Motion Picture Herald (Oct-Dec 1956)

t2eop_L in dl n ew5 ( Continued from preceding page ) who has operated independently in recent years, has joined United Artists as a salesman here. . . .“Bundle of Joy” will follow “Baby Doll” on the Stanley screen. . . . With the Nixon theatre anticipating a meagre legitimate season in 1957, Gabe Ruben is negotiating to get “Around the World in 80 Days” in early spring. The Nixon has already played Mike Todd’s “Oklahoma!”. . .“La Strada” will follow “Secrets of Life” at the Squirrel Hill. . . . Dinah Shore due here on January 25 for a benefit show for the Variety Club charities. . . . Frankie Gorshin, local actor, who has a role in 20th Century-Fox’s “Story of Jesse James” home for the holidays. . . . “The Power and the Prize” got only four days in the Penn to allow “Teahouse of the August Moon” to open on Christmas Day. . . .“The Girl He Left Behind” added to the Stanley booking chart after being delayed due to the six-week run of “Giant.” “The Wrong Man” also set in this house. Portland Dean Mathews, manager of Evergreen’s Fox theatre has come up with a big promotion for his house for the next two weeks. Every 25th patron will get the opportunity of selecting a free gift from under the giant Xmas tree in the lobby of the theatre. Mathews rounded up over $3,000 worth of gifts from local merchants and gives them a plug in the lobby in return. This is the first time this has been tried in this area and results should be big. . . . Credit Orville Goodrich with doing a grand job of managing the ace neighborhood Egyptian theatre. . . . Manager of the Irvington theatre, Stan Smith, is always getting spanked for putting up one-sheets on the side of his building advertising product he has not yet booked and is not even on the first run screen downtown. He has been called upon to remove the ads several times. . . . “Oklahoma!” in Todd-AO is in its seventh week at the Broadway. Providence Last Sunday’s combination rain and sleet storm, followed by blinding snow, virtually stalled all transportation, forcing open-airers to cancel usual performances, and cut deeply into downtown operations. Whether the few remaining drive-ins will re-open, for a few more weeks, remains to be seen, but it seems highly doubtful at this time. . . . The Rhode Island premiere of Vittorio De Sica’s “Umberto D” took place at the Uptown, neighborhood house in the center of the Italian colony. Playing for four days, it was given an excellent review by Bradford Swan, movie critic of the Providence Journal-Bulletin. Good attendance was reported. ... A rash of ‘horror’ films has been on tap in this area lately. Following the screening of “The Black Sleep,” and “The Creeping Unknown,” at Loew’s State, Phil Nemirow, Albee manager, announced the presentation of “The Mole People,” and “Curucu, Beast of the Amazon.”. . . Edward C. Stokes is handling the reins at the Avon Cinema, following the departure of Nelson Wright, who left to enter his own business. . . . The Hollywood, in East Providence, and the Liberty, in the Elmwood section of Providence, are both for sale. Formerly popular neighborhood houses, Maxwell Hamilton, who has been serving for the past year as coordinator of promotion on Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments,” leaves Paramount Pictures December 31 to return to his post as vice-president of Allied Public Relations Associates. Charles Egan, veteran New York Times reporter, will shortly be named the representative in India of the Motion Picture Association of America. Eric Johnston, president of the Motion Picture Export Association, will visit Europe in late January or early February to survey market conditions there for several weeks, according to an MPEA official. Mr. Johnston also plans the Bomes’ properties were originally put on the block as a joint offering, single offers not being acceptable; however, recent newspaper advertisements now make it possible for interested parties to purchase either house separately. In a recent offering, the Hollywood was suggested as an excellent location for a super-market, or ‘mill-outlet’ type of store. Should someone take over the Hollywood for purposes other than a motion-picture house, it would leave the center of East Providence without a theatre. Only the Gilbert Stuart Playhouse in the Riverside section would remain for the presentation of film attractions. This situation is about seven miles from the center of the town of East Providence. San Francisco The local drama critics circle meeting have chosen MGM’s “Lust for Life” as the best picture of 1956, and Kirk Douglas as the best actor of the year for his portrayal of the painter Vincent Van Gogh. Carroll Baker, of “Baby Doll,’ was picked as the best actress. Deborah Kerr and Yul Brynner also won special awards. . . . Delbert and Bernice Dodd have purchased real estate buildings at Portola from the Portola Theatre Co. at a reported price of $35,000. . . . Dale Munkers is the new manager of the Tower in Oakland. . . . The BS and E Club, a new society on film row, which is a luncheon group, meets once a month. Admission is by invitation only. . . . The MGM exchange held its Christmas party this week at the Normandie, a local restaurant. Toronto A week previous to their opening as first run houses, advertisements for the Runnymede, Hollywood and Palace theatres noted the fact that they will present the pictures of Shea’s. The latter house is due to come under the wrecker’s hammer, commencing the first of the year. . . . Telegram columnist Stan Helleur carried a report in his column of the impending sale of The Canadian Moving Picture Digest by Jay L. Lewis to MacLeanHunter Publications Ltd., trade and con to look into the negotiations between the MPEA and the Iron Curtain countries for film sales. Herbert L. Golden has been named a vicepresident of Bankers Trust Company. Prior to joining the bank’s amusement industries group in 1952, he had long experience in the film trade paper field. H. C. Williams, manager of a Paris, Arkansas theatre, has been elected president of the Chamber of Commerce there. Herman W. Stein, Jr. has been named assistant treasurer of Bell & Howell Company by the board, it is announced by Charles H. Percy, president. sumer magazine publishers in Toronto. . . . Midnight shows were planned for the city by theatres for Boxing Day Eve and New Year’s Eve in accordance with city by-laws. . . . Brotherhood Week, sponsored by the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews under the slogan “Unity Without Uniformity,” will be held during the week of Feb. 17-24. . . . Variety Club, Toronto Tent No. 28, is planning a luncheon meeting for January. . . . Toronto newspapers played up big the fact that a Canadian was attempting to obtain a controlling interest in MGM. Vancouver The usual pre-Christmas slump gave theatres a grim time. . . . Officers elected for 1957 by the British Columbia Projectionists Union are A. E. McManus, president; Bill Graham, vice-president; Les Walker, business agent; Frank Smith, treasurer; Don Foli, secretary, and Gordon Sutherland, member-at-large. All are from Vancouver. . . . Famous Players this week reopened the Paramount, New Westminster. It has been dark for a year. The 850-seater will be managed by Ted Bielby, former manager of the now closed Alma, Vancouver. FPC also will reopen the Capitol, Rossland, under manager Alex Barclay who was in charge of the Strand, Trail, which was burned down last week. . . . The father of Lou Segal, International Film Distributers manager, died at 72. . . . Bert Ellis, 69, veteran doorman of the Odeon-Paradise, died after a long illness. Cinerama House to Close OKLAHOMA CITY: Cinerama will leave this city approximately January 19, it has been announced. Dwindling attendance forced the decision, according to spokesmen for The Stanley Warner Cinerama Corp. It is the first city playing Cinerama in the U.S. and Canada to halt exhibition of it. The Warner theatre here, which is currently playing “Cinerama Holiday,” will revert to a conventional theatre showing first run films, it was announced by Paul Townsend, manager. 28 MOTION PICTURE HERALD, DECEMBER 29, 1956