Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

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THE WINNERS CIRCLE Pictures which were reported as doing above average business in key theatres of the cities of the nation for the week ended September 29 were: Variety Club Membership Drive Is Set DENVER: At a two-day International Variety meeting, with 19 attending, it was decided to inaugurate an intensive membership drive in each of the seven international districts. The drive will embrace all facets of show business. The district showing the largest percentage of increase will get the international representative a plaque, while the tent showing the largest increase will receive a special prize. The group hopes to boost last year’s $2,750,000 charity donations to more than $3,000,000 the coming year, with more than 95 per cent of it going toward relief of children’s diseases. The group also voted to provide closer cooperation between the International Variety and local tents, by providing more information concerning charity drives, and the international group also plans to issue a manual for the use of local officers. Reports of international representatives indicate the need for such activities. Attending the meeting, held at the Cosmopolitan Hotel, included Marc J. Wolf, main guy; John H. Rowley, international chief barker; George W. Eby, first assistant international chief barker; Edward Emanuel, second assistant chief barker; J. B. Dumestre, Jr., international dough guy; Rotus Harvey, international property master; George C. Hoover, international executive director; Nathan D. Golden, international heart chairman; Edward Shafton, international fixer; Ezra E. Stern, international fixer, and these international directors: R. L. Bostick, Paul M. Bruun, C. A. Dolsen, A1 Grubstick, J. Robert Hoff, Norman B. Mervis and Ralph W. Pries. Alliance Theatres Holds 21st Annual Meeting The 21st annual Fall meeting of Alliance Theatres was held last week in Fort Wayne, Indiana, with all managers, assistant managers, vending personnel, associates and home office personnel in attendance. The meeting, which was preceded by a day and a half of individual business sessions, was called to distribute awards for the 18-week drive which is held annually. This year the Alliance drive was scheduled from April 15 through August 18. Winner this year was Morris Kahn, manager of the North drive-in theatre, Anderson, Indiana. The meeting was opened by S. J. Papas, who expressed his confidence in the future of the industry. Mr. Papas then introduced S. J. Gregory, general manager of Alliance Theatres, who gave a report on the annual drive and distributed the awards. Atlanta: The Bad Seed (W.B.) 2nd week; Pillars of the Sky (U-I); Tea and Sympathy (MGM) ; These Wilder Years (MGM). Boston: Oklahoma! (Magna) 2nd week. Buffalo: The Best Things in Life Are Free (20th-Fox); Oklahoma! (Magna) 7th week; Tea and Sympathy (MGM); Toward the Unknown (W.B.); Walk the Proud Land (U-I). Chicago: Crime in the Streets (A.A.); High Society (MGM) 5th week; Rififi (UMPO) 9th week; Tea and Sympathy (MGM). Cleveland: The Best Things in Life Are Free (20th-Fox); Run for the Sun (U.A.); Tea and Sympathy (MGM); War and Peace (Par.). Columbus: The Bad Seed (W.B.) 2nd week; Walk the Proud Land (U-I). Denver: The Bad Seed (W.B.) 2nd week; Bus Stop (20th-Fox) ; Cry in the Night (W.B.); My Seven Little Sins (Kingsley) 2nd week; Seven Men from Now (W.B.). Des Moines: Tea and Sympathy (MGM). Detroit': High Society (MGM) 6th week; War and Peace (Par.). Hartford: The Bad Seed (W.B.) 2nd week; Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (RKO); The Last Wagon (20th-Fox); Madame Butterfly (IFE) 2nd week; Miami Expose (Col.); Samurai (Jacon); These Wilder Years (MGM). Indianapolis: The Bad Seed (W.B.); Oklahoma! (Magna) 5th week; Tea and Sympathy (MGM). Jacksonville: A Cry in the Night (WB.); Francis in the Haunted House (U-I); A Kiss Before Dying (U.A.) ; Tea and Sympathy (MGM). Kansas City: Umberto D (Harrison) 2nd week. WOMPI Elect Stella Poulnot ATLANTA: Mrs. Stella Poulnot of this city was elected national president of the WOMPI (Women of the Motion Picture Industry) at the organization’s third annual convention held here at the Dinkier Plaza Hotel September 28-30. Mrs. Poulnot succeeds Mrs. Lorraine Cass of the New Orleans Club. Other new national officers include: Miss Jean Gerbase, Denver, vice-president; Miss Mildred Castleberry, Atlanta, corresponding secretary; Mrs. Anna Oliphant, New Orleans, treasurer; Mrs. Olive Copeton, Toronto, Canada, regional director; Mrs. Lorena Cullimore, Dallas, recording secretary, and Mrs. Lloyd Evans, Memphis, Eastern regional director. Among the 200 WOMPIs on hand were delegates from Canada, Colorado, Florida, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Memphis, Charlotte, Des Moines and other spots. After a schedule of receptions, luncheons Miami: Oklahoma! (Magna) 31st week; Tea and Sympathy (MGM). Milwaukee: Bus Stop <20th-Fox) 3rd week; Tea and Sympathy (MGM). Minneapolis: Attack! (U.A.); The Bad Seed (W.B.) 3rd week; The King and I (20thFox) 11th week. New Orleans: High Society (MGM) 4th week; The Last Wagon (20th-Fox); Oklahoma! (Magna) 14th week. Oklahoma City: The Bad Seed (W.B.) 2nd week; Bandido (U.A.); The Last Wagon (20th-Fox) 2nd week; Oklahoma! (Magna) 6th week. Philadelphia: Back from Eternity (RKO); The Bad Seed (W.B.) 4th week; High Society (MGM) 5th week; Oklahoma! (Magna) 4th week; War and Peace (Par.). Pittsburg: The Burning Hills (W.B.); Lust for Life (MGM); Madame Butterfly (IFE); Oklahoma! (Magna) 16th week; Tea and Sympathy (MGM). Portland: The Bad Seed (W.B.); Diabolique (UMPO) 6th week; Moby Dick (W.B.). Providence: The Bad Seed (W.B.). San Francisco: The Bad Seed (W.B.); The Best Things in Life Are Free (20th-Fox); The Last Wagon (20th-Fox); Tea and Sympathy (MGM). Toronto: The Ambassador’s Daughter (U.A.) 2nd week; The Catered Affair (MGM); The King and I (20th-Fox) 9th week; Oklahoma! (Magna) 23rd week. Vancouver: The Ambassador’s Daughter (U. A.); High Society (MGM) 4th week; The King and I (20th-Fox). Washington: Bigger Than Life (20th-Fox); Bus Stop (20th-Fox) 4th week; The Eddy Duchin Story. (Col.) 10th week; Johnny Concho (U.A.); Kid for Two Farthings (Lopert) 4th week; Lust for Life (MGM); Run for the Sun (U.A.). and a fashion show, the events wound up with a banquet at which Edward J. Forio, vice-president of Coca Cola, was guest speaker. Allied Meeting to Get Film Rental Formula A film rental formula designed to eliminate “many of the problems arising from methods used today in film buying” will be presented to the annual convention of Allied States Association in late November, it was learned this week. The plan, in work for some time, suggests a ceiling on film rentals and it is hoped that this formula “would be adopted and put in use by exhibitors on a national exchange area or state operational level.” According to a prominent Allied representative, the plan provides for a “50 per cent top rental in first run theatres, 35 per cent top in second runs, 25 per cent in sub runs, and a flat rental in all theatres grossing $1,000 per week or less. A sliding scale would also be used.” He did not say whether there were any legal hindrances to the suggested plan. 30 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, OCTOBER 6, 1956