Showmen's Trade Review (1945)

October 20, 1945 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 45 tional Sales Convention that the Montreal office had run away with the Ned Depinet Drive for the second successive year. The local office garnered $1900 in prizes which was distributed among the staff. Office workers got a minimum of two weeks extra salary. Recent visitors to town included C. S. Chaplain, Canadian general sales manager of United Artists ; Mrs. Martineau, who owns the Royal, Valleyfield, comparing notes with Miss Corber of Regal Films ; Armand Champagne, of Shawinigan, a frequent visitor and Charles Magnan, operator of the Malartic, Malartic. Magnan has a 900 seat house in the heart of the north country. It is up to date and does a booming business in a mining town plunk in the middle of nowhere. He gets SO sous at the box-office, which is more than most Montreal neighborhood theatres are able to wheedle from John Citizen. The showman of the north is here on a quarterly visit to Ike Sourkes of Monogram. Tubby Long, one of the guiding lights of Hanson 16-mm. Films, is in town from Toronto overseeing the transfer and separation of 16-mm. and 35-mm. films at Monogram. Half the stock is being moved to another portion of the building under the supervision of Miss J. Paquin of Ike Sourkes' staff. In a building splurge at Quebec City, five new theatres are planned. Although names of the promoters of the project are withheld for the present, the names of the theatres will be the Boulevard, the Lairet, the Colonial, the Castor and the Wolfe. If theatremen in Canada scan the budget as handed down in the House of Commons by finance Minister Illsley, they will note with misgiving that there may be an increase in the amusement tax in the near future. Although this will come out of the theatregoer's pocket, it still won't auger well at the box-office. In the last fiscal year amusement taxes brought the government $12,284,000, or a slight increase over the same period last year. Work has started on the $25,000 theatre in Roberval owned by J. E. Chabot and J. Hylas Gagnon. It will have a concrete foundation, steel frame, concrete walls, asphalt roof and be heated with an oil system. CHICAGO Theatre owners and WAC representatives met this week at the Blackstone Hotel to perfect plans for the Victory Loan Drive. John Balaban, Jack Kirsch and Maury Rubens were among those in attendance. John Jones, having left for the coast, reported prior to his departure that "Northwest Trails" is ready for distribution. Work has started on "God's Country" at the coast studio. Wallach Corp. has been organized by Leo and Nathan Wallach, owners of Fort Dearborn and other Chicago hotels, to finance films. They have an interest in "GI Joe." William Taylor of the service department of the Jeffrey is dead. Ben Colin, veteran manager of the Frolic, released from Wesley hospital, has gone to Florida for a long rest. Frank Rieger succeeds him. Chicago police have received instructions to. enforce an old ordinance prohibiting juveniles under 21 from attending pinked films. Theatres vill ask the council to modernize the ordinance raising the age limit. "GI Joe" grossed $135,000 for its run at the Oriental. "Guest Wffe" has replaced it. Van Nomikos and John Manta, theatre owners, represented the Chicago organization at the meeting of a Greek Society at the Stevens Hotel. Anton Scibilia has been named manager of the Taft, Cincinnati, a 2550-seater, leased for 10 years by the AY Borde organization. Top films, musicals and other large attractions will be used in the house. "I Independent theatre* owners here are protesting against checking Services giving confidential information to film distributors other than the company for whom they checked the film. Better Films Council held its fall opening October 12 at the Republic "building with. Miriam Chesser, president, presiding. The Agus Company has perfected a ceiling projector for use in veteran hospitals, where bed-ridden patients will be able to read and see pictures from microfilms. ■ Twentieth-Fox will soon have four first runs in the B & K Loop theatres' including "Dolly Sisters," "State Fair," "House on Ninety-Second Street," and "Captain Eddie." This is the largest number at one time this season. World series crowds brought capacity business to the Loop. Owen Coon, president of General Finance Corp. is planning more film investments for his company, having recently completed several Hollywood deals. He may finance "Anna Lucasta" with John Wildberg as the producer. Fred Joyce is retiring from the Lester Cowan organization. To prevent a walk-out of its entire composing room, Filmack has signed a contract for another year with the International Typographical Union, local 16. It calls for a 30 per cent wage increase ; 37 and a quarter hours work weekly ; two weeks vacation with pay and pay for all legal holidays. John Maloney, discharged from the Navy, has returned to Warners as manager of the Cosmo. Charles Ryan, Warner theatres assistant zone manager, will leave October 20 for New York and a meeting of the Warner Clubs. HARRISBURG Although defeated before it had a chance to go to public vote in Harrisburg, the Sunday movie referendum will be voted upon by the men and women of Middletown at the November 6 election. This ruling followed the refusal of the Dauphin County Court to grant the preliminary injunction sought by the Middletown Ministerial Association, on the basis that proper affidavits .were not appended to the petitions, and that the petitions were not certified by Middletown Borough Council, but acted upon only by the council president. Maurice R. Metzger, attorney for the Ministerium, asked the court to restrain the county commissioners from placing the question on the Middletown ballot, but his request was refused as a result of the State Supreme Court ruling several weeks ago, which held State Election laws must be followed to the letter in referenda. Since the code must be followed exactly, this would place the ministers in the spot of not having filed their objections to the question going on the ballot within seven days after filing petitions provided by the State Acts. With the court's refusal to remove the referendum, it means the Middletown voters will ballot on it next month. Metzger, however, was given permission by the jurists to file the equity suit which makes it necessary for the county commissioners to answer within 30 days as to their reasons for allowing the vote. This date will be after election, and Metzger pointed out it might be possible to ask to have the results set aside. No objections were filed to the Steelton referendum, so Steelton and Middletown will poll on the question, but Harrisburg voters, by ruling of the Supreme Court, can not decide on the proposal until 1947. A dinner to honor theatre managers and exhibitors of this area who have been utilizing radio station WHGB for spot announcements and commercials, is being planned by R. G. Maxwell, commercial manager of the station. The Hershey Community Theatre, along with all Other Hershey industries and interests, was closed last Tuesday, the day of the funeral for M. S. Hershey, founder of the chocolate company, the model community and its vast interests. Hershey, 88, died October 13| after a short illness. Returned to service in this city are George Shelley, former Telegraph movie columnist and Jack Conlin, who held a similar post. Shelley served overseas on Stars and Stripes, and Conlin was public relations man at Indiantown Gap. INDIANAPOLIS At a meeting held October 15 in the Paramount screening room, plans were formulated for the Victory Loan Campaign. Branch managers and salesmen attended. Picturesque Brown county, Indiana, may be the locale for a Walt Disney feature length film if "test shots" of the hills, taken during a two-week survey, are approved by the producer. This was announced when Larry Landsburgh, a member of Disney's direction department, held a conference with Milton Matter, director of conservation, preparatory to starting the survey. The picture, according to Landsburg, will be based on the book "Midnight and Jeremiah" by Sterling North. It will combine animation and "live" action. Another phase has developed in the Hamilton (Continued on Page 48) MIDWESTERNERS START DRIVE BALL ROLLING. Exhibitor, distributor and publicity chairmen from Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Nebraska and Iowa attended a regional meeting at the Coronado Hotel in St. Louis recently. Those in charge, of the meeting were: Seated (1-r) Harry C. Arthur, Jr., Fanchon & Marco president, central area regional chairman; S. H. Fabian, national chairman; Charles M. Reagan, national distributor chairman; Oscar Doob, campaign director. Standing (1-r) Moe Levy, Minnesota regional distributor chairman; Russell Fraser, Iowa publicity chairman; Harry Warren, Iowa exhibitor co-chairman; Chick Lewis, campaign coordinator, and D. C. Kennedy, Iowa regional^ distributor chairman.