Motion Picture News (Nov-Dec 1923)

December I, 1923 2597 CLAYTON PFEIFFER, formerly assistant booker at the Paramount office, has succeeded F. Ray Powers as assistant manager and booker at the Goldwyn Cosmopolitan exchange and has entered upon his new duties. Henry Wilkinson has resigned as manager of the Buffalo exchange of Dependable Pictures, effective December I, at which time he will be succeeded by James Speer, who formerly was a salesman at the same office. Mr. Wilkinson has been unusually successful at Dependable and his resignation comes as a real surprise to exhibitors and exchange men alike. He has not as yet announced his plans for the future. A contract has been awarded to Bailey & Co^ of Brocton, N. Y., to rebuild the Grand theatre in Westfield, N. Y., the motion picture house that was destroyed a week ago by fire. Mrs. Jessie Carlson is the owner of the property which had been leased by the Zycofe corporation of Buffalo composed of Fred Zimmerman, Maurice Cohen and George Ferguson. The new house will be ready for the public April 1, 1924. You should have seen the members of Motion Picture Opera tors' Union, Local 233, trip the light fantastic at their annual ball in Eagle's Hall last Friday night. We never knew these fellahs could shake such wicked Douglases. A large time was had by all, thanks to DeWitt L. Martin, business manager, who was in charge of arrangements. The Academy theatre is taking another whirl at it. This time the house in lower Main street, near Seneca, has opened with motion pictures and tabloid musical comedies and Al Sherry is at the helm as manager. A flashy coat of paint has been dashed on the front and the interior redecorated. James Cardina will open his new Varsity Theatre on Bailey avenue in the rapidly growing Kensington section on Wednesday evening, November 28, with the Vitagraph feature, "Pioneer Trails." The Varsity is one of the most attractive neighborhood houses in the city and is thoroughly equipped with every modern device, including two Simplex Type S projection machines, installed by the Becker Theatre Supply Company of Buffalo. Thanksgiving Day is to see the opening of the New Family theatre in Batavia, N. Y. Decorators from Chicago have about finished the mural work. Electricians have hung the immense crystal chandeliers, electric generators and projecting machines are being moved into the booths, scene painters from Rochester are at work on the stage, seats are being installed and the woodwork being given the finishing touches. "Co-operation is the first important step to accomplish the repeal of the admission tax," says a card, one of which was enclosed in every piece of mail sent from local exchanges last week to exhibitors in this territory and signed by the M. P. T. O. of N. Y., Inc. A card with a different message will be sent out each week up until the time Congressman Clarence MacGregor introduces his bill in Congress Charles Babcock, owner of the Babcock theatre, Wellsville, N. Y., is in the Buffalo General Hospital recovering from an operation. Many of his friends along Film Row have visited him. H. Nowak, who has been stock man at the Paramount exchange, has been transferred to the Albany office of the same company. Charlie Goodwin, for over five years a member of the local Universal sales staff, has resigned to join F. B. O. He has been assigned to the Rochester district by Manager Fred M. Zimmerman. Charlie Bowe, of the Frontier theatre, put on the Dempsey-Firpo fight pictures the other night and did such a big business that he had to ask police aid to control the crowds. Johnny Maxwell, formerly assistant manager at the Olympic, is now managing the Loco and the Star for the Border Amusement Company, while Bill Cohlan is looking out for the Ellen Terry and Marlowe, the other two links in the Border chain. Al Beckerich, manager of Loew's State, put over a peach of an exploitation stunt in co-operation with the Buffalo Times when he arranged to offer prizes of real long green for the brightest, most interesting and most amusing descriptions of "The Meanest Man in the World," the current attraction at the State. Buster Keaton's first Metro feature length comedy, "Three Ages," was given a special pre-release showing at the RobbinsEckel theatre in Syracuse last week for the benefit of the children of the various charitable institutions in that city. The event was held under the joint auspices of the theatre management and the Syracuse Herald. FRED G. SLITER, field manager of the First National company, working out of the executive offices in New York City, was scheduled to leave here for Portland the middle of November after having worked in the Washington territory for more than five weeks on a special assignment for Joseph Skirboll, Western district manager. William Lamont, formerly connected with the American Releasing Corporation exchange, has just been raised from the position of booker to assistant manager at the Lannon-Sheffield Greater Features exchange. H. Bradley Fish, Western division manager for the Vitagraph company, left recently for his general offices in San Francisco, after having been located here at Manager H. A. Black's exchange for a period of several weeks. C. H. Odom, Hodkinson's representative in the Oregon territory, working out of Manager R. C. Hill's local branch office, returned last week from a lengthy road trip and is now covering the larger towns in Eastern Washington for Mr. Hill. George P. Endert, manager of the Famous Players exchange, returned to his office recently after a ten-day road trip into the Grays Harbor territory. Don Brothers, salesman for Manager J. A. Gage's Educational Film exchange, is back in Seattle after a tour of several weeks that took him into practically all sections of the Montana territory covered by this office. J. R. Robbins was engaged recently by Manager Seth D. Perkins as cashier at the local GoldwynCosmopolitan exchange, following the resignation of W. H. Storey, who has held that position for a short time. L. K. Brin, president of the Kwality Film exchanges, has just left for a visit to his exchange in Denver. On the trip he also expected to stop off for a few days at the Butte office, and planned to return to this city in about ten days. A. H. Huot, manager of the Film Booking Offices exchange, left recently on a sales trip to Spokane and other parts of the Eastern Washington territory. Vic Gauntlett, special publicity and exploitation man for F. B. O. here, has just returned from Portland, where he spent a week in putting over a campaign on " Daytime Wives " when that picture opened its first Northwest engagement at the Hippodrome theatre the first part of November. E. A. Lamb, salesman for Manager Paul R Aust's Selznick branch office, was expected to leave here shortly on a road trip into the entire Montana territory which would keep him out of the city for about six weeks. Four first run pictures out of seven first run houses was the record established one week in November by Manager Guy F. Navarre of the Fox Film exchange, for the first time in the history of the local office. " If Winter Comes," "The Eleventh Hour," "Cameo Kirby," and " The Man Who Won " played at the Blue Mouse, Coliseum, Heilig and Winter Garden theatres, respectively. A. H. Hilton, owner and manager of the Theatorium theatre in Lewiston, Idaho, last week sold that house to L. D. Hilton, who wflf take immediate charge as manager. In the purchase, Mr. Hilton had associated with him a company of LaCrosse, Endicott and St. John business men, which owns and operates a number of theatres in those towns and other parts of the Idaho territory. Evan Scott last week was engaged as head doorman at the Liberty theatre, succeeding D. L. Knutson, who resigned recently after several months at that post The American theatre at Dayton, Wash., which has been closed for the last several seasons, was purchased recently by A. F. Fleck, who will renovate and remodel the house and then reopen it with first run pictures. John Hamrick, head of the Blue Mouse circuit of picture houses, was expected back in this city the end of November, according to recent reports. He is at present touring the East, after a business trip to New York. Packed houses recently greeted Manager Leroy V. Johnson's special Midnight Hi Jinx Matinee offered the night of Hallowe'en at the Liberty theatre. This was believed to be the first time in the history of the city that a special midnight show has been held on such an occasion. Announcement was received here this week to the effect that Maurice Oppenheimer, owner and manager of the Hippodrome theatre in Spokane, is installina a $25,000 organ which will be one of the finest in the city when finally completed. The opening of a regular Patae exchange at Butte was announced this week. The Butte office wai formerly a sub-office of the Spokane exchange. L. D. Hilton, operator of a string of show houses in La Crosse, Lewiston and other points in Idaho and Montana, announces that he will book his entire circuit out of the Butte office since the establishment of an exchange there. Miss Lottie Schostek, assistant cashier at the Spokane office, hat gone to the Butte office to assist in starting the auditing department there. She will be gone a week or 10 days.