Motion Picture Herald (Jan-Mar 1954)

( Continued from preceding page ) Vance Schwartz in suburban Hyde Park, is currently playing MGM’s “Julius Caesar” for two shows daily. . . . Keith’s theatre, unit of the S. & S. Amusement Co., of which Ruben Shor is at the head, made its CinemaScope bow on Christmas Day with “How To Marry a Millionaire.”. . . The Salem theatre, in Dayton, Ohio, opened 23 years ago, has been closed after a long-term operation by J. M. Curl, of Dayton and Mrs. Ethel Miles, a Columbus, Ohio, circuit operator. The building owners now are seeking new tenants. . . . Damage estimated at $10,000 was caused by a fire at the Ronnie drive-in theatre, near Lily, Ky. . . . Approximately 750 members of the Vlai'k County 4-H Club were guests of Mr. and Mrs. William Settos, operators of the Liberty theatre, in Springfield, Ohio, the occasion being a special Christmas party December 29. CLEVELAND Theatre admission tax was up this year for the first time since 1948, according to Stanley P. Nemec, commissioner of licenses and assessments, with the 1953 admission tax revenue hitting about $400,000 as compared with $394,000 in 1952. . . . Robert Ancell has rejoined the Hippodrome as assistant to Jack Silverthorne in the management and publicity for the Hippodrome and Tower theatres. . . . Frank Masek, NTS branch manager, has installed Simplex Stereophonic equipment in the Harris theatre, Warren, for a scheduled Jan. 14 opening of “The Robe.”. . . Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors Association will hold its annual business meeting for election of officers, preceded by a luncheon, in the association rooms Jan. 12. Ernest Schwartz, who has been president for 19 years, has no opponent for reelection. . . . I. J. Schmertz, 20th-Fox local branch manager, was in New York to confer with home office officials. . . . Connie Knighton, 62, porter at Loew’s Valentine theatre, Toledo, died. COLUMBUS Fred Rowlands has installed a new 38foot wide Astrolite screen at the Main neighborhood. . . . Charles Reeder has been named manager of radio station WCOL. Reeder has been acting manager of the ABC outlet since the death of Neal Smith Oct. 10. Reeder came to WCOL from WING, Dayton, Ohio, where he had been program manager for 17 years. . . . The Sherman theatre at Chillicothe, Ohio will be razed to make way for a highway development. The Sherman was erected during World War I on old canal lands which the state turned over to the city on condition that the site be used for public purposes. Closing of the Sherman leaves Chillicothe with only two theatres — the Majestic and Royal. . . . Charles L. Eckelberry, 59, father of Harriet Eckelberry of the office staff of Loew’s Ohio, died in University Hospital. . . .“Knights of the Round Table” is expected to be a January booking at the Ohio or Broad. DENVER As usual, business among the first runs snapped back with the coming of Christmas, and most of the downtown houses had lines at the cashier windows. An unusual twist, as far as Denver is concerned, is that six of the 10 first runs currently have single bills. . . . Russell Allen is adding 300 seats to the Aztec, Aztec, N. M.; to double its size. . . . Mrs. S. E. Allen expects to open her new 300-car drive-in at Lordsburg, N. M., in the early spring, and about the same opening date has been set for J. C. West’s 300-car drive-in, Grants, N. M. . . . A. G. Edwards, formerly booker and office manager at Lippert’s Pictures, is still seriously ill in General Rose memorial hospital. . . . Tom Bailey, Lippert and Filmakers franchise owner, heads for New York next week to look for product. DES MOINES Atty. Gen. Leo Hoegh notified county attorneys in the state last week that he won’t order the banning of theatre bank nights until after a rehearing is held in the bingo case, which started the whole thing. . . . Christmas parties were the order of the day along Film Row during the week before Christmas. . . . Variety club has elected its new crew here. Byron Shapiro will continue as chief barker; Don Conley and Bill Feld have been named first assistant and second assistant, respectively. Leon Mendelsohn is dough guy and Don West property master. The following are Crew members: Rudy Faulds, Dave Gold, Charles lies, Boh Sandler, Stan Soderberg, Ed Utay and Larry Wegener. . . . On vacation this week are Paul Leatherby and Lu Hummel, Columbia salesmen. . . . Mable Brady, contract clerk for RKO, is resigning to take a job near her home in Rising Sun. . . . S. E. Theiss is a new salesman for National Theatre Supply. He also owns the Waverly Drive-In theatre. DETROIT Still one of the biggest things in town is “Martin Luther” at the Krim in Highland Park. . . . “How to Marry a Millionaire,” “This Is Cinerama” and “The Robe’ are all holding long runs in downtown theatres. . . . “The Robe” did very well in Pontiac at the Oakland although its stay was limited to two weeks due to chain bookings. . . . Re-elected president of Local 94, International Alliance of Billposters, was John Carano. Walter Frank, vice-president; Matt Kolbe, secretary-treasurer; A. J. Halley, board chairman and Peter Miglio and Wm. Noch, trustees, make up the new slate. . . . “Men of Conflict” will be handled in Chicago and Detroit by Albert Dezel with Detroit opening at the Broadway Capitol. . . . IATSE Local 199 president Frank Kinsora added duties as business agent due to the illness of Roger Kennedy. HARTFORD Edward J. Noble, Greenwich, Conn., chairman of the finance committee of American Broadcasting Paramount 4 heatres, Inc., has announced another gift of $2,000,000 to the Edward John Noble Foundation. The Foundation was organized in 1940 as a philanthropic agency. . . . The Middletown (Conn.) Zoning Authority has given Sal Adorno, Jr., assistant general manager, M&D Theatres, authority to build a drivein theatre on Saybrook, Rd., Middletown, at an estimated cost of $125,000. . . . Sal Adorno, Sr., general manager of M&D Theatres, and Mrs. Adorno, leave Jan. 15 for their annual winter vacation in Phoenix, Ariz. . . . Edward Harwood, formerly assistant manager of the Warner theatre, Lynn, Mass., has been named assistant manager of the Strand, Hartford, replacing Irving Davis, resigned. INDIANAPOLIS Howard Rutherford, manager of Loew’s, inaugurated his new CinemaScope screen with “Knights of the Round Table” New Year’s Eve. . . . The Indiana previewed a Martin and Lewis picture as its New Year’s Eve attraction for the fourth consecutive year. This time it was “Money from Home.” . . . Contest winners in five Syndicate theatre cities will be sent to Hollywood Jan. 18 on all-expense tours for two, Trueman Rembusch announced Christmas Day. Three of the five are children. . . . Harry Stephenson, booker at Warners, has resigned. His successor is Caroline Webb. . . . Johnny Stearns, manager of Keith’s, organized a New Year’s Eve stage show featuring local musicians formerly with “name” bands. . . . The Allied Theatre Owners of Indiana directors will hold their next monthly meeting in the Hotel Lincoln at noon Jan. 5. KANSAS CITY Missouri-born Felix D. Snow, business manager of Local No. 31 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes and Motion Picture Operators, and third vice-president of the International, died Christmas Day, aged 66. He had suffered a heart attack after the annual meeting of the Motion Picture Association of Greater Kansas City December 7 and was in the hospital at the time of his death. . . . The Midland opened its first CinemaScope film Christmas Day — “Knights of the Round Table — with steady inflow all afternoon and evening. It is estimated that it will rank with the three previous top-grossers ; at $1 and $1.24 for adults and 50c for children. . . . “The Sea Around Us” (“The Alaska Eskimo” second feature) is in its third week at the Kimo. . . . The Vogue, now showing “The Captain’s Paradise,” ran continuous shows Saturday. . . . The Boulevard was the only drive-in showing over the weekend in Kansas City. LOS ANGELES Film Row was the scene of many Christmas parties with Universal, Columbia and Warner Bros, holding their affairs in the club rooms of the exchanges. . . . Frank Reimer, Warner Bros, sales manager, returned to his desk after being confined to the hospital for surgery. . . . Henry Herbel, district manager for Warner Bros., returned from a two-day meeting of district managers at the home office in Manhattan. . . . Norma Cain. Warner Bros, biller, off to San Francisco to greet her husband, who is returning from service overseas in the Armed Forces. . . . Alex Cooperman, Western sales manager for IFE Films, checked in after a business jaunt to San Francisco. ... Joe Sarfaty, Warner Bros, salesman, is in the hosptial to undergo emergency surgery. . . Out of town exhibitors on the Row were Roy Lemmucci, Bakersfield; Moses Hernandez, Guadalupe ; Joe Markkwitz, Encinitas ; and Ben Bronstein, Palm Springs. ( Continued on opposite page ) 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JANUARY 2, 1954