Motion Picture Herald (1954)

( Continued from preceding page ) Variety Club, Tent One, banquet in Hotel William Penn on Nov. 21 has spurred sales. Mrs. Pete Dana and Mrs. Bert Stearn have been set by chairman Harry Hendel for his committee as this is the first year women will be allowed to attend the annual banquet. . . . Stanley Warner managers winning cash showmanship awards include Jack Kieffier of the Enright, Leopold Satari of the Strand, Lou Fordan of the Memorial in McKeesport and Michael Cardone of the Harris theatre, Tarentum. PORTLAND Herb Sabotka, Hamrick executive, was in town for the OSC-U of W. football game. So was Neal Walton. Columbia branch manager from Seattle. . . . Chuck Charles has been appointed city manager of Jesse Jones Theatres in Sweet Home, Oregon. . . . Mrs. J. J. Parker was in Los Angeles. . . . Guild Theatre manager Marty Foster left for Las Vegas and Los Angeles. . . . Jesse Jones has installed CinemaScope and stereo sound in his St. Johns theatre. Over half of the suburban houses now have the equipment. . . . Ivan Hore takes over the J. J. Parker Riviera theatre in Astoria. . . . Russell McCollough, National Theatres purchasing agent, was up from Los Angeles for a few days. PROVIDENCE Robert F. Aiken, former chief-of-service at the RKO Albee, has completed his basic training at Sampson Air Force Base, Geneva, N. Y., and is now studying radarelectronics at Keesler Air Base, Mississippi. . . . Advance sale of tickets for the personal appearance of Liberace at the Auditorium, early next month, indicates a complete sellout. Some 4,000 tickets, including all $100 and $50 seats have been sold. The event is for the benefit of retarded children. ... A sudden but short-lived cold spell which saw the thermometer dropping to a new seasonal record-low of 26 degrees, all but wiped out two night’s business at the open-air theatres. A warm spell soon restored business to normalcy. . . . Ruth Hussey recently paid a surprise visit to her home town. . . .“Rear Window,” attraction at the re-opening of the hurricane-scourged Strand, proved so popular that A1 Siner held it for a second week. . . . The Boro drive-in, on the Boston-Providence, road, which recently installed a new wide screen, scored with almost recordbreaking results with “Gone With The Wind.” SAN FRANCISCO In a move that shocked the entire editorial department of the “Chronicle,” managing editor Larry Fanning resigned Oct. 14. Fanning had been with the “Chronicle” for the past 24 years. He has been replaced by Gordon Pates, formerly “Chronicle” promotion manager. ... Ted Galanter, MGM western press representative, talked about motion picture publicity and advertising before the Stockton Ad Club last week. . . . United-Paramount district manager Earl Long will take to the airways to tell the Northern California listeners about his closed circuit Metropolitan Opera telecast, at the Paramount Theatre, Nov. 8. He has been booked solid on all TV and radio stations. ... In town the past week for advance work on United Artists sales drive honoring vice-president Robert Benjamin, were James Velde, west coast sales manager, and Robert Clark, west coast district manager of UA. . . . Laurence Borg of Borg Theatres, has been away from his office because of illness. . . . Luella Hoppe, secretary to Lloyd Lamb of George Mann Theatres, resigned to take a trip east. ST. LOUIS A drive-in theatre to cost $60,000 and with a capacity of 460 automobiles is to be built near Chaffee, Mo., in the near future. Bob Capshaw of Chaffee is one of six men who are backing the venture. . . . The Collins theatre, De Soto, Mo., has just made its first showing of CinemaScope with “Seven Brides For Seven Brothers.”. . . Everett Baty, Jr., 62 years old, identified with theatres at Springfield, Mo., and husband of Martha Baty, radio entertainer, died recently in a resort cabin at Kissee Mills, Mo., just after he had returned from a fishing trip on a lake. . . . Wide screens have just been installed at the Grand theatre, Harrisburg, 111., and the Orpheum, Eldorado, 111., which are operated by the Turner-Farrar Theatres chain. TORONTO New members of the Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario include Jack Cohen, Skylark drive-in, Sault Ste. Marie, and Fred J. Campbell, Plaza, Tilbury. . . . Plans are going forward for the various industry meetings in Toronto in November. The annual meeting of the National Committee of the Motion Picture Exhibitors Associations will start the ball rolling Nov. 22, followed by the annual meeting of the Motion Picture Industry Council of Canada, the Variety Club Award Dinner, the Motion Picture Theatres Association Annual meeting and luncheon, with everything finishing Nov. 25 at the Canadian Picture Pioneers Annual Award Dinner. The Movie Trade Show will be held Nov. 23-25. . . . The Television Manufacturers Association report that sales outpace production at present. Sales to the end of August totalled 262,903 units. . . . Hamilton Local 303, Motion Picture Projectionists Union, which claims to be the oldest in its field in Canada, enters its 51st year. VANCOUVER The film industry’s ninth annual ball sponsored by Famous Players Theatre Managers Association of British Columbia with net proceeds in aid of Vancouver Boys Clubs will be held at the Commodore Cabaret Oct. 31. . . . Bob Kelly, manager of the Dunbar, was reelected secretary of Vancouver district football league. . . . The Dominion and Park, Vancouver, and the Clova, Cloverdale, have installed CinemaScope. . . . With early fall weather here many drive-in theatres in B.C. and the Prairie Provinces have closed for the season. . . . Stan Trout, a film row visitor, said he will not open his new drivein near Hope, B.C., until 1955. The same applies to the drive-in planned by Harold Warren near Port Alberni on Vancouver Island. . . . Drive-in operators report the worst season since the outdoor spots opened in British Columbia. There was too much rain, plus an exceptionally cool summer. . . . Dennis Killop is Ivan Ackery’s new assis tant at the Orpheum, replacing Clary McCarthy, resigned. . . . All Odeon suburban managers are now on a five-day week. . . . Astral films formerly released by International Film Distributors have switched over to Alliance Films here. WASHINGTON Jack Fruchtman, chief barker of the Variety Club of Washington has announced that Eddie Fisher, outstanding young singer and entertainer, has been selected as the “Personality of the Year” for 1954. A plaque will be presented to him November 20 at the Statler Hotel, on the occasion of the Variety Club’s 19th annual dinner dance. . . . Robert Montgomery was the principal speaker at a meeting of the Advertising Club of Washington October 12. . . .“White Christmas” will open at RKO Keith’s October 27. . . . George Crouch, Stanley Warner general zone manager, Orville Crouch; Loew’s eastern division manager, and Jake Flax, branch manager of Republic Pictures, head the theatre and film company participation in the annual Community Chest campaign. . . . Edward Norris, 53, Variety Club member, and for many years a ticket broker at the Symphony box office, died October 13, after several months’ illness. . . . The Warner Theatre has two new assistant cashiers, Pete Harris and Madeline Burruto. Hurricane Damages Carolina Drive-ins CHARLOTTE, N. C.: Hurricane Hazel ripped scores of drive-ins to shreds and left piles of debris at theatres it did not destroy in its relentless march through the Carolinas Friday. Theatre owners poured into Charlotte over the weekend bringing stories of scores of theatres blown to pieces in the storm. Unofficial reports placed the number of drive-ins at between 50 and 75. Damage may exceed a million dollars. The Sea Breeze Drive-in at Windy Hill Beach, S. C. was one of the hardest hit of the storm areas. Other theatres along the Strand were also battered by wind and water. Curving in, the storm smashed at two drive-ins at Dunn, N. C. Hal Jordan, owner of the Centerview said his theatre was destroyed. The Cotton Bowl at Dunn and the Star View in nearby Benson were also flat after the storm had passed. In many localities much equipment was damaged by water and will have to be replaced. Many screens were also blown down and of course will have to be rebuilt. Exhibitors Appeal on Pittsburgh Tax PITTSBURGH : Warning Pittsburgh’s Mayor Lawrence that “the power to tax is also the power to destroy,” Allied Motion Picture Theatre Operators of Western Pennsylvania has again urged the Mayor to relieve Pittsburgh movie houses of the “burdensome and confiscatory” 10 per cent admissions tax now in effect. They also reminded the Mayor that the City has already exceeded its legal limit of 1 per cent of total assessed real estate value as provided for by the State Enabling Act through wage taxes. 40 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, OCTOBER 23, 1954