The Moving picture world (September 1923-October 1923)

144 MO VI N-G PICTURE WORLD September 8, 1923 San Francisco Showmen Enjoy Best Summer Trade in Years The Apollo Theatre will be opened shortly at Ventura, Cal., by the owners of the American Theatre. A concrete theatre is being erected by A. Pezzuto at Valona, Cal. Exhibitors in the San Francisco field are enjoying the best summer business in many years. Houses which formerly closed during this season have been enabled to remain open and attendance in most places has been around the high water mark. This showing is considered remarkable in view of the fact that farming communities are not enjoying the same measure of prosperity as in recent years. Hot weather has been conspicuous by its absence, however, a feature that has aided the amusement business. In San Francisco there has been no summer slump, the increase in transient business having more than made up for any loss of patronage from residents who have been away on vacations. Records of long standing have been broken by downtown and suburban houses alike and there has been no cutting of prices for the summer months on the part of the large houses. Hyman Levin, formerly of San Mateo, Cal., has taken a leas? on the Balboa Theatre, one of San Francisco's newest houses, and Is giving this his personal attention. With Max Blumenfeld he is understood to hav~ taken over the Victory Theatre at Oak Pari:, Cal., from Frank Miller. Mark M. Leiehter, formerly a San Francisco exhibitor but for several years In charge of koeWs State Theatre at Stockton, Cal., n.i« in San Francisco recently arranging for service for a new theatre to be opened by himself, in conjunction with Sain Aaron and Ruben Goldwnter. This theatre will be known as The Spot and will be opened September 1. A daily change of program will be featured and the slogan of the house will be "Meet me at The Spot for a dime." This theatre is the first of a chain of picture houses planned by these interests. Leslie Hables, who conducts a theatre at Kings City, Cal., spent a short time on San Francisco's Film Row recently on his way home from a two months' vacation in the wilds of Oregon, and made extensive bookings for fall. Managing Director E. N. Ayer, of the Coliseum Theatre, San Francisco, is supervising a number of improvements in this house, including the installation of a $50,000 organ. The work is being done without interfering with the regular performances in any way. J. A. Partington, general manager of the Granada, California, Imperial and New Portola theatres, San Francisco, has booked the entire 1923-24 series of Christie comedies for these houses. M. E. Cory, formerly a well-known exhibitor of San Francisco and later associated with local film exchanges, has returned from Honolulu, where he has been with the Aloha Amusement Park. The Imperial Theatre, San Francisco, is back into the long-run class again, having just concluded a six weeks' run on "MerryGo-Round." Not a bad record for this time of the year, opines House Manager Milton Sam is. Charles Douglass, for many years an exhibitor of Merced, Cal., but who has been out of the business for a time, was a recent visitor at San Francisco and announced his desire of again securing a picture theatre. John Carnikas and family were recent visitors at San Francisco from Bakersfield, where he operates the Virginia Theatre. Business was reported to be good, despite the warm weather. The Tamalpais Community Theatre at San Anselmo, a Marin County suburb of San Francisco, is nearing completion and will be formally opened November 2. Ed Smith, manager of the New Princess Theatre at Honolulu, T. H., for a time, has returned to the mainland and after a stay at San Francisco went to Los Angeles. The Winters Theatre at Daly City, Cal., has been opened by AV. G. Smeltzer. Harvey Gilman, manager of the Club Theatre at Weed, Cal., is spending a few weeks at Longview, Wash., supervising the installation of electrical equipment in several houses in course of construction there. This town, being built by a lumber company, will spring into being with a population of almost 20,000. Friends of Roy Brown, formerly manager of the Westwood Theatre at Westwood. Cal., have missed him at his old haunts and will be rather surprised to learn that he is now in the grocery business at Oroville, Cal. Lou Slissman, who conducts the Gardella and Rex theatres at Oroville, Cal., visited San Francisco's Film Row recently. A concrete picture theatre is being erected at Honolulu, T. H., by Henry and Carl Bredhoff to replace the picturesque old structure in Chinatown occupied for many years. Tlfi house will seat about 1.000. all on one floor, and will represent an investment of about $30,000. The operating room will bo equipped with two Power 6B machines and a Hallberg motor generator. It will be operated as a 5 and 10 cent house. The Central Theatre Company, with offices at 74 New Montgomery street, San Francisco, Cal., has secured a permit to make improvements at an estimated cost of $5,000 on the premises at 979 Market street, the work to include the installation of a new front and to raise the floor for a picture theatre. When James Wood is not at his theatre at Redding, Cal., he can quite likely be founi at the municipal swimming pool in the Sacramento River, which is conducted under his management. He is a swimmer of note and very popular with the young people of Redding. The Moving Picture Operators' Union of Fresno, Cal., has presented a new contract to theatre owners. This calls for a six-day week, a salary scale of $56 a week and $1.15 an hour for overtime. Union labor is to be employed exclusively in the theatres If exhibitors accept the contract. Seattle Film Row Reflects Optimism Over Conditions Many out-of-town exhibitors are reported on Film Row, looking over and booking the new fall product. From east of the mountains the report is that it has been a hard summer, but exhibitors have weathered the storm. Wheat crops are wonderful in volume, with the price lower than it has been for years. This is discouraging to the farmer who in a certain measure passes along the feeling of depression. The situation, however, is promising, for even at the lower price, the crop yield per icre is so much larger than usual that the farmer will make up in quantity what he loses in price per bushel. This should mean a prosperous season for the exhibitor in the farming community. "Merry tin Round" is living ap to its reputation as a box olllec winner in Seattle, For the three opening days at the Columbia Theatre it broke every box-oflice reeord, with the Monday matinee larger thnn the ordinary Saturday opening. Manager Hal Daigler is very enthusiastic over the results obtained. Many special exploitation stunts were used. The length of the engagement is Indefinite, but It Is a ease of absolute capacity at present. Frank Edwards, of Edwards and Herpick. who operate the Winter Garden Theatre, a 10-cent, first-run house in Seattle's business district, left late in July for a two months' trip to England. Mr. Edwards' mother lives in England and he Is anticipating the visit home with much pleasure. He will take In London and Paris, returning about October 1. On the return trip he will attend to business matters in New York, before coming to Seattle. Mr. Herpick, who has entire charge of the management during Mr. Edwards' vacation, reports summer business excellent. The Winter Garden caters to family trade and puts on an excellent program. Recently they purchased the Portola in West Seattle and are building up a nice patronage there. Monday, as vaudeville night, and Friday, as amateur night, are about the only extra stunts needed to build up the lead nights and make a steady seven-day patronage. Three prominent Spokane exhibitors seen in Seattle during the past week are Ray Grombacher, Jack Allender^ who owns four houses — two in Spokane and one each in Pullman and Dayton — and C. E. Stilwell of the Stilwell Theatres Company. Mr. Stilwell has been taking advantage of the summer months to renovate and improve his houses. He has enlarged the stage at the Casino, put in up-to-date dressing rooms and made many minor improvements. The Casino operates on a sliding scale of from 25 cents to $1.50. The Unique, a 10-cent house, has been entirely done over, even to new floors, seats, projection equipment and decorations. The house was closed but twelve days and the work rushed through at top speed. The Class A operates at 15 cents. Mr. Stilwell is planning the addition of high class musical numbers on the new, enlarged stage at the Casino. Mr. Stilwell's hobby, over which he enthuses, is his acreage at Liberty Lake, near Spokane, where on a beautiful fifteen-acre tract he has built up Stonehouse Park, an unusually picturesque summer resort conducted on a high quality scale. This year the growing popularity of the resort made necessary doubling the accommodations. Five weddings were the result of Manager H. B. Wright's offer to have the Strand Theatre bear the wedding; expenses in full during the showings of "Temporary Marriage" at his theatre. A number of splendid tieups resulted in a drawing of wedding gifts donated by leading merchants, such aa ■ Ford roadster, vletrola* kitchen cabinet and the like. Large audiences enjoyed the unusual attitude of being wedding guests. When "Rasty" starts a thing, he does It right! John Hamrick has dated up "Where the North Begins" for early September showings for his Blue Mouse theatres in Seattle, Portland and Tacoma. Charles York of Spokane is planning to conduct the Auditorium, which has always housed legitimate attractions, as a musical comedy house during the coming season, using the American, directly across the street, for road attractions. The American has been a stock .house. Both have played feature pictures from time to time. George Hood, manager of the Seattle Metropolitan Theatre, is interested with York in the Spokane houses. George E. Bradley, Jr., who has been manager of the Star Amusement Company of Everett, Wash., has resigned to join the staff of the People's Theatre in Portland. Mr. Bradley came from New York about a year ago, to act as exploitation man for Universal here.