Van Johnson, Marie Wilson— Good box office, but very poor from Metro. They should put Van in better pictures. Music was good, but it had the same old theme and plot. Holly . . . the ong.nal exhibitors' reports department, established October 14. 1916. In it lroduTen ""V an°ther with information about the box office performance of What the P,cture D,d for Me. Motion Picture Herald. Rockefeller Center. New York 20 rireH $>V Sv f T ?6W ,deas as pe°Ple are Siting E f th's, kl"d ?f P'cture so often. Flayed Sunday, Monday, Feb. 16, 17 Albert Hefferan, Century Theatre, Coopersville, Mich. Small town patronage. SHOW-OFF, THE: Red Skelton, Marilyn Maxwell -The best picture that Red has ever made. It was made for small towns. Play this one and it will go over wen. Played Sunday, Monday, Feb. 23 24— Albert riefferan, Century Theatre, Coopersville, Mich. UNDERCURRENT: Katharine Hepburn, Robert laylor— It was good to see Robert Taylor again and he was very good in the leading role. This exciting drama kept the audience in suspense. Katharine Hepburn gave a good performance. Played Wednesday, Thursday Feb. 19, 20.-James C. Balkcom. Jr., Gray .theatre, Gray, Ga. Monogram DECOY: Jean Gillie, Edward Norris— A basketball game kept them away the first night. Did O.K It is something unusual. Played Saturday, Sunday, Feb 23 24.— Herman Fiedler, Grand Theatre, Java, S. D. SONG OF THE SIERRAS: Jimmy Wakely, Lee 'Lasses" White— Jimmy Wakely and the good Western music pleased. The last time we played him most of the patrons left before the feature was half over Played Friday, Saturday, Feb. 21, 22.— James C. Balkcom, Jr., Gray Theatre, Gray, Ga. Paramount HOT CARGO: William Powell, Esther WilliamsWeather perfect, no competition, but gross 40 per cent off. Doubled with "Lone Star Moonlight." Played Friday, Saturday, Feb. 28, March 1— C. M. Hulbert Gem Theatre, Cornell, Wis. TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST: Alan Ladd Brian Donlevy— Well produced film, but not the type to create outstanding business in our community. Played Sunday. Monday, Feb. 9, 10.— Elaine George Star Theatre, Heppner, Ore. TWO YEARS BEFORE THE MAST: Alan Ladd, Brian Donlevy— A fine picture that did fairly good business. Played Tuesday-Thursday, Feb. 25-27.— Albert Hefferan, Century Theatre, Coopersville, Mich RKO Radio BACK TO B ATA AN: John Wayne, Philip Ahn— An old one that had good appeal here. Plenty of action. Played Friday, Saturday, Feb. 21, 22.— D W Trisko, Star Theatre, Stanley, N. D. DING DONG WILLIAMS: Glenn Vernon, Marcia McGuire — A fair picture which will fill in on a Friday and Saturday. It will please most of the people. The comedy will hold the attention. The picture would not stand alone. Played Friday, Saturday, Feb. 28, March 1.— Albert Hefferan, Century Theatre, Coopersville, Mich. HEARTBEAT: Ginger Rogers, Jean Pierre Aumont — Played this to average business. Foreign locale is not popular with our trade. Played Wednesday, Thursday, Feb. 26, 27.— A. C. Edwards, Winema Theatre, Scotia, Cal. Small lumber town patronage. KID FROM BROOKLYN, THE: Danny Kaye, Virginia Mayo — Did fair business. Danny Kaye is good in the first part of the picture, but he wears out before the picture is over. Good color and wonderful sound recording. Play this picture. Played Tuesday -Thursday, Feb. 18-20.— Albert Hefferan, Century Theatre, Coopersville, Mich. Small town patronage. NOTORIOUS: Ingrid Bergman, Cary Grant— A good suspenseful picture, but the recording was so bad that we had complaints from the patrons. They said they could get only about 80 per cent of the dialogue. It was so poor, we called the sound engineer to check the sound and he confirmed that it was in the recording. 1 wonder if any other exhibitors had this trouble. I know it was not the sound because all h^w SUrbJectfs ca™<; in perfect.-A. E. Hancock. Columbia Theatre, Columbia City, Ind. RIVERBOAT RHYTHM: Leon Errol, Glenn Vernon— Very fine little program picture. I can use an Errol feature any time for the top half of a double theatre, Flomaton, Ala. STEP BY STEP: Lawrence Tierney, Anne Jeffreys —A pleasant surprise. It is a suspenseful little film i?u fas well received. Played Friday, Saturday, beb. 14, IS. Elaine George, Star Theatre, Heppner, SUNSET PASS: Joseph Warren, Nan Leslie-Good typical Zane Grey Western. They loved it here ™y pat,r,°,n5 wa,t ea^erly for them. Business good. Played Wednesday, Feb. 26.— Joe R. Hayworth, Playhouse Theatre, Pink Hill, N. C. Small town patronage. SUNSET PASS: James Warren, Nan LeslieWell attended because Zane Grey is popular here, but the him is not the kind that will keep him that way. This is not up to previous Westerns by that author Played Friday, Saturday, Feb. 14, 15.— Elaine George Star Theatre, Heppner, Ore. WITHOUT RESERVATIONS: Claudette Colbert, John Wayne— Business about average for Sunday and Monday. Neither Wayne nor Miss Colbert were suited for their roles. Both are past the age for such youthful portrayals. Played Sunday, Monday, Feb. 9, 10.— A. C. Edwards, Winema Theatre, Scotia, Cal. 'Small lumber town patronage. Republic DON'T FENCE ME IN: Roy Rogers, Dale EvansEven Roy Rogers couldn't overcome a cold spell. Usual good Rogers and those who saw it liked it, but there weren't enough cash customers. Our business has been off since the first of 1947 and most of the salesmen say it is generally true in this state. We are trying to overcome it by more advertising. Played Thursday, Friday, Feb. 27, 28.— Abe H. Kaufman, Fountain Thaetre, Terre Haute, Ind. I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU: Maria Auspenskaya, Philip Dorn— Some patrons hopefully expected another ' Song to Remember." They were disappointed. The plot material is poor. Catherine McLeod is beautiful in Technicolor, but her male support is terrible. Rachmaninoff's Second Concerto is run into the ground before the picture ends. The production values, however, are first class and business for us was slightly above average. Played Sunday, Monday, Feb. 23, 24.— John R. Cooney, Waldo Theatre, Waldoboro, Maine. Small town patronage. MAN FROM MUSIC MOUNTAIN: Monte Hale, Adrian Booth— Used on weekend double bill. The Westerns in color are proving very popular with our patrons. Played Friday, Saturday, Feb. 28, March 1.— A. C. Edwards, Winema Theatre, Scotia, Cal. Small lumber town patronage. MAN FROM OKLAHOMA: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans — Rogers as usual. He draws well here. This was one of the better ones. Played Friday, Saturday, Feb. 14, 15. — D. W. Trisko, Star Theatre, Stanley, N. D. ROLL ON, TEXAS MOON: Roy Rogers, Dale Evans —This is a regular Roy Rogers' picture which was liked by all. It was good entertainment for the entire family. He always does a good business and it was well liked by the entire family. Good action in this one. Be sure to play it. Played Friday, Saturday, Feb. 28, March 1.— Albert Hefferan, Century Theatre, Coopersville, Mich. RUSTLER'S ROUNDUP: Kirby Grant, Fuzzy Knight — Used on weekend double bill. Very good for Westerns fans. Business below normal due to weakness of twin feature. Played Friday, Saturday, Feb. 21, 22. — A. C. Edwards, Winema Theatre. Scotia, Cal. Small lumber town patronage. (Continued on following page') MOTION PICTURE HERALD, MARCH 22, 1947 53