Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1944)

16 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW November 11, 194^ PITTSBURGH The Motion Picture Division of the War Activities Committee held a luncheon at the William Penn Hotel on last Friday to start off the Sixth War Loan Drive. The entire local WAC committee, headed by M. A. Silver, chairman; M. A. Rosenberg, co-chairman ; Morris Lefko, chairman of the distributors' division, and H. R. Beiersdorf, treasurer, attended. Mayor Cornelius Scully welcomed the incoming delegates, and Si Fabian, among others, addressed the meeting. Al Sugarman has succeeded Morton Eichenberg as Main Line salesman for Columbia Pictures here. After being closed a number of years, the Grand Theatre, Cecil, Pa., has been reopened and is being operated by Elio Profilo. Eugene Cohn has been transferred from the St. Louis Branch of MOM to the local office of that company as Main Line salesman, succeeding Milton Brauman, who was recently promoted to sales manager. "Micky" A. Sleisinger, who formerly operated the Ritz Theatre, Rankin, Pa., has taken over the Roxian at McKees Rocks, Pa., which was owned by a local bank and operated by one of its trustees. George J. Corcoran has been appointed general manager of the Pennstate Amusement Company, operating theatres in Uniontown, Pa. He succeeds George Purcell, who resigned recently to become chief booker for the Pennsylvania Enterprises, Inc., the new booking combine which started functioning on October 1. OMAHA SF2c Albert Ray Matson's son saw his father for the first time last week — in the movies. But if he was thrilled he couldn't say. The younger Matson is only 14 months old. Shipfitter Matson's wife, Norma, took their son to the Orpheum Theatre and there she recognized her Seabee husband among the men in a landing boat in a film, "Target Japan." Mrs. Donald McLucas, wife of the United Artists branch manager, died suddenly Saturday night. Services were this week. George Smith, western division sales manager for Paramount, was to be here for a sales meeting with the local staff. At the meeting Bill Haarman, head booker, was to be informed of his election to the One Hundred Per Cent Club. Inspectress Colleen Johnson of RKO was to be married this week. Al Campbell, 20th-Fox shipper, has returned to work, following two weeks at the Veterans' Hospital in Lincoln. Ben Marcus, Columbia Kansas City district manager, was in Omaha last week. Betty Keasling has joined the Warner Brothers exchange as a stenographer. Ray Anderson, shipper at Paramount, is missing work due to a sprained back. Lloyd Davidson, Tri-States city manager, is pinch-hitting as manager of the Capitol Theatre. William Miskell, who thought up the screening room idea for bond drives, plans for the Sixth War Loan Drive the most exclusive party ev— ;his city, with attendance limited to i f $10,000 in war bond purchases the tickets. Again the Twentieth Ce eening room will be the site, foil arty at one of the city's top hot • V ^..^^ lame? Miss Boots Utley, who won 'the "Miss Omaha" title at the Paramount Theatre and consequently had her picture run in the REGIONAL NEWS INDEX Boston 18 Charlotte 16 Chicago 21 Cincinnati 22 Cleveland 22 Dallas 18 Denver 21 Des Moines 22 Harrisburg 18 Indianapolis 21 Jersey City 23 Memphis 21 Newark 21 New York 16 Omaha 16 Ottawa 23 Philadelphia 22 Pittsburgh 16 Portland 18 St. Louis 23 Vancouver 16 Washington 18 service men's paper, now has troubles. The mailman hasn't missed a day since. At first she enjoyed answering the letters, but now the total has passed the thousand mark, and they all want pictures. Boots wants to send the pictures, but can't finance them. This week the ll'orldHei'ald issued an appeal for a sponsor for the miss. Pvt. Valasta Jusa, WMC, has been graduated from the sound motion picture technical school at San Diego. Her home is Thurston, Neb. An old passageway leading to the old Boyd Opera House, built in 1881 and razed by fire in 1893, has been discovered here during repair of sidewalks around the present building on that site. No one can give a clue to the mystery of the passageway which runs under the streets. CHARLOTTE H. B. Meiselman, head of Meiselman Theatres, an organization that has recently moved its headquarters to Charlotte from a New England city, has just returned from New York, where he spent several days on theatre business. Charlotte children are flocking in unusually large numbers to the "moom pitchers" this week. Cause, seven little dwarfs and a princess. Snow White. Disney's Technicolor cartoon won such praise from its small fans (as well as older ones) when it was re-shown here last week that word-of-mouth advertising has made its holdover a must for Jack Austin, Wilby-Kincey city manager. Barney Hohenstein, former manager of the Hollywood and LaFayette theatres in WinstonSalem, has recently come to Charlotte as assistant manager of the Tryon. C. A. Matthews, manager of the Tryon, and Mr. Hohenstein have returned from Atlanta, Ga., where they spent most of last week on business for the Blumenthal circuit. Ellis Blumenthal, head of a chain of eight theatres in Piedmont North Carolina, is in New York this week. Training films were used for the first time by the North Carolina State Guard at its encampment of seven days just ended at Fort Bragg\ The films were shown to 2,200 men in preparing them for maneuvers and got effective results, the trainees report. An officer affirms this statement by saying : "The pictures were used extensively and proved of untold value in solving stiff problems incorporated in the Guardsmen's intensified schedule." VANCOUVER Power restrictions and dimouts in effect in Vancouver since May have been lifted. Some theatres were caught short of bulbs. Water shortage for hydro-electric plants caused the restrictions, but with plenty of rain in the past month, water coming over dams of lakes in British Columbia has brought power supply back ' to normal. Theatres are disappointed that the Federal cabinet has decided not to rescind the order-incouncil that established year-around . daylight saving on a national scale, passed a few years I ago as a wartime measure. i Levi Graham has sold his two Prince George 1 theatres, the Strand and Princess, to Herb Ste | venson, head of the Independent Exhibitors' ' Association in Alberta, and operator of a num ,i ber of houses there. Bill Brunker, who operated the Elite Theatre, ' Wainright, has sold his interest to Joseph Parnell !; and the latter's son. Brunker will make his .j horne in British Columbia and reenter show I business there. ' Gordon Lambert, Warner Bros, shipper, has i resigned and will return to newspaper business. Empire Agencies, Ltd., one of the oldest equipment dealers in Canada, have moved into ■ larger quarters. Two veterans of show business are in charge : Jimmy Crabb and Bill Rogers. Albert Ellis, who leased the Star Theatre, Unity, Sask., to Saul Stone, has taken over the house and will operate it personally. Charlie Kearns and Jimmy Brown, two show business veterans who have worked together as a team in the Lux and Princess theatres, are both members of the Canadian Picture Pioneers in British Columbia. Another is Will Harper, manager of the Empress, Kelowna, B. C. The Dominion Theatre, Winnipeg, operated by M. Thriller and O. E. Noel, has reopened after alterations. It will be operated on a firstrun policy with revivals and reissues. ■ Jimmy McAllister, Abbotsford, and Jack Stone, Marpole, are on the sick list. Jack Jackson, booker. Regal Films, is back : alter a sick spell at home. Lee Huck, doorman. Plaza, has resigned to enter civil service in the transport department. NEW YORK A goal of $3,667,500,000 has been set for New York City in the 6th War Loan Drive, including all types of bonds. Of the total, $181,400,000 is expected to be made up of E bond sales, with the theatres carrying their usual heavy sales load. With plans just about set in individual situations, the New York area will plunge into the actual campaign with a gala 6th War Loan breakfast at the Astor Hotel on Friday, November 17 at 9 a.m. WAC Chairman Malcolm Kingsberg has appointed Maj. L. E. Thompson and Dave Weinstock to take charge of arrangements. William Keegan, general manager of the Hunt circuit in Trenton and Wildwood, N. J., died last Wednesday night. He had suffered for some time with heart trouble. Norman Avers, Warner district manager, is having his office entirely redecorated. The managers of Century Theatres went up to Fred Schwartz's Timberdoodle Lodge in Lake Placid to figure out their plans for the 6th War Loan Drive in peace and comfort. They came back with a complete program, including (Continued on Page 18)