Motion Picture News (Mar-Apr 1923)

March 10, 1923 1181 Regional News From Correspondents Buffalo Briefs and Western New York Items Allan S. Moritz THE boys at the Buffalo Paramount exchange have arranged a "Thirty-first Annual Moritz Week," in honor of the thirty first birthday of Allan S. Moritz, who has been manager of the local F. P.-L. branch for three years and three months. The event will be celebrated April 15 to 21. During his term of office in Buffalo, Mr. Moritz has made a host of friends among exhibitors. The salesmen are planning to " stretch themselves " during Moritz Week and pile up a record-breaking amount of business. Assistant Manager Ray Powers is now decorating the office interior in regular circus stlye with signs such as this: "The diamond is the birthstone for April, but old man Kimberly himself with all his diamond mines will have nothing on you if you book Paramount solid Moritz Week," " Congratulations are in order ; say it with bookings, etc." " Maurice " Cohen, one of the best known film men in the state, who has been connected with exchanges in Buffalo and Albany for many years and who recently was in charge of the Albany office for Grand and North, has been appointed manager of the local Warner Brothers' exchange in the Beyer Building, 505 Pearl street. Mr. Cohen succeeds J. R. Levee, resigned. Two new salesmen have also been added to the local staff, Norman Speer and H. A. Seed, both from New York City. Mr. Cohen took up the duties of his new office this week. " Andy " Smith, of the home office of Associated Exhibitors, was in town last week for a conference with H. E. Thompson, local sales manager. W. J. Morgan, assistant manager of distribution for First National, came to Buffalo last week to accompany E. J. Hayes, branch manager to Rochester to confer with George Eastman on the booking situation at the Eastman theatre. John Wilson is now at the Buffalo F. N. office being trained by Harold Lloyd Beecroft for exploitation work in the Detroit territory. Beecroft, by the way, made an airplane flight in Tonawanda, N. Y., one day last week dropping circulars advertising the showing of " Skin Deep " at the Flash theatre, while Manager Harry Rose, manager of the Flash, kneeled on the pavement below and prayed for the safe landing of " Bee." Mr. Rose and Mr. Beecroft also arranged a membership drive in the town for the American Legion, giving free admission to the Flash to any ex-service man joining the legion. The legion paid for the tickets. Howard Riehl has resigned from the sales staff of Renown Pictures Corporation exchange. The Mark-Strand interests, as was to be expected, are not going to leave Buffalo for long. It is understood that they are now planning to reopen the Criterion next week with second run pictures at 25 cents top. Lionel Edel is to be the manager. He is a brother of the late Harold Edel, the first manager of the local Strand which closed recently and a former managing director of the MarkStrand, Broadway, New York. There has been an early house-cleaning at the Strand, Niagara Falls, where both the manager and assistant manager have resigned. Ralph W. Thayer, who has managed the new theatre since its opening last fall, is going to go South to guide the policies of a picture palace. George McKenna, the assistant, has not announced his future plans. Ontario Theatres Corporation has taken over the three picture theatres in Geneva, N. Y. The corporation is a unit of Associated theatres of which H. P. Dygert is the head. The houses involved are the Temple, Regent and Smith Opera House. The board of managers consists of Benjamin B. Gustadt and Ross A. McVoy, of Geneva, and Mayor William A. MacFarlane, of Canandaigua, N. Y. The ownership and management will remain the same. The new company will operate the houses. Associated now controls fourteen theatres in Western New York. E. M. Kempner E. M. Kempner, city salesman for Paramount in the Queen City of the Lakes, is winning new laurels for himself through the signing up of a record amount of business on the company's " 39." Mr. Kempner has been a Paramount plugger for several years and has made Paramount a by-word in most of the local theatres. He reports unusual interest among exhibitors in the F. P.-L. " big ones," such as " The Covered Wagon," " Bella Donna " and " Adam's Rib." The Lafayette Square, Buffalo celebrated its first anniversary this week. J. Arthur Geis, the celebrated English organist, was the special attraction. The Lafayette has enjoyed unusual success during its first year. Manager Fred M. Shafer announces that Arthur J. Martel, of Boston, has been engaged to succeed C. SharpeMinor as feature organist, commencing Sunday, March 4. Betty Blythe in person and in her new picture, " The Darling of the Rich," will be the drawing card for the week. A party for newsboys put on by Manager Howard J. Smith in co-operation with the Evening News brought the Palace theatre a lot of free publicity when " The Third Alarm " was put on this week. The Western New York Motion Picture Theatres, Inc., has obtained a charter to do business in eight counties in this neck of the woods. This is the local Cohen organization which was organized last year, but which, due to delay in filing of the papers, has just been given its charter. The directors named are : John W. Schatt, Gowanda; S. C. Allen, Medina; N. Dipson, Batavia; H. P. Lally, Dunkirk; Fred A. Rice, Warsaw ; H. F. Thurston, Lockport ; Charlie Babcock, Wellsville; Dewey Michaels, Howard J. Smith, J. Walter Morris and W. T. Dellemuth, all of Buffalo. Howard J. Smith is president of the unit. Des Moines Exchange and Iowa Trade Notes FRED W. YOUNG, who was transferred to the Des Moines F. B. O. Offices from Kansas City the first of January, is putting pep into his salesmen, as evidenced by the fact that in the contest between F. B. O.'s 30 exchanges Des Moines leads the western branches about half the total number and stands fourth in the entire list at I the end of the first week. Mr. Young has already • had some acquaintance with the theatre business in Iowa, as he was ten years ago manager of the Majestic theatre at Fort Dodge, and before that was manager of the Princess theatre at Cedar Rapids. Mr. Young's salesmen are Mr. Paul Fine, who has been at the •exchange since its opening last July, and Mr. Roland Fairchild, who came from the Kansas City office at the same time that Mr. Young was transferred. Arthur Johnson, cashier, also •came from Kansas City, while Tames McGiv Fred W. Young ern, booker, made the jump from Oklahoma City. Dorothy Fike, stenographer, completes the office staff. The close of the six weeks' contest among the Universal exchanges sees Des Moines in the lead as the winner of first place among the western exchanges, five in number, and including Omaha, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and Oklahoma City. The Des Moines exchange finished first with a lead of $13,000 over the next highest ranking exchange. Mr. C. M. Davie and Mr. Hugh Bennett also win individual honors, finishing, respectively, first and second man in the amount of business secured. Mr. Sam Swartz has been relieved of his duties as assistant manager of the First National exchange at Des Moines and has been made general manager of Independent Enterprises, Inc., for A. H. Blank. He has no direct connection now with First National, although he makes his headquarters at that exchange. March 14 is the date set for the Movie Ball to be given at Cotillion ballroom with Carl Perry, an expert at arranging dances, and widely known as such, in charge of the arrangements. He has arranged with Parrot Film Company, makers of advertising film, to take 500 feet of film of the dance. Prizes will be offered for the best representations of screen stars. " The Corn Cracker," issued by L. H. Brager to First National exhibitors in the state, has been indefinitely discontinued. Mr. Brager let it lapse during the Lenten season and may start it out again about the first of April. No, not April first. Sid Meyers, formerly of Omaha and now with Fox in Chicago, and Harry Heyman, also with Fox in Chicago, visited the First National exchange last week. Universal will supply decorations for the Movie Ball to be given in Des Moines in March by the loan of their large oil paintings for the occasion. Mrs. L. Morrissey, formerly in the picture business at Greene, Iowa, sold her theatre at Knoxville to Mr. and Mrs. Watson, formerly of Keokuk. George Jackson, manager of the theatre at Vinton of which A. J. Dibold is owner, has been transferred to the Crystal theatre at Waterloo as manager. He's a nice chap and everyone wishes him well.