Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1948)

(.Continued from preceding page) Nov. 6. . . . Herman Beiersdorf, Dallas, rwas a visitor at Eagle-Lion Exchange. . . . Variety Club members and their wives attended a dinner meeting and heard an address by Col. William McCraw, international director of Variety Club. . . . Exhibitors visiting on Film Row included Whyte Bedford, Hamilton; W. C. Kroeger, Portageville; C. A. Gilliland, Steele; A. J. Cole, Webb; Mrs. E. L. Nicholas, Sherman; Charles Boren, Nettelton ; Jack Watson, Tunica; Mrs. F. A. Fitch, Erin. MIAMI The Normandy theatre, part of the Brandt circuit, has been leased to Wometco Theatres. . . . Mar Chartrand is busily preparing stories to go out on his newest, the Wometco Boulevard Drive-In, which promises to open in the very near future. . . . "The Babe Ruth Story" hit the hearts of Miami patrons at the Town midnighter this week, while "Johnny Belinda" at the Paramount was well received. "Cry of the City" is doing well at the Miami and Lincoln. "Sorry, Wrong Number," has held capacity crowds since its start on Thursday at the Paramount and Beach theatre. "I Married a Witch" and "Trade Winds" are the comebacks to the Capitol bill, and "Raw Deal" is a new film which started this week at the Florida and Sheridan. "The Loves of Carmen" continues to go over big with extraspecial advertising and promotion being done for the attraction. . . . Miamians are heading for downtown and local theatres in order to keep cool, temperatures have been soaring again to summer heat. MILWAUKEE The weather and visiting teachers here for the State Teachers' Convention gave first run business a hypo this week. The Towne went into the second week of "Julia Misbehaves" and the Warner began a third stanza on "Johnny Belinda." The Riverside opened to lush receipts with "A Song Is Born" while the Palace and Wisconsin scored a little better than average with "Night Has a Thousand Eyes" and "Cry of the City." ... A new move-over house may be in the offing downtown with John Freuler, of the famous Chaplin-Freuler deal, angling for product in his Midcity theatre right off the first run houses. . . . Things buzzed in the Film Classics office when failure of a print to return on time threatened to darken a theatre. MINNEAPOLIS Theatre business ran into too much competition from the ideal fall weather, football and the hunting season, with the result that grosses generally were well under average. "Rope" had a good second week, but "Walk a Crooked Mile" and "Miss Tatlock's Millions" had weak openings, as did "Time of Your Life." A pickup is looked for with four new starters coming up, "A Song is Born," "Coroner Creek," "Apartment for Peggy" and "A Southern Yankee." . . . Hy Chapman, Minneapolis Columbia manager, is recovering from illness suffered while doing jury duty. . . . The North Central Allied board, meeting in Minneapolis, attacked MGM's new sales policy as a "brazen scheme to hike film rentals in the face of a dipping box office." . . . Allen \ THEY TAKE OVER. The new officers of the Variety Club. Tent 11, of Washington, D. C. In left to right order: Jerry Adams, property master; Morton Qerber, second assistant chief barker; Jake Flax, chief barker; Wade Pearson, first assistant chief barker, and Sam Oalanty, treasurer. O'Keefe, U-I assistant general sales manager, and Mannie Gottlieb, midwest district manager, visited Minneapolis to discuss the U-I booking drive with film buyers. ... A heavy schedule of theatre construction and remodelling throughout the territory is on the books for Perry Crosier, Minneapolis theatre architect, who reports the demand is the biggest in many years. . . . Aiiene Dahl, film star from Minneapolis, returned to the home town for a one-day personal appearance at the opening of "A Southern Yankee," an MGM picture. MONTREAL "A Date with Judy" now in third week at the Loew's, with "Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein" at the Princess. "Lady in Ermine" showing at the Palace and "So Evil My Love" at Capitol. "Canon City" doing repeat session at the Orpheum. "Quiet Weekend," British film, in its fifth week at the Avenue. . . . The Empress, a Confederated house, now has a musical show on the stage in addition to its regular film program. . . . Business around town holding up nicely and helped by good weather. . . . The National Film Board's newest Canada Carries On is a film called "Arctic Jungle," to be released shortly to Canadian theatres. . . . George Heiber, United Artists branch head in Montreal, who was seriously ill for some time, is now up and around. . . . "Hamlet" now well into its second month at the Kent theatre. . . . Parlous Cinema, new film publication published by Marc Thihault, is to run a history of Loew's theatre in a forthcoming issue. . . . The National Film Society of Canada shows a gain in enrollment. . . . Ross MacLean, National Film Board commissioner, reveals that the staff has been cut from 790 to 550 in recent months for reasons of economy and that one member was discharged for publicly proclaiming his political partisanship. NEW ORLEANS Two holdovers were included in the downtown theatres lineup last week. "Red River" played a second week at Loew's State, while "Walk a Crooked Mile" moved from the Orpheum to the Liberty for a repeat week. "Cry of the City" opened at the Saenger. "The Loves of Carmen" went into the Orpheum. "Hollow Triumph" was the Joy feature. "Good Sam" was at the Center. "Two Guys from Texas" returned for a second run, this time at the Tudor. "The Flying Tigers" was at the Globe. "A Night at the Follies" opened at the Rio. Double billed at the Strand were "The Sea Wolf" and "Gun Town." NEW YORK Highlight of the week's film openings on Broadway was the world premiere Thursday of Walter Wanger's "Joan or Arc" at the remodeled Victoria theatre. RKO is distributing. The only other Hollywood picture to open this week was RKO's Western, "Blood on the Moon," starring Robert Mitchum. . . . Ben Kalmenson, Warner sales vice-president, has promoted Clarence Eisman, the company's New York branch manager, to the post of Metropolitan district manager, with headquarters in New York. He replaces Sam Lefkowitz, who is on a temporary leave of absence because of poor health. Ben Abner, manager of MGM's New Jersey branch office, has been appointed to replace Mr. Eisman as New York manager. . . . George F. Van Weyenbergh, assistant manager of Westrex's Brussels office, has arrived in New York for business conferences with home office officials. . . . Thomas M. Pryor of the New York Times has been voted the new chairman of the New York Film Critics Circle. Wanda Hale and Dorothy Masters, both of the Daily News, were elected vice-chairman and secretary, respectively. Mr. Pryor succeeds Otis L. Guernsey, Jr., of the HeraldTribune. OKLAHOMA CITY The Criterion, Capitol and Tower theatres featured, in addition to the regular film, a special wire to bring the election return.-, November 2 to the audience. . . . The Criterion, in addition to the film, "Night Ha? a Thousand Eyes," has been holding a onehalf hour radio show on their stage sponsored by the IGA food stores of Oklahoma. Every Wednesday "Lady IGA" is picked and awarded a large group of prizes. They consist of a trip to New York City or Hollywood, a diamond .ring, a bouquet of orchids, four chicken dinners, a month's supply of soap, a month's supply of shortening, (Continued on following page) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 13, 1948 29