Motion Picture Herald (1953)

{ Continued from preceding page) inside of the life of the weekly editor, his trials and tribulations each week.” . . . Mary Shanahan is the new leger clerk at Paramount, taking over the position of Irene Wattonville, who is expecting an addition to the family. . . . The Ak-Sar-Ben Rodeo and Livestock Exposition had exceptionally good crowds for the nine-day program. . . . Jerry Colonna was in the Omaha territory last week, making appearances at the Harlan, la., Fall Festival and Omaha Tech High. . . . The Pappio theatre at Papillion was turned over to the Parent-Teacher Association for a District 2 meeting. . . . Gertrude Hollander, veteran member of the R. D. Goldberg office staff, was to leave October 17 for a western vacation. PHILADELPHIA A. M. Ellis Theatres relinquished operation of the Dante, key neighborhood house in South Philadelphia, and the house is now being operated by Joseph Lombardi, the owner and local builder. . . . Stanley Warner Theatre reopened the Lansdowne, neighborhood house. . . . Paul Resnick left as manager of the Greenway with the neighborhood house closing down. . . . The former Harrowgate, Stanley Warner house, leased for a term of years to Malcolm Carey for conversion into a roller skating rink. . . . William Yurasko, out-of-town booker for the Stanley Warner Theatres, and Ruth Murphy, a former company employee, were married last week. . . . Although Mel Geller and Sam Taustin closed their Brandywine drive-in near Wilmington, Del., they will continue the Sunday night auto racing at their adjoining Wilmington Speedway. . . . Earl Sitlinger resigned as assistant manager of Loew’s Aldine, Wilmington, Del. . . . Berio Vending Company, headed by international chief barker of the Variety Clubs, was the highest bidder for the bar and restaurant concessions at the new International Airport terminal building here. . . . Nat Abelove, former exhibitor and now head of the Exchange Finance Company, an industry loan company, was operated upon. . . . Sunday “Star,” Wilmington, Del., dropped its “Movie Time Table.” PITTSBURGH “The Robe” continues to astound Film Row, by taking in $5,800 on the opening day of its second week as compared to $4,300 on its opening day. The CinemaScope film came through with a resounding $42,000 in its first week at the J. P. Harris, and looks set for at least an eight-week run. . . . Frank “Bunny” Allen and his wife, Muriel, spent a busy day here Tuesday plugging “Mogambo” which gave Loew’s Penn its biggest opening in months. . . . “Martin Luther” gets a third week at the Warner, with James Cagney’s “Lion in the Streets” set to follow. The Warner will then close to install Cinerama equipment, with the house expecting to re-light early in December. . . . “The Moon Is Blue,” which zoomed towards the end of its second week, rated a third week in the Fulton, which has set “Dangerous Crossing” to follow. That house has snagged the second CinemaScope feature, “How To Marry A Millionaire,” date not yet set. . . . “The Caddy” gets a third week downtown, and its second at the Ritz. . . . “From Here To Eternity” is one of the few films in the Stanley’s history to get four weeks. PORTLAND “The Robe” opened at the Orpheum theatre with a terrific promotion throughout the entire area. This is the first house that preemed the pic with a forenoon opening. Orpheum was closed for 3 days for installation of equipment with ads telling that the cashier was on hand to answer questions about the movie. . . . Russ Brown and the entire Oregon district Evergreen office has worked hard getting set for the new layout. . . . William Thedford, Evergreen vicepresident from the Seattle Office, was in town. . . . Ditto Carl Mahne, Evergreen maintenance engineer ; Carl Moeller, National Theatres architect ; Russell McCullough, National Theatres chief engineer; and Charles Skouras. Group also worked on the complete facelifting of Evergreen’s Mayfair theatre which is set to start any day. In town for a couple of days was Zolly Volchock, NW Releasing Corp. . . . Guild manager Marty Foster back at his desk after a biz trip to the film capitol. . . . Katherin Marshall, secretary to Hamrick’s city manager, Marvin Fox, is recovering in St. Vincents Hospital from an operation. PROVIDENCE A near-record was established here when “From Here to Eternity” held for a fourth week at Loew’s State. With the exceptions of “Red Shoes.” “Snow White,” and a very, very few others, pictures are seldom held for such a period in this area. . . . The Avon Cinema was the scene of the New England premiere of “Fanfan the Tulip.” . . . That Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis are top favorites in this locality was evidenced by the crowds that auspiciously opened the showing of “The Caddy” at the Strand. ... In conjunction with the presentation of Clifton Webb in “The Scoutmaster” at the Hope, the management added a full hour of cartoons, for the edification of the young fry. . . . The doom of another downtown movie house was practically sealed this week with the announcement that the Carlton Theatre, and the ground it stands on, was for sale. SAN FRANCISCO Something new in concessions : Irving H. Levin, division manager, San Francisco Theatres Inc., now is selling books in his Balboa (neighborhood) lobby. They are the “better sort of pocket books.” . . . Harry Rice has returned to the Embassy (manager) afer sick leave. . . . Julian Harvey has taken over personal management, booking and buying of the Crown, Vallejo and the Village, Sacramento. Both theatres were formerly under operation of Westland Theatres. . . . Gannon Brothers closed the San Jose drive-in, San Jose. . . . Golden State Theatres is expanding to the theatre equipment business. Edward Sutro will be in charge of the new division to be housed in the Golden State Theatres building on Golden Gate Avenue. . . . Mrs. Doris Hamilton has been hired as secretary in an expansion move of Film Booking Agency of Northern California (William Greenbaum). . . . Maury Schwarz gave his Bridge theatre a repaint iob to celebrate opening of “The Cruel Sea.” . . . The row was saddened with news of the death of Carl Ronald, 16. son of Lydia McGrath of United-California Theatres, who died suddenly in his classroom at Poly Hi, Oct. 7. . . . Gladys Paul, head contract clerk, Warner Brothers, is on sick leave until November 15. . . . S. J. Gardner, resident manager, MGM, is vacationing in Las Vegas and Palm Springs until October 26. TORONTO Special invitations were sent out to members of the industry by the Centre theatre, ,St. Catharine’s, to demonstration screening on its new wide screen. . . . Ontario managers of Odeon held their annual conference with discussions on management, exploitation and policy. . . . The Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario has sent out a questionnaire to all members on the recommendations for a Motion Picture Institute for the film industry in Canada. . . . Mayor of Hamilton officiated at the reopening of the Playhouse theatre in Hamilton following reconstruction of the house by Anthony and Stanley Patzalek. It seats 624. . . . Veteran Toronto exhibitor, William Bailey, who was connected with the early exhibitors association, passed away here recently. . . . Wilf Jobbins has been confirmed as chief of the National Board’s Commercial Division. . . . Capitol, Quebec City, recently celebrated its 50th anniversary. VANCOUVER Local theatres are all loaded with ace product for the Canadian Thanksgivingweekend, Oct. 12, with most downtowners playing midnight shows. . . . Charlie Doctor is installing a CinemaScope system at his Capitol and will play “The Robe” October 29. . . . Uranium City. Sask., has a new theatre, the ROXY, built by the Rothstein chain. It will seat 800. . . . Phil May has opened his new Stardust drive-in, Wainwright, Alberta. . . . Local theatres are still juggling box office prices until patrons are getting to a point of anger. . . . Dorice Walls, Orpheum cashier, was married to Ermil Santic, Vancouver, at Bellingham, Wash. . . . Les Young reports that he will not open his New Westminster drive-in this season. . . . No outdoor theatres in this area have closed to date and are expected to stay open until the end of November. The only menace is Pacific Coast fogs which may arrive any day now. . . . Ivan Ackery, Orpheum manager, was host to 1,000 local newsboys at his Saturday matinee show. WASHINGTON Ike Weiner, president of Waldorf theatre, Plymouth Cinema, Inc. is recuperating from recent surgery. . . . Rudolph Berger, MGM southern sales division manager, made a tour of the southern territory, covering Charlotte, Atlanta, Jacksonville, and New Orleans. . . . Sara S. Young, 20th Centurv-Fox booker, and chairman of the Variety Club Women’s Committee, had a meeting of her captains for the current Welfare Awards Drive. . . . L. A. Flowers, Rex theatre, Berkeley, Virginia. d:ed on September 29. . . . The members of the Variety Club’s Golf Tournament and Dinner Dance Committee, are beingcommended for an outstanding tournament on October 2 at the Woodmont Country Club. . . . Universal-International will be housed in a new building at 3rd and H St. N.W.. now under construction. . . . “This Is Cinerama” will make its Washington debut on November 5. as a benefit for Child’-oo’s Hospital, under tbe auspices of the American Newspaper Women’s Club. 36 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, OCTOBER 17, 1953