Motion Picture Herald (Nov-Dec 1948)

AUTOMATIC CONTROLS FOR "CONTOUR" I FESTOON TYPE) CURTAINS Smooth, Silent, Sure One-button Control Your curtain control problem is our problem. Whether or not you use Vallen guaranteed equipment, let us submit the answer. WRITE FOR FREE CATALOG VALLEN, INC. 222 BLUFF ST. AKRON, OHIO The World's Largest and Oldest Manufacturers of Proscenium Equipment ment is lost, stolen or destroyed. Gross negligence in this connection means the absence of even slight care. The jury will decide whether the bailee theatre owner is liable. For example, in Maiden v. Hazen (113 Pac. [2d] 1008), it was shown that a woman left an envelope containing $1,500, with a bailee. Later the woman sued the bailee for $1,500 for return of the $1,500, but the higher court held the bailee not liable. The higher court said : "Whether or not a gratuitous bailee is guilty of gross negligence, in case of loss or injury to the thing bailed, is always to be ascertained from all the circumstances surrounding the particular bailment in question. ..." Also, see Bradford-Kennedy Company v. Buchanan, (91 Wash. 539) and Corwin v. Grays Washingtonian (292 p. 412). In each of these cases the higher court refused to hold a theatre owner liable for theft of money and other valuables left in his care. In one case the theatre owner left several hundred dollars of another person's money in the pigeonhole of his desk. It was stolen, but the higher court refused to hold the theatre owner liable. Liability for Injuries Due to Rushing Seats it is certain that an injured theatre patron cannot receive damages from a theatre corporation on which proves that the injury did not result from negligence of the theatre owner or employees. But it is important to know that if the circumstances of the injury involved the theatre building, the fact that the building was designed by a competent architect may provide an excellent defense. In Burns v. Elsa Amusement Company (58 Atl. [2d] 632), a theatre patron was forced to stand in the rear of the balcony while waiting for seats. The balcony was constructed by plans prepared by an experienced theatre architect. The patron was proceeding down the balcony steps to procure a seat, which had just been vacated, when, as she testified, "there was a rush of patrons to obtain the vacant seat," and she was knocked down the steps of the balcony, thereby sustaining serious injuries. She sued the theatre corporation for damages on the grounds that the theatre management was negligent because it failed to have at hand attendants to keep patrons from "rushing" for vacated seats. The counsel for the theatre corporation argued that the corporation was not obligated to provide attendants to prevent patrons rushing for vacant seats. The higher court agreed with this argument and refused to award damages to Quick low 'COSt your m ■^trons I ... ' KPst in thirst relief You provide the beStKelvinator-relowest cost «'*^r Coolers. ?igeratedElectr^e dealer Look for your J^phone «Br~ EBCO MANUFACTURING CO. COLUMBUS. OHIO U.S. A facfrio WATER COOLERS The EBCO Manufacturing Co. Town & Lucas St., Columbus 8, Ohio Please rush Kelvinator water cooler details to: When power goes off, your FairbanksMorse generating plant goes on! Automatic . . . instant . . . dependable! That's the best description of a Fairbanks-Morse generating plant— the kind you'll find in hundreds of hospitals, institutions, theaters, and other places where service must go on in spite of power failure! You, too, should take this precaution, plan to install a Fairbanks-Morse generating plant at once. Available in A.C. or D.C. types; automatic or remote control; 350 to 35,000 watts — a model for every need. For full information write Fairbanks, Morse 8C Co., Chicago 5, Illinois for folder ADB-400. Fairbanks -Morse A name worth remembering 8ETTER THEATRES, DECEMBER 18, 1948 17