The Moving picture world (May 1923-June 1923)

June 30, 1923 MOVING PICTURE WORLD Chicago's New Gumbiner House Opens with Braddock at Head The new Gumbiner house, the Temple Theatre, at 5241 North Clark street, opened Saturday with George Braddock as manager. The house seats 800 and will play feature photoplays, with three acts of vaudeville on Saturdays and Sundays. Music is furnished by a concert grand organ, with Miss Ruth Uhl as organist, and a three-piece orchestra. George Smith is chief projectionist and two Simplex machines furnish the projection for the house. The week day admission scale is 10 and 22 cents, while on holidays and Sundays the charge is 17 cents for children and 33 cents for adults. The Temple Theatre makes the ninth house under the Gumbiner banner. The others are the Bryn Mawr, Bertha, Villas, Star, DeLuxe. Parkside, Argmore and the Paulina. In honor of the opening quite a few floral pieces were received by the management, among them being pieces from the Pathe and Universal exchanges, S. Greiver office, and Maynard Schwartz. Louis Gumbiner and the employes and managers of the other houses of the chain sent very pretty floral offering. B. P. Wheeler, formerly of the Palace Theatre at Moline, has been made manager of the Argmore Theatre on Argyle avenue, succeeding George Braddock. who has been transfered to the new Temple Theatre on North Clark street. The Rlalto Theatre, of the Jones, Linick & vSchaefer chain of hauses, has new electric signs and a coat of fresh paint. It has a dandy cooling system that makes the house popular with the summer crowds. E. C. Marohn, R. D. Wiley and J. C. Garrison have organized the United Amusement Company at Peoria with a capital of $100,000, to operate amusements of all kinds. The organizers are well known showmen of the Central Illinois territory. The Merrill Amusement Company plans a modern movie house at Merrill that will be the last word in theatre construction for a small town. Even the lady organists light here. When Mrs. Nellie Brown, organist at the Central Park Theatre, put up her automobile after returning home from the theatre, she was attacked by a burly negro, battled him fifteen minutes and sent him fleeing down the alley. Highwaymen now are stearing clear of the athletic women who work in the theatres of the Windy City. A. C. Weiss has purchased the equipment of the Central Theatre at Shelby and will keep open during the warm weather in an outdoor airdome. The Best Theatre at Helena was destroyed by Are caused by an explosion, and it is reported that several arrests have been made. V. P. Ader of the Ader Theatre at Marshfield has equipped his theatre with modern equipment and is doing a fine business. M. Marti of Monroe, Wise, has taken over the Majestic Theatre at Blroy from H. L. Hanson, which makes four houses in his chain, the Monroe, the Wonewoc and the Beaver Dam. Mr. Marti will make some improvements in his houses. George Laing, manager of the Cosmopolitan Theatre for the Ascher circuit, has been transferred to the main office as booker. Charles Darrow, manager of the Midway Theatre at Rockford while it was under the Ascher management, has been transferred to this city and will act as manager of the Oakland Square Theatre. Lyle W. Webster has been made assistant manager of the Unique Theatre at Ladysmith. In addition he will assist in booking for the Miner chain of movie theatres under the management of G. E. Miner. There are four houses in this circuit, the Unique at Ladysmith, the Majestic at Rhinelander and the Riaito and Majestic at Rice Lake. E. V. Knutz has remodeled and redecorated the Victory Theatre at Rockport and will improve his programs. M. A. Connolly, well known showman, died suddenly last week at Kansas City of heart trouble. In his younger days he was a major league ball player and his many friends in the profession are sorry to hear 'of his death. Manager Levine of the LeCIaire Theatre at Moline is always on the job for a local tie-up. When the big department store staged a fashion show and style revue he had them put it on at the LeCIaire and there was capacity business. On each Monday night he has a Discovery Night. Exhibitors seen along film row last week were Peck Collins of the Peck Theatre at LaSalle, Bob Cleary of the Majestic at Kankakee, J. B. Ross of the Garden Theatre at Canton, Harry Thornton of the Gaiety Theat"c at Springfield and Walter Spoor of the Academy Theatre at Waukegan. The many friends of Arthur Lowy of the Cowy Theatre of Milwaukee will be sorry to hear of his death last week after a short illness. He was well known in film circles in this city and many expressions of regret were beard. C. A. Niggemeyer has resigned as stage director of the McVickers Theatre and gone to Hollywood to join the staff of Cecil B. DeMille. He is succeeded by Willis Hall, who is one of the best known directors in this territory. Mr. Hall was formerly with the Victoria and National theatres. It is a practical certainty that this city will continue to have daylight saving for another two years, as the Wright anti-daylight bill was defeated in the House judiciary committee by a vote of 16 to 12. Joe Hopp of the Ft. Armstrong Theatre at Rock Island is hitting the high places at his house. Here he has Rodolph Valentino for a one night appearance and then he books Eva Tanguay for a personal appearance. Joe believes in giving his patrons variety. Al Lyons has opened the Empire Theatre at Halstead and 67th street with a Universal and International news reel program. Another new movie house is projected for 725 Quincy, 111. The latest project is being undertaken by a group of St. Louis builders headed by U. M. Dailey, who has been In Quincy the past week inspecting sites. Two locations are being considered, one at the northwest corner of Sixth and Hampshire streets and the other at 633 Main street in the Majestic building, where foundations are already in for a movie house which was never completed. The promoters say the projected house will cost at least $250,000. This makes the second theatre projected for the Gem City, as Pinkleman and Cory, operators of a chain of houses in Quincy, have bought a site for a new movie house on Washington Square. Will Gould, manager of the Grand theatre at Clintonville, has installed a new curtain and stage settings. The National Theatre, 6821 South Halsted street, has been reopened by Harry Miller, one of the veteran managers of the city, and' popular prices will prevail. Now the managers can breathe easier, for the state i mm tax bill has been defeated at Springfield and there will be one tax less this year. It is reported that Attorney Hainline of Macomb, 111., has taken over the management of the Grand and Tokyo Theatres in that , "City from V. P. Grubb. Curley Irwin now has the Castle Theatre at Bloomington. Bill Lyons retiring from the management. Jack Hoeffler of the Orpheum Theatre at Quincy has returned from Washington where he took in the doings of the Shriners. Incidentally Jack has another theatre under his direction now, the Strand at Ft. Madison, Iowa. This is the leading house in that railroad town and under the new management should do a big business. Cincinnati Following receipt here of a recent press dispatch that the newly-formed Shubert-Erlanger picture combination would utilize the Grand Opera House for film presentations next season, a telegram from A. L. Erlanger was received by Manager Milford Unger to the effect that it had not been definitely decided which Cincinnati house would be used for this purpose. It is understood, however, that it will be either the Grand Opera House or the Shubert Theatre. Matilda May, cashier of the Bon Ton Theatre, while on her way from the theatre to her home, about 11 p. m., was held up by a bandit, who seized her by the throat, grabbed her hand bag containing the day's receipt, amounting to several hundred dollars, and escaped. Manager Fox, who is in charge of the Grand Opera House for the summer, announces a reduction in admission prices, beginning with the current picture, "Driven." The new scale is 40 cents for the lower floor and 25 cents elsewhere. Previous scale was 55 cents top. The Winchester, (Ky.,) Amusement Co. will erect a new house in that city at a cost of $75,000. The Chamber of Commerce is cooperating. The first neighborhood house to be erected at Middleton, Ohio, is nearing completion. It is located at Dell and Garfield avenues, and is being built by Joseph Lorenzo. South Illinois Conditions Bad Exhibitor conditions in the Southern Illinois coal fields have taken a decided change for the worst in the past week or so. Mines are closing down and others are operating only one and two days a week. In addition, street carnivals and fairs are providing killing competition for some of the exhibitors. For a while the cool weather helped conditions some, but this advantage has now been wiped out. This is a seasonal condition with the Southern Illinois exhibitors and no way has been found to eliminate the annual loss during June, July and August. For instance, one exhibitor in a town of fair proportions, probably the largest town in the state south of East St. Louis, played to but $8.60 one night last week and he had what was considered a fine attraction on his screen. Others have been taking in only half of what they have been paying out. But everything considered, conditions in the coal fields are perhaps better than they were a year ago. Then the national coal strike was on in earnest and there was no business at all.