Motion Picture Herald (Apr-Jun 1955)

ALBANY Exhibitors participating in Albany Variety Club’s 14th annual golf tournament included: Sidney Dvvore, Schenectady; David Rosenbaum and his son-associate, Bert, Elizabethtown; Leon Duva, Morrisville ; Alan Iselin, East Greenbush; Harry Lamont, head of Lamont Theatres, and Bob Lamont; Jules Perlmutter, Perlmutter Theatres president and ex-chief barker ; Sylvan Leff, Utica and Watertown; Irwin Ullman, area supervisor of Fabian drive-ins; Leonard Rosenthal, eounsel and film buying adviser, Upstate Theatres, Ine., of Albany. Also theatre managers : Richard Murphy, Troy; George Seed, Cohoes; Philip and Louis Rapp, Schenectady; George Lournia, Latham. . . . Charles P. Stevens, dairy company advertising manager, won the championship, with an 82 gross. Ralph Ripps, MGM salesman, was runner up, with 84. Ullman took driving honors. . . . Ralph Staub, long associated with Columbia and producer of a picture-in-the-making on Variety Club projeets, was here for shots of Camp Thacher. . . . Other recent visitors were : John G. Moore, Paramount assistant eastern division manager; Harry Rogovin, Columbia district manager; Sidney Kulick, Bell Pictures, New York. ATLANTA George Cothran, booker for Allied Artists, is back at his desk after a vacation spent in Florida. . . . Also back from Florida is Mrs. Belle Hayes, Universal. . . . The ladies of WOMPI are getting ready for their coming convention in New Orleans Sept. 30-Oct. 2. . . . Funeral services for Mrs. Fannie Robinson, of RKO, who died of a heart attack while on a vacation in New York, were held in Atlanta. . . . The Red Bank theatre, Chattanooga, Tenn., closed because of bad business. . . . Nation and Story, have purchased the Ritz theatre, Bridgeport, Ala., and Fox, in Jasper, Tenn., from the R. D. Word circuit. . . . Jean Clark has been added to the booking department at Allied Artists. She replaces Mrs. Virginia Bray who resigned to move to Montgomery, Ala. . . . Charlie Lester, southern district manager for National Screen, and his wife have left Atlanta for a tour of Europe where they will visit their daughter and grandchildren. . . . William Green, Glenn theatre, Decatur, Ga., is on a trip to Florida. BALTIMORE Mike Leventhal, Lord Baltimore, has been reappointed to the Maryland State Board Motion Picture Examiners. . . . Jack Whittle, Avenue theatre, was weekending in Ocean City, Md. . . . Herman Perkins is the new manager at the Patapsco. . . . Richard Dizon, Town theatre manager, is back from a Wisconsin vacation. . . . Frank Gibson, Sr., chief operator at the Century, is on vacation. . . . Joe Morison, Century aide, is back from a New York vacation. . . . Variety Club was host to the Baltimore Colts football team at the Club rooms. . . . Phil Isaacs, Paramount branch manager, was in town calling on accounts. . . . Walter Hadlich was in town ahead of the forthcoming Variety Club sponsored ‘Tee Capades.” . . . Sam Mellitts, Denton, Md., was in town visiting friends. . . . Howard McCall is back at work at the Little theatre after a siege of illness. . . . Fred Schanberger, Jr., formerly with Keith’s theatre, is now associated with Kaufman-Strouse Advertising. . . . Mike Siegle is the new representative covering Baltimore and Washington for Kay Films of Atlanta. BOSTON Joseph E. Levine, Embassy Pictures president, announced winners in the managers’ "Gangbusters” exploitation campaign. They are : Carl Baird, Scenic theatre, Rochester, N. H. ; Stephen Barbett, Warner theatre, Lawrence, Mass.; John Blass, Fenway theatre, Boston; W’illiam S. Canning, Empire theatre. Fall River, Mass. ; Arthur Morton, Paramount theatre, Boston, and James R. Randall. Palace theatre, Cranston, R. I. Prizes are trips for two persons to Europe or Hawaii. . . . Independent Exhibitors Inc. of New England has launched a membership drive. . . . Elias M. Loew, E. M. Loew Theatres president, is a director of the new Hull Cooperative Bank at Nantasket Beach, Mass. . . . Joseph G. Cohen is handling buying and booking for the Uptown, West Lynn, now owned by Louis Richmond, who operates the Kenmore, Boston art film house. . . . David Score, who took over the Yarmouth theatre, Yarmouth, Maine, has closed it permanently. . . . Wothington Holt has left Lockwood & Gordon’s Portland drive-in, Scarborough, Maine, to manage the new Den-Rock drive-in, North Andover, Mass., owned by the Shay Brothers. He has managed the Portland ozoner since it opened in 1948 and has served as L & G district manager in the winters. BUFFALO The annual collection the other evening at the drive-ins in the Buffalo area for the Children’s Hospital Building Fund netted the fund $3,203.70. Co-operating in the collection w'ere the Aero, Broadway, Buffalo, Delaware, Skyway Lakeshore and Niagara, Park, Sheridan, Star and Wehrle. The collection total represents the night’s receipts at the outdoorers plus patron contributions. . . . George H. Mackenna, general manager, Lafayette, is exhibitor chairman in the Buffalo area and Ben Felcher, Columbia branch manager, is distributor chairman, for the Will Rogers Memorial Hospital one-dav audience collection drive. . . . Albert C. Behling, 75, well-known Buffalo exhibitor for 45 years, is dead. Mr. Behling died unexpectedly June 9 at his summer home in Rose Hill, Canada. Mr. Behling and his wife, the former Lydia J. Weber, owned and operated the Ellen Terry, Grant and Potomac theatres and formerly the Fillmore Palace and Sylvia theatres. . . . Mrs. Elmer F. Lux, wife of the head of Elmart Theatres and Common Council president, has been en dorsed by the 23rd ward Democratic Committee for the post of councilman-at-large. . . . Holland-Wegman Productions, motion picture concern at 233 North Street, is expanding its business to include the production of 35mm motion pictures for TV and industry. CHICAGO Stanford Kohlberg, owner of the Starlite drive-in here, is expanding his outdoor theatre operations. Plans have been announced for the construction of a 2,500-car Twin drive-in in the Milwaukee area. Completion date is set for April, 1956. . . . George Hunter of the Capitol theatre is hospitalized at the Englewood Hospital following a stroke. Two days before he was Stricken he had been transferred from the Frolic theatre to the Capitol. . . . John Kelly died from a heart attack. He was on the Highland theatre staff for the past ten years. . . . John P. Field, manager at the Frolic, reports he is practically back to normal after breaking a shoulder and three ribs when he fell backw'ards off a curb. . . . Recently Mr. Field celebrated 30 years with Stanley Warner Theatres. . . . Mrs. M. Alschuler, owner of the Vision, is also acting as manager until she finds someone to take over the job. She has had the theatre completely redecorated and has had two new lounges added. A polic}' of first runs out of loop theatres has been established. CLEVELAND Exhibitors report attendance is hitting a new all-time low in some conventional theatres. . . . Wedding bells are getting a good work out in this area. On June 15 MGM bookers’ secretary Nadine Pollov becomes Mrs. Victor Morrison and returns to her desk after a Florida honeymoon. On June 25, Columbia office manager-booker Anne Walker will marry Virgil Jones, current Warner booker promoted to salesman in Boston; and Johanne Alcorn, Columbia assistant cashier, has issued invitation for her marriage to John McKay on July 2. . . . Rudy Norton, onetime Paramount salesman, who turned exhibitor with theatres in Kenton and W'auseon, joined United Artists sales force, succeeding Jack Share, resigned. . . . Bob Hope will spend the day of July 7 here for the premiere of “The Seven Little Foys” at Loew’s State theatre. . . . Musicians Union in convention here announced that a drive to get rid of the 20 per cent night club amusement tax has been initiated on a national level, but so far the activities have not been initiated on the local level. COLUMBUS Martin C. Burnett, Loew’s central division manager, went to Jacksonville, Florida, to handle details of the takeover of the 1,350car Normandy outdoor theatre acquired by Loew’s from Tropical Park Theatres. The drive-in will be included in Mr. Burnett’s {Continued on following page) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, JUNE 18, 1955 33