Motion Picture Herald (Mar-Apr 1947)

picture policy, for the present, at least, and opened April 17, with Guy Lombardo on the stage and "'The Calendar Girl" as the screen attraction. ... A new business center, to include a 600-seat theatre of ultra-modern design, will be constructed at nearby Maderia, Ohio, for which contracts have already been awarded by Maderia Theatre, Inc., the project having been approved by the local CPA office. . . . The local Crosley Broadcasting Co., which is operating an experimental television station here, and has received Federal Communications Commission approval for a television station here and in Columbus, Ohio, now has been granted approval for a similar station at Dayton, Ohio. . . . Four babies have been placed in the local Variety Club's foundling home, according to Irving Sochin, chief barker. CLEVELAND "Best Years of Our Lives" holding strong as it goes into its third day-and-date showings at Lower Mall and University theatres here. . . . Picture opened Friday, April 25 at State, Toledo, independent house owned by Carl Schwynd. . . . John Urbansky, Sr. and Bernard Rubin of Imperial Pictures just returned from N. Y. with northern Ohio distribution rights to "Dark Journey" and "Storm in a Teacup." . . . Leo Jones opened his recently acquired Upper theatre, Upper Sandusky, over the weekend. . . . Harry Walders is RKO's new branch manager. He succeeds Al Kolitz, promoted to Rocky Mountain division manager with headquar ters in Denver. . . . Off for the Variety Club convention will be M. B. Horwitz, canvasman; John Urbansky, Sr., Nate Schultz, delegates; Meyer Fine, Milton A. Mooney, Max Shenker, Charles Gottlob, Julius Lamm, all of Cleveland and Leo Jones, Upper Sandusky. . . . Bids for lease of Euclid Avenue Baptist Church for motion pictures have been presented to the Cleveland Baptist Association. It is understood that Cleveland theatre interests are seeking the location for an independently operated downtown house. If deal goes through, it" will be the only non-affiliated downtown theatre in town. Others are operated by RKO, Loew's and Warners. COLUMBUS Generally mild business was the rule for downtown first runs during the past week. "The Macomber Affair" at the Ohio, "Trail Street" at the Palace and Grand and a dual repeat run of "Kit Carson" and "The Last of the Mohicans" at the Broad were the entries. The latter bill attracted more patronage than some recent local new films. "Henry V" concluded a two-week roadshow engagement at the Hartman to satisfactory returns but most other cities of comparable size eclipsed the local run. . . . First run English and foreign language films will be shown at the rechristened World theatre, formerly the Olentangy, when it reopens May 14 under management of Al Sugar man and Lee Hofheimer. . . . First attraction will be "Brief Encounter." . . . Charles Radeaugh, exAir Corps bombardier, will be manager of the World. . . . The Palace and the Oio will have two strong films starting May 1. . . . "The Best Years of Our Lives" at advanced prices at the Palace and "The Yearling" at regular prices at the Ohio. . . . The Riverside drive-in theatre, operated by SAMARITAN TAKING a busman's holiday is J. E. Elliott's favorite off-duty recreation. Chief operator at the Lincoln theatre, Hodgenville, Ky., he spends most of his spare time visiting other theatres and helping out in the booth. He scouts out new installations of equipment and is usually on hand to help bolt the projection machinery to the floor. He assists and advises beginners in his field and on several occasions has helped the theatres he visits with their popcorn and candy concessions and has repaired their ticket machines and coin changers. Mr. Elliott's specialized form of theatregoing has attracted the attention of newspaper columnists and he was recently the object of attention by the Louisville Times. Frank Yassenoff and Harold Schwartz, reopened this week. They operate the Eastside drive-in, opened for its second season several weeks ago. DENVER Abel Davis and John Andersen are planning a 1,200-seat $300,000 theatre here, if and when approved by the zoning board. . . . The Ute and Tomkins, Colorado Springs, and the Stuart and Capitol, Lincoln, Neb., will have new seats put in and redecorated to cost $75,000. All are Cooper Foundation houses. . . . Robert Sweeten, Gibraltar Enterprises booker, made city manager for company theaters, Alamosa, Colo. Margaret Fitzsimons moves into Sweeten's job, and Robert Clark gets Miss Fitzsimons' post. . . . Fred Lind trying for CPA approval for new theatre at Rifle, Colo., where he already operates. . . . Doyle Shelton building 300-seat Monarch at Pritchard, Colo. . . . Clarence Martin buys Gem, Hugo, Colo., from Earl Behrens. . . . Derald Hart, former theatre manager, buinding an amusement park at Lamar, Colo. PES MOINES Jack Greenberg, formerly of Minneapolis, has joined the sales force at National Screen. . . . Jean Post is now a salesman for Universal. He formerly served that ex change as a booker. . . . Henry Plude, manager of the Capitol, Davenport, and Frances Gillan, Paramount, Cedar Rapids, were awarded MGM albums for outstanding promotion on MGM's "Till the Clouds Roll By." . . . An organization meeting to select an exchange area committee and a national trustee for the Motion Picture Foundation was held here March 21. . . . Marjorie Massow, known on the screen as Madge Meredith, visited her home town of Iowa Falls, la., last week in connection with her recent picture, "Trail Street." . . . First signs of spring here last week kept box office receipts down. . . . Rex Truesdell has returned to the Ames Theatre Co., Ames, as assistant manager of the four local theatres. Frank and Floyd Smith have sold a half interest in the Wayne, Corydon, to the Iowa United Theatres circuit. . . . Don Loftus is the new manager of the Strand, Fort Dodge. HARTFORD Among holdovers in Hartford were "My Favorite Brunette" and "It Happened in Brooklyn," holding for a second week at the M&P Allyn and Loew's Poli Palace, respectively. . . . Associated Film Libraries, Inc., a new 16mm motion picture organization, has opened Hartford offices. Alfred C. Baldwin is president of the company which rents professional sound motion pictures and equipment. . . . Hartford visitors : Bob Kaufman, 20th-Fox exploitation representative, Walter Silverman of the Columbia, New Haven, branch, and John Pavone, branch manager in New Haven for Monogram. INDIANAPOLIS "The Egg and I," in its second week at Keith's, remained the pacemaker among first run attractions here. It added $14,000 to its original $18,000 take and is definitely set to stay until April 29. Business otherwise ranged from fair to poor: $13,000 for "It's a Wonderful Life," at the Indiana; $8,000 for "Sister Kenny" at the Circle: $12,000 for "The Macomber Affair" at Loew's. . . . Dudley Williston announced plans for a new 1,400-seat colored patronage theatre, the Walnut, in Louisville and will increase the capacity of his Lido here from 400 to 800 seats. The Walnut will be wired for television, he said. . . . Mr. and Mrs. Harry C. Walsh have work under way on their 600-seater, the New Scott theatre, at Scottsburgh, Ind. . . . Joe Cantor has taken a 20-year renewal on his lease of the Rivoli, Indianapolis's largest east side neighborhood at a rental of $11,000 for the first four years, $12,000 for the next sixteen. KANSAS CITY The city's drive-in theatre has opened an advance in adult admissions — from 50 to 60 cents — but with children under 12 admitted free. Exhibitors both in the city and out in the territory say patronage is off. indicating a 10 to 25 per cent reduction. No admission reductions have been reported or predicted. . . . "The Best Years of Our Lives" is in its third week here. . . . The Tampico, which has been showing Spanish language features, has switched its policy to English language films . .. . 400 young peo(Continued on page 38) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, APRIL 26, 1947 3S