Motion Picture Herald (1953)

. . . the original exhibitors' reports department, established October 14, 1916. In it theatremen serve one another with information about the box office performance of product — providing a service of the exhibitor for the exhibitor. ADDRESS REPORTS What the Picture Did for Me, Motion Picture Herald, Rockefeller Center, New York 20. Allied Artists HIAWATHA: Vincent Edwards, Yvette Dugay — Pretty good but I think it could have been improved upon. Good Indian story, but somehow did not bring forth the beauty of the poem. It did draw though, so I won’t complain. Played Sunday, October 11. — Mrs. Marcella Smith, Vinton Theatre, McArthur, Ohio. MAZE, THE: Richard Carlson, Veronica Hurst— This 3-D subject would have been much stronger if they had put in some name star to help it along. The public don’t seem to care for the 3-D subjects as they did at first. Played Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. — G. W. Harttmann, Armour Theatre, North Kansas City, Mo. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ARENA: Gig Young, Jean Hagen — This is the weakest of the 3-D pictures we have played. It was not as good as the average little western. Played on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. — G. W. Harttmann, Armour Theatre, North Kansas City, Mo. HALF A HERO: Red Skelton, Jean Hagen — Not much, either as entertainment or as to draw. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, October 4, 5, 6. — A. Eliasen, Koronis Theatre, Paynesville, Minn. KID FROM LEFT FIELD, THE: Dan Dailey, Anne Bancroft — Good picture, good draw. Even the gals enjoyed this story of a bum and baseball. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, September 20, 21, 22. — A. Eliasen, Koronis Theatre, Paynesville, Minn. MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID: Esther Williams, Victor Mature — Excellent feature, color beautiful, acting very good — all in all a very enjoyable two hours’ entertainment for young and old alike. Comments very good. Played Wednesday. Thursday, September 16, 17. — W. N. McIntosh, Pembina Theatre, Manitou, Man., Canada. Paramount GIRLS OF PLEASURE ISLAND: Don Taylor, Leo nn — We hard stiff competition the night we played this, and still it drew and people loved it. Received comments on it for several days. It is different from the run-of-the-mill pictures — risque but not too much so, and still sweet. Should go over in any community. Played Wednesday, October 7. — Mrs. Marcella Smith, Vinton Theatre, McArthur, Ohio. GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH: All Star CastSecond time here in one year. Was very anxious to know how it would do — well, here’s the results: Did wonderful again. Without doubt one of the greatest pictures ever made. For sheer enjoyment for all ages, I doubt very much if it has been equalled. Played Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, September 22, 23, 24. — W. N. McIntosh, Pembina Theatre, Manitou, Man., Canada. OFF LIMITS: Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell — Very good Hope comedy which was enjoyed by his fans here. Played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, October 15, 16, 17. — Coombes and Hudson, Empress Theatre, Lloydminster, Sask., Canada. OFF LIMITS: Bob Hope, Mickey Rooney, Marilyn Maxwell — We can even draw patrons if Bob Hope is in the newsreel, so when this fine feature came along, business was even better than we had hoped for. Hope and Rooney make a wonderful comedy team and all of our patrons went out laughing. The feature had a wonderful Saturday opening, with full houses all around, and continued to do excellent business for the balance of the run. Played Saturday, Monday, Tuesday, September 5, 7, 8. — Robert Harvey, Capitol Theatre, North Bay, Ont., Canada. OFF LIMITS: Bob Hope, Marilyn Maxwell — Good picture but failed at the box office. Flayed Tuesday, MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 7, 1953 Wednesday, Thursday, September 8, 9, 10. — A. F. Peters, Bath Drive-In Theatre, Bath, N. Y. PONY EXPRESS: Charlton Heston, Rhonda Fleming— A western in color that was not nearly as good as it could have been. Fair entertainment. — Coombes and Hudson, Empress Theatre, Lloydminster, Sask., Canada. RKO-Radio MONTANA BELLE: Jane Russell, George Brent — Average western, and that’s all. Am afraid if Jane Russell had not been in it, results would have been bad. However, it will get by on a weekend. Played Friday, Saturday, September 18, 19. — W. N. McIntosh, Pembina Theatre, Manitou, Man., Canada. NEVER WAVE AT A WAC: Rosalind Russell. Paul Douglas — This one I played quite late and had little hope for it — but it fooled me. Drew very well and everybody seemed to like it. A little on the slapstick side, but that is what people seem to want. Played Sunday, October 25. — Mrs. Marcella Smith, Vinton Theatre, McArthur, Ohio. Republic CHAMP FOR A DAY: Alex Nicol — Nice picture about boxing and the boxing racket. My rural patrons enjoyed it. Played Friday, Saturday, October 16, 17. — A. Eliasen, Koronis Theatre, Paynesville, Minn. WAC FROM WALLA WALLA: Judy Canova, Stephen Dunne — Doubled this with Roy Rogers’ reissue “Star of Texas’’ (AA) and did excellent business. Played Friday, Saturday, August 28, 29. — A. F. Peters, Bath Drive-In Theatre, Bath, N. Y. Twentieth Century-Fox INFERNO: Robert Ryan, Rhonda Fleming — This is last 3-D for a while as they are not box office any more. This was the best produced of the last three or four we have played. Played Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. — G. W. Harttmann, Armour Theatre, North Kansas City, Mo. MISTER SCOUTMASTER: Clifton Webb, Edmund Gwenn — A flop here, no business. No good comments either. We admitted all Cub Scouts and their leaders free — they were the only ones who enjoyed it. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, October 18, 19, 20. — A. Eliasen, Koronis Theatre, Paynesville, Minn. MONKEY BUSINESS: Cary Grant, Marilyn Monroe— One of the very poorest pictures we ever had the misfortune to play. The stars should be ashamed to appear in such juvenile junk. Played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, August 6, 7, 8. — Coombes and Hudson, Empress Theatre, Lloydminster, Sask, Canada. MY PAL GUS: Richard Widmark, Joanne Dru — An excellent show that restores the faith of exhibitors. Calibre of pictures like this don’t need 3-D, Wide Screen or CinemaScope. Just the best of entertainment. Played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, August 3, 4, 5. — Coombes and Hudson, Empress Theatre, Lloydminister, Sask., Canada. NIAGARA: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotton — In spite of adverse comments on Marilyn Monroe, she certainly did well in this. Beautiful shots at the falls and certainly good entertainment. Played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, September 7, 8, 9. — Coombes and Hudson, Empress Theatre, Lloydminister, Sask., Canada. NIAGARA: Marilyn Monroe, Joseph Cotton — Good picture with lots of suspense. Was enjoyed by all who came to see it. Flayed Monday, Tuesday, October 26, 27. — W. N. McIntosh, Pembina Theatre, Manitou, Man., Canda. PONY SOLDIER: Tyrone Power, Cameron Mitchell — Good solid entertainment with outstanding performance by Thomas Gomez. Color by Technicolor is outstanding in this film and its redeeming feature. What I would really like to know is where did Fox pick up the female lead? Was the part too small to waste on any talent they had at the studio? Play this one — it’s good for all houses. Played Friday, Saturday, September 25, 26. — Dave S. Klein, Astra Theatre, Kitwe/Nkana, Northern Rhodesia, Africa. TITANIC: Clifton Webb, Barbara Stanwyck — A truly wonderful picture. We saw faces in the audience that we rarely see. Drew well and comments all favorable. Just one complaint — the trailer was terrible, didn’t show any of the sinking, which is what people were mainly interested in. Something should be done about the trailers; I think they are hurting business. Played Sunday, October 18. — Mrs. Marcella Smith, Vinton Theatre, McArthur, Ohio. TITANIC: Clifton Webb. Barbara Stanwyck — Brought out the older folks and showed just a bare profit, which is unusual now. Played Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, October 4, 5, 6. — L. Woody, Palace Theatre, Golden City, Mo. United Artists MARSHAL’S DAUGHTER, THE: Ken Murray, Preston Foster — They liked this one, and told me so. Played Friday, Saturday, October 9, 10. — A. Eliasen, Koronis Theatre, Paynesville, Minn. NEANDERTHAL MAN, THE: Robert Shayne, Doris Merrick — No good. Played Friday, Saturday, October 9, 10. — A. Eliasen, Koronis Theatre, Faynesville, Minn. RETURN TO1 PARADISE: Gary Cooper, Roberta Haynes — Nice picture, but no draw. Cooper acted in this with about the same expression as in “High Noon’’. Plaved Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, October 11, 12, 13. — A. Eliasen, Koronis Theatre, Paynesville, Minn. VICE SQUAD: Edward G. Robinson, Paulette Goddard — Good picture and nice draw. We considered this to be the best by Robinson in years. Played Wednesday, Thursday, September 30, October 1. — A Eliasen, Koronis Theatre, Paynesville, Minn. Warner Bros. TROUBLE ALONG THE WAY: John Wayne, Donna Reed — An excellent show that brought many favorable comments. Played Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. October 5, 6, 7. — Coombes and Hudson, Empress Theatre, Lloydminster, Sask., Canada. WINNING TEAM, THE: Doris Day, Ronald Reagan— A very good show. Doris Day could have sung a few more songs to have inspired it. Played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, October 1, 2, 3. — Coombes and Hudson. Empress Theatre, Lloydminster, Sask., Canada. WINNING TEAM, THE: Doris Day, Ronald Reagan— Very good picture, one that appealed to all. The story was good, and that makes a big difference. Played Thursday, Friday, Saturday, O'ctober 8, 9, 10. — W. N. McIntosh, Pembina Theatre, Manitou, Man., Canada. 31