Showmen's Trade Review (1945)

44 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW October 20, 1945 mm • a PORTLAND Jesse Jones, veteran Portland exhibitor, operating theatres in St. Johns, Roseway, Portland, has announced the purchase of the Gould theatre interests, adding the Rio and Majestic, Dallas, Ore., to his circuit of houses. Added lure to the premiere of "First Yank into Tokyo," was the personal appearance in Portland and Seattle of screen stars Bill Williams, Marc Cramer, Jane Greer, Nan Leslie and Alana Carney.. Edith Bennett of the Monogram exchange, Seattle, was in an automobile accident. Henry Herbel, Western district sales manager for Warners is visiting the Portland and Seattle exchanges. Al Oxtoby, Warner Portland manager celebrated another birthday, and went to Seattle for a conference. Roy and Madeline Brown of Evergreen Theatres, Seattle, have gone to California for a • sixweek vacation. Ernie Pelson, 20th-Fox auditor, is covering the Portland and Seattle exchanges. Dwight Spracher, Paramount salesman, has gone to Ketchikan Juneau, Cordova Dillingham and Fairbanks, Alaska. Phil Phillips, supervisor of exploitation for Universal, has gone back to California, following a visit to Pacific Northwest key cities. All theatres in Billing, Mont, and the vicinity are closed indefinitely due to a severe infantile paralysis epidemic. Booking on Seattle Row : Rex Thompson, Port Orchard, A. G. Basil, Raymond; W. L. Seeley, Spokane ; Guy Navarre, Bremerton ; Gene Groesbeck, Enumclaw ; El Keyes, MidState, Walla Walla ; David Skinner, Northport ; Paul Volkma, Wapato; Martin. Brown, Yakima; Ben Lightfield, Cotton, Ida; Will Hudson, Grand, Bellingham. Arne Miller has been named manager of the Newsreel, Portland, replacing Frank Breall, embarked on the jewelry business. Oscar Chiniquy of National Screen Service is covering Portland, Salem and Eugene exhibitors. Lt. J. Snow is now assistant to Eldon Pollock, Jr., operating theatres at Mount Vernon, Wash. Herbert Mclntyre, western district manager for RKO, has called a special meeting of Seattle film distributors on the Victory Loan drive. "Lady on a Train" held over for a second week at J. J. Parker's Broadway, Portland. A new three-story theatre will be built at Ketchigan, Alaska, on the site formerly occupied by the Revilla, recently purchased by J. R. Heckman & Company. The three-story theatre building will have a seating capacity of 800. Estimated to cost $65,000, it will be leased to B. F. Shearer Theatres Corporation of Seattle, who will equip and decorate the theatre. Construction will commence early next spring. MEMPHIS Three air conditioning system repairmen, sued as a result of the fatal explosion of the air conditioning system at the Peabody Oct. 17, 1943, this week won a directed verdict in Shelby County Circuit Court. The three men, Spencer B. Stephens and Charles L. Stephens, doing business as Stephens Bros., and Eugene Owens, an employe, were sued for $4306. Suit was REGIONAL NEWS INDEX Albany 53 Boston 53 Chicago 45 Cleveland 48 Columbus 50 Denver 52 Des Moines 54 Harrisburg 45 Indianapolis 45 Memphis 44 Montreal 44 New York 54 Omaha 44 Philadelphia 54 Portland 44 St. Louis 51 Vancouver . . . 52 Washington 50 brought by J. W. Eaton, former owner of the theatre in behalf of the Massachusetts Bonding & Insurance Co. This .firm paid the amount to the widow of Elroy R. Curry, theatre employe, who died of injuries. The three men sued had worked on the system prior to the explosion. The theatre has since been sold to the FlexerHaberfeld Circuit, which has installed a new air conditioning system. The people of Memphis are to have the chance to drive across the Mississippi River and see the Monogram picture "Dillinger," which was banned in Memphis by Lloyd Binford, chairman of the Memphis Board of Motion Picture Censors. Binford barred the picture, declaring it was inimical to the best interests of the city, because it might tend to encourage gangsterism among the young. J. Jackson Rhodes of West Memphis has booked the picture in his Crittenden for four days starting October 21, and is conducting a heavy advertising campaign in Memphis. Tom Young, 20th Century-Fox branch manager and distributor chairman of the War Activities Committee here; Ed Sapinsley, representing M. A. Lightman, exhibitor chairman and Cecil Vogel of Loew's Palace, representing the circuits, were in Atlanta Monday for a Victory Bond conference. Phil Longdon, 20th Century-Fox district manager, was a Memphis visitor this week. Memphis Variety Club Tent No. 20 now has 184 members, the largest in its history, Ed Williamson, branch manager of Warners reported at a membership meeting this last week. M. A. Lightman, chief barker, presided. The club tabled a motion to admit prominent midSoutherners as associate members. Al Rothschild of National Screen Service Corp., entertainment chairman, was instructed to make plans to resume monthly luncheons, given up during the food shortage, and also to plan to resume the Saturday night parties. Among new members admitted was Wray Williams, owner of the Officers' Club here. Pvt. Clif Wilson, Monogram booker now with the Army, has been visiting his wife, family and friends on Film Row. He expects overseas assignment when his furlough is over. Jimmie Gillespie, 20th-Fox exploiteer, has returned to Atlanta. Tommy Baldridge, MGM salesman who has been covering all of Arkansas, has been reassigned to northern Arkansas and southeast Missouri, his old territory, since the wartime manpower shortage has been eased somewhat. m OMAHA Southwest Nebraska has pretty much ignored the turn-back-the-clock idea. Towns in the McCook vicinity did their job much earlier. They tried wartime for a while in February, 1942, found they lost more time than they gained, so went back to the old time. Theatremen ip Omaha welcomed the change back because at 9 p.m., when first shows are over, it was still daylight in the summer time. Howard Clark, former MGM office manager, is scheduled to be released from the Navy this fall. Helen Baum, MGM cashier, is spending her vacation at Springfield, 111. Mrs. Frank Van Husen, wife of the Western Theatre Supply owner, is back from a trip to Indiana. The RKO-Brandeis, celebrated its birthday the week of October 6th and had an elaborate display of costumes from the picture "Spanish Main" in the window of the city's largest department store, across the street from the theatre. , Western Theatre Supply has installed new high intensity arc lights in the Times, Crete, owned by Adolph Rosanek and new low intensity lamps in the Exeter, Exeter, owned by A. J. Chantry, Osceola. E. J. Kleinsasser, who owns the Met, Freeman, S. D-, is building a new theatre. Elvira Roslund, RKO cashier, is spending her vacation in Chicago. Quality Theatre Supply has installed super X lamps in the Joyo, owned by Clarence Fraser, Havelock. Herbert Berman has joined the sales force of Columbia. William Miskell, Tri-States Theatres district chief, visited Tri-State theatres at Hastings and Grand Island during the week. John L. Hamilton, Chicago, film officer for the British Information Service, discussed potentialities and limitations in the use of films for educational purposes before the Engineers Club of Omaha. Nona Lewis, manager of Grand Island's Grand, had her tonsils removed last week. John Redmond, RKO divisional manager here, was in Minneapolis on business during the week. Wally Kemp, Tri-States city manager at Grand Island, spent Monday in Omaha. Walter Wade is the new manager of the Town here. He formerly managed the Million Dollar, Los Angeles. Pre-opening day registration for the University of Omaha's three-day Audio-Visual Institute reached 215, four times last year's advance. Last year 600 attended. MONTREAL Something new in the way of campaigns in Canada will be tried out by RKO according to Hatton Taylor, 'local branch manager. In the past, a sum has been set in the U. S. for magazine ads and if it had circulation in Canada, well the publicity got here, otherwise it was confined to the States. For "The Spanish Main," RKO has spent a considerable sum advertising in Canadian magazines with national circulation. It was also decided to run a colored comic strip type ad in the French papers in Montreal. The film will show here starting mid-November. 1 It was announced at the RKO Canadian Na