Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1944)

24 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW December 30, 1944 REGIONAL Continued iiig DeVry Corporation on Portland Film Row. Doris May Kobersteen, formerly with Warners in Milwaukee, added to auditing staff Hamrick-Evtrgreen, Seattle. E. Adams, People's Theatre, Bellingham, has been released from service in the Coast Guard. Jack Kloepper, of Film Classics, spent the weekend in Seattle. Mayflower Theatre, McLoughlin Heights, Vancouver, Wash., staged a Christmas gift premiere for servicemen. Gaiety Theatre, Portland, is putting on a daily Stage Door Canteen for benefit of servicemen. George Mitchell, Eastern Washington salesman for United Artists, was in Seattle for the holidays. Art Smart, formerly with Northwest Film Service, is now in Italy. Ed Urschel, AIGM traveling auditor, was visiting Portland and Seattle exchanges. CHARLOTTE All Charlotte exchanges had gay Christmas parties, then closed their offices from Saturday until Tuesday. At MGM Mrs. Margie Thomas came back to her desk just before the holidays after an illness of six weeks. Cpl. Phil Baynard of the Air Corps, who was a shipper with MGM before joining the armed forces, was a recent visitor in Charlotte. With Byron Adams, branch manager for United Artists out of town, arrangements for the "Hollywood premiere" here of the Lester Cowan production, "Tomorrow, the World," fell to office manager Robert B. Sullivan. And a good job he did of it, having present a large audience, which graded the picture as excellent. The speaker system stolen from the Charlotte Public Library several weeks ago has been replaced. Director Hoyt Galvin reports, and the films kept at the Library are again available for use by individuals or groups. Miss Gertrude Rogers, secretary to George Roscoe, manager of the Columbia branch office here, spent Christmas with her family in AsheviUe. Miss Joye Drye, second biller at Columbia, is recuperating at her home in Matthews after undergoing an operation. Louis Linebach of the Seabees was recently home from Pacific duty and spent his leave with Mrs. Lineback, Columbia's cashier. Stephan Justus, former Columbia salesman here, who is now with the Atlanta, Ga., branch, spent Christmas with Mr. and Mrs. George Roscoe in Charlotte. A two-alarm fire at the Carolina Theatre turned out a no-damage fire, a few nights ago. This good result was due to the fireproof structure of the sub lounge, in which the. fire was discovered after midnight, on one of the frequent night inspections arranged by its manager Jack Austin and its good-housekeeping assistant manager, Mrs. Vivien Thomas. SAN ANTONIO Interstate ran a series of transcribed announcements over KONO to plug the showing of Republic's "Brazil," which played a seven-day engagement at the Texas Theatre. Visitors' Julian Suarez, Juarez Theatre, Poteet ; Lew Baxley, Plaza-Lawn, Houston, on a deer-turkey hunting trip to the Bill Lytle Ranch near here, and Ray B. Willie and Frank O. Starz of Interstate Circuit, Dallas, in to hand out Christmas bonus checks to veteran Interstate employes here. The champion bowler among the local Interstate projectionists is Eugene Muller, Majestic Theatre machine operator. From DeHanis, Texas, comes word that George Waites has closed his Texas Theatre WAR WOUNDED BENEFIT. Entire proceeds from 3 recent evening preview of RKO Radio's "Tall in the Saddle" at the RKO Palace in New York went to the Journal-American War Wounded Christmas Fund. Benefit performance was billed in front of theatre, as shown above. which he operated on the second floor over a cafe there. Jose Santos reopened his Casino Theatre, Hondo, December 15 with an all-Spanish talking picture. Add recent showshoppers to the Alamo City : — A. R. "Fito" Farias, Empress, Benavides ; Harry N. Britten, Espana, Pharr; Miguel "Mike" Delgado, Nacional Teatro, Crystal City, James William Kunetka, Rita, Benavides, and Salvador Oslo, Rio de Janeiro. MONTREAL Planned by each of the Consolidated Theatres for New Year's Eve are special midnight jamborees featuring vaudeville acts, community singing, favors, and musical revues. Each of the houses — the Palace, Loew's, Capitol, Imperial, and Princess — will also present a special feature picture to top off the evening. Annual Christmas parties were held by most of the companies comprising Film Row. It is understood that they were all solid affairs, with the gang letting their hair down and really having a swell time. Associated Screen Studios will hold their big shindig on the 29th. Going in for it in a big way, Jack Chisholm is producing an amateur show with 30 talented performers. Wives and sweethearts of the staff are having the entertainment well planned and it is expected that everyone will enjoy themselves immensely. Irving Sourkes and "Trapper" Isman left to visit their Toronto offices and take part in the Christmas parties being held up that way for the staffs of Odeon and Universal Pictures. "Babe" Coval, popular manager of Warner Brothers-Vitagraph will leave shortly to take up his new position in charge of the company's interests in Trinidad, which will take in the British West Indies territory. He will be missed along the Row. Everyone wishes him the best and he will be feted on the 5th at a farewell party planned by his friends. "Since You Went Away" is still grossing well throughout the province. It has already topped "Stage Door Canteen," which is the previous largest grosser that United Artists have ever had in this locale. It is learned with interest here that Famous Players Canadian Corp., Ltd., have acquired a portion of the stock of the F. G. Spencer Company, which operates theatres in the Maritime Provinces. Famous Players, up until this acquisition, had 345 houses under their wing in this country. The companies will undertake an extensive expansion campaign when restrictions are eased sufficiently. Direction of the Spencer chain will continue under the direction of F. G. Spencer, of St. John, N.B., who founded it over 30 years ago. .'Mthough admitting that there are sharp differences prevailing in bombed London and Montreal, Sean Edwin, whose local theatre reviews and pillar of patter "Sound Track" are widely read, points out that a recent decision of the London County Council in refusing to yield to pressure groups by prohibiting children under 16 from attending theatres on Sunday can lend punch to present arguments that our "blue laws" are antiquated. War-working mothers were among those who claimed that Sunday was the only day that they could enjoy the relaxation provided by the cinema along with their children. The Council itself vigorously denied claims that the current generation of Londoners was made up of "potential thieves and liars, whose characters had been presumably undermined by t'.ie movies." Sean, whose observations appeared in the Herald of December 23, also notes that, as presently enforced, the law is certainly ineffective locally. PALM SPRINGS Doing a "postman's holiday" : film favorite Robert Young purchasing tickets to the Plaza Theatre; also Mr. and Mrs. Leon Errol. Doll House dining : screen bad man Peter Lorre and John Warburton. Warburton ("White Cliffs of Dover") recently bought Assemblymanelect Philip Boyd's Red Roof Ranch which, it is alleged, is the first each year to produce strawberries for shipment East. Rosalind Russell, looking extremely well, drug-store purchasing at Gibbs Pharmacy with handsome husband Capt. Carl Brisson. Janet Blair relaxing at Ingleside Inn's pool. Doing the night spots : Lloyd Nolan with his attractive wife ; also stopping at Ingleside Inn. Hal Roach buying candy at Fun-in-the-Sun Candy Shop. Ben F. Shearer with Mrs. Shearer open their home for the winter. Mr. Shearer is a theatre owner of the Pacific Northwest and Alaska and is the theatre supply king of the West Coast. Marjorie Rambeau and her mother at Tahquitz Vista for the holidays. HARRISBURG "Better than expectations" was the description given by theatre managers of the Christmas Eve midnight shows, although attendance was not nearly what is anticipated for the New Year's showings at midnight. The new year will be ushered in at all the downtown houses, which have scheduled these pictures, and are reserving seats in advance : "Can't Help Singing," Senate ; "Ministry of Fear," Colonial ; "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," Loew's Regent, and "Hollywood Canteen," State. Re-issues in most of the downtown houses occupied the screen the mid-holiday week, with "The Cowboy and the Lady" at the State and "The Fleet's In" at the Colonial. Sam Gilman, manager of Loew's Regent, was in New York t'ne week before Christmas, his place being filled by Assistant Manager Pete Stainbach. Three former employes of the State, now in the armed forces, visited former friends over the holidays. They were' Gilbert Deibler, Highspire, who saw action in three major battles while with the Navy ; Jack Cunningham, in the Coast Guard ; and John Miller, with the Navy. Among the Christmas Eve parties of the theatre personnel were those given by the three Funk sisters, Genevieve and Betty, of the Colonial, and Alidge, of the Senate, and the egg nog' affair of the Robert Sidmans. Sidman, now in the PRO division of the Army at Fort Meade,