Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

Albany Fabian’s Palace started its second quarter-century with “War and Peace,” screened three times on weekdays and twice on Sunday. Originally operated by RKO, the 3,600-seater began with a vaudeville-picture policy. Bill With is present manager. The late Harry Black was its first director. . . . Variety Club will elect its 1957 crew at a Nov. 5 meeting. The 11-man board will choose officers within a week after. . . . The Leland, conducted as a first run on lease by Paul Wallen, played an Italian bill: “Too Bad She’s Bad” and “The Slave”. . . . Louis W. Schine, Schine Circuit, Gloversville, is again hospitalized in New York. . . . Dave Kane worked Albany and Troy on promotion for “Friendly Persuasion,” Allied Artists feature, which opens at Strand, Nov. 13, and at Troy, Nov. 21. . . . Visitors here included: Martin Moskowitz, 20thFox division manager; Stanley Kositsky, United Artists Buffalo manager; Max Friedman, now Wellsville exhibitor and former Warner upstate zone buyer-booker; Jack Vogel, Wellsville, O. Atlanta Margaret Haddaway, Florida State staff member in Jacksonville, was the guest of honor at a farewell party given by her associates and friends at the Langford Hotel in Winter Park, Fla. She resigned to leave for Oakland, Calif, where she will marry William Stokes, an Air Force officer. . . . Mary Heard is now secretary to office manager, Charlie Touchon, United Artists. . . . Helen Thomas is the new ledger clerk at Republic. . . . Joanne Blake has resigned from United Artists to be a house wife. . . . H. H. Hull, buyer and booker for the Tri-City and Twin City drive-ins at Johnson City, Tenn., was visiting with his new manager, Ray Austin. . . . Frank Vinson, former manager of the Fox theatre, Atlanta, has replaced Curtis Mees as manager of the Paramount theatre here. Mees is now with the Skouras circuit. . . . Betty Landers, secretary at the Georgia theatre, has resigned. . . . Gladys Rawnsley, Toronto WOMPI president, has returned there from Macon, Ga. Boston DCA’s new Boston office opened November 1 at 50 Melrose St., Boston, with A1 Herman as branch manager and Irving Shiffman as booker. Both transferred from IFE. Si Feld, salesman at IFE, is the new branch manager. . . . Walter Dyer, salesman at Republic for 10 years, has transferred to Warner’s, covering Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. . . . Kenneth Forkey, owner of Park Worcester, is in the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital for major surgery. . . . Fenton Scribner, district manager of the Shea circuit, has resigned to enter the advertising business in Manchester, N. H. . . . The Play house, Lisbon, N. H., closed for two years, has reopened for four nights a week under the new management of Robert Corey. . . . Bob Levine, head booker at Warner’s, is a patient at Haines Memorial Hospital. . . . David Kaplan, manager of Trans-Lux, Boston, off to Miami Beach to attend the wedding of his son, Melvin. . . . Norman Glassman is leaving active participation in the industry. Ernest Warren takes over his lease at the Strand, Haverhill, Mass. Bruce Glassman, his son, will handle the Lowell drive-in, located in Lowell, Mass. Buffalo A pioneer in construction of western New York motion picture theatres, Edward C. Frank of Wanakah, has retired as chief engineer and superintendent of buildings for the Shea Theatres. He was presented a gold watch and gift certificate from friends and co-workers in the Shea circuit. . . . The Buffalo Redevelopment Foundation sponsored the showing of “Our Living Future,” a motion picture, in Kleinhans Music Hall last Friday as a kickoff for Redevelopment Week. . . . “Love Me Tender” will start at the Center in downtown Buffalo Nov. 21 and manager Frank Lindcamp announces the same picture will show at the Palace in Rochester in mid-November. . . . Unscheduled but powerful sound effects to which Kodak Town Paramount patrons were treated lately, during the razing of a building next door, have subsided. Workmen have completed the task of ripping a building off the rear side of the theatre, on Mortimer street. Charlotte Ben Hill, Universal-International exploiteer from Atlanta, said here last week he is attempting to bring Danni Crain, U-I starlet, for personal appearances in connection with showings of “Unguarded Moment.” . . . The Charlotte WOMPI Club held a bingo party at the Variety Club. . . . Ernest Stellings, newly elected president of Theatre Owners of America and head of Stewart-Everett Theatres here, will be feted at a stag dinner at the Variety Club Nov. 5. . . . Actor Chill Wills said in a Charlotte News entertainment column last week that he would like to attend the Theatre Owners Convention or Carolinas “Carousel” parade here in November. ... A safe robbery in the Imperial theatre netted bold robbers $500. The robbery occurred Sunday night and the safe-cracking crew literally tore the safe apart. Cleveland The 1250-seat Ohio theatre was filled to capacity Wednesday night for the invitational screening of “Ten Commandments” which the Plain Dealer film critic W. Ward Marsh characterized as “the greatest picture of all times”. . . . The Toledo Theatres Association last week elected the following slate of officers: president, Abe Ludacer; vice-president, H. M. McManus; secretary-treasurer, Martin G. Smith. New board of directors is composed of Marvin Harris, A1 Dennis, Milton Lewis, Urban Anderson, Mrs. Virginia O’Donnell and Edward J. Bialorucki. . . . Jerry Safron, Columbia branch manager, announced that during Thanksgiving week, two of his pictures will play 25 Greater Cleveland theatres simultaneously, a record booking for a single company. Eleven houses will play a first run of “Reprisal” and 14 theatres will play “Solid Gold Cadillac”. . . . Nate Schultz, head of Allied Artists, celebrated his birthday last Thursday. . . . Louis Pickenpack is the new Haltnorth theatre manager. . . . Robert Long, manager of the Fairview theatre will hold a weeklong ninth birthday celebration Nov. 1117, with special events daily. Patrons attending the opening day celebration will receive a free pass for another admission at any time. Columbus Donald Hooten, manager of the Uptown, downtown subsequent run, has been named manager of RKO Grand, effective Nov. 11, it was announced by Ed McGlone, RKO city manager. Hooten, a native of Indianapolis, Indiana, was employed by the Marcus circuit before coming to the Uptown. . . . Harry Schreiber Sr., manager of Franklin County Veterans’ Memorial auditorium and former RKO city manager here, became a grandfather with the birth of Margaret Elizabeth Schreiber, daughter of Harry Schreiber Jr. and his wife, Peg. . . . Robert Wile, secretary of the Independent Theatre Owners of Ohio, attended meetings of the Indiana Allied state convention in Indianapolis. . . . Manager Ed McGlone of RKO Palace announced the booking of “Giant” for Nov. 15 to be followed by “Love Me Tender.” . . . The Lyric in Greenfield, Ohio, has been closed by the State Division of Factory and Building Inspection because on non-compliance with an order issued to the owner of the building, Mrs. S. T. Gray, to make certain improvements. Mr. and Mrs. Paul L. Orebaugh have been operating the theatre under lease. . . . Robert McKinley, assistant manager of Loew’s Broad, returned from a vacation spent in Miami and Havana. Denver Jesse Chinich, Buena Vista western division sales manager, in for conferences with Marvin Goldfarb, district manager. . . . Robt. Quinn, Warner Bros, publicity man, spent five weeks in Hollywood working on the “Giant” premiere. . . . Ted Halmi, doing some publicity work for “Friendly Persuasion,” had some placards in the crowd that welcomed President (Continued on page 46) MOTION PICTURE HERALD, NOVEMBER 3, 1956