Showmen's Trade Review (1945)

2% SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW November 3, 1945 REGIONAL Continued ton, B-C, has become the owner of the U5 and the Circle R ranches. Radium Hotel Springs, Canadian Rockies. Comic strip censorship similar to film censorship would be advisable, according to 78 per cent of the persons entered in a public opinion broadcast from the stage of the Vogue this week. "A Thousand and One Nights" had the best opening day in the last six months at. the Orpheum. A publicity campaign by Ivan Ackery, manager, helped. Carroll Levis, Vancouver-born theatre man, who left here in 1935 with barely enough money to get to England, has made more than a $1 million there and intends to remain in London the rest of his life. He introduced the amateur radio show in England. The British-Columbia Government has returned to power in a landslide. The amusement business is happy because the government has been friendly to vshow business. An unprecedented meeting of British-Columbia judges has been held here to discuss Vancouver's mounting crime wave which has included five theatre holdups. Caught thugs are now to be beaten, and one self-confessed bandit was lashed 10 times and given a year's imprisonment for the holdup of the Cambie. He attributed his crime to motion pictures he had seen. Both Odeon and Famous Players have agreed to run a trailer made by the government, advising returned servicemen to register guns brought back from overseas, as many are stolen and used by the underworld in the crimes. Most of the crimes have been committed by juveniles. Victor Armand, who with his wife operated the Canadian Theatre Supply Co. in Western Canada for many years, has sold his interests to the General Supply Co. Armand is moving from Winnipeg to Vancouver. He will continue as general supervisor of maintenance of all Famous Players theatres in Western Canada. Hard-of-hearing persons are complaining that the machines in the Vogue are out of order and that they cannot hear the show. Requests are being made to the maintenance department of Odeon Theatres to service the machines and the general muttering is not auguring well for the goodwill of the Vogue. A $200,000 theatre and amusement center is planned for Maillardville, a few miles from New Westminster, B-C, by local business men. A site has been purchased near the Town Hall. COLUMBUS Erection of a third postwar theatre for the local suburban area was announced last week by Livingston Enterprises Inc., who plan to build a $125,000 1000-seat neighborhood house in the Driving Park section. The theatre, as yet unnamed, will have a number of postwar features, according to Troy A. Feibel, secretary of the group planning the building. It will be the first erected in southeast Columbus since World War I. Construction is expected to start in spring and the theatre will be finished by next fall. Recently construction of two neighborhood theatres was announced, the Esquire in Bexley and the University opposite the Ohio State University campus. Although the officers and backers of this new theatre project were not announced, it is understood that business men located in this fast-growing area are behind the project. Plans are being completed by a local architect and bids are being taken. Arthur Egberts, Loew's Ohio manager, has been named exhibitor chairman for the Victory War Loan campaign, following the exhibitors' pre-campaign meeting at which Col. Arthur Frudenfeld, Cincinnati area chairman, spoke. Traditional Variety Club Barn Dance title will be dropped this year in favor of the Christmas Heart Fund Dance, scheduled tentatively for November 30 at the Neil House. Lack of a suitable location for the Barn Dance was one factor in the change, said Chief Barker George Anagnost. Variety Club junior hostesses will assist in ticket sales, as a gesture of appreciation for the use of the clubrooms for Sunday night service men's parties during the war. Annual election of officers of the Variety Club will be held November 20. Mrs. Margaret "Mickey" Kennedy, wife of Lt. Charles Kennedy, former Loew's Ohio assistant manager, is the new relief cashier at the Ohio. Before her marriage she was fulltime cashier. Manager Carl Rogers of Loew's Broad is a happy man. His idea for a Halloween cover for LO, the Loew house organ, was accepted by Editor Mike Simons and appeared on the October 15 issue. It shows pretty Frances Wallingford, Broad office assistant, in pigtails and lumberjack costume with appropriate Halloween atmosphere. Philip J. "Pete" Wood, ITO secretary, has announced the engagement of his daughter, Nancy, to Lt. Donald Robert Hall, Army Air Forces. Evelyn Hartwick, daughter of Fred Hartwick, veteran Loew's Ohio projectionist, was married last Sunday to Sgt. Franklin Michael, Grove City. Mrs. Jeanette Purcell, mother of Charles "Chuck" Purcell, Loew's Ohio electrician, died last week. Master Gunnery Sergeant W. C. Ginn, son of Charles Ginn, Variety Club steward, has returned from the war. He served 37 months overseas. RKO Grand celebrated Halloween with a midnight showing of "The Mad Doctor of Market Street." Prizes were awarded for the most original costumes. Marty Joyce, wellknown local "fun-doctor" who was master of ceremonies for the Grand's war workers' shows, again acted as emcee. Sgt. Cecil Sansbury, former publicity manager for the Jackson-Murphy Theatres, writes from Algiers that he's still enjoying himself "immensely" but that he's ready to come home. He won't be back until mid-winter at the earliest. Pvt. William H. Elder, former Loew's Ohio manager, is on his way to join the European Army of Occupation. He left last week from Camp Patrick Henry, Virginia. He believes he'll be overseas at least a year. His wife and son, Billy, are coming back to Columbus to await his return. INDIANAPOLIS Screen star Ann Sheridan will appear at the opening rally of the Victory Loan drive here. With her will be Will Hays, former motion picture czar and a native Hoosier, who was headlined with the late Carole Lombard at the nation's first war bond rally in Indianapolis, January, 1942. First reminder of Christmas is a card from the Burton Theatrical Office plugging talent for holiday parties. Russell M. Bleeke, office manager at Republic, attended the homecoming at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, where 'his daughter is a student, Saturday and Sunday. Dorothy Denny succeeds Alberta Underwood at Republic on the billing desk. Robert (Bob) Miller, just released from the armed forces where he served with a paratroop division the past three years, is the new assistant shipper at Republic. National Theatre Supply Co. has completed renovating and redecorating its quarters. Mrs. Joseph Bohn of the PRC office staff is visiting in St. Louis. William Wallace, who operates theatres at Dugger and Veedersburg, is back in civilian clothes. Mrs. Carl Niesse, operator of the Vogue here, her daughter, Rita, and Mrs. Sol Greenburg, wife of Warners' office manager, have left for the coast where they will visit Los Angeles and San Francisco. Leora Oliver is a new addition to the office staff at RKO on the switchboard. Carl Gabbard, just returned from military service, 'has joined Columbia as assistant shipper. The Palace, Montpelier, recently acquired by Settos Theatres, Indianapolis, is being remodeled. Tom Baker, head of Affiliated Theatres, Inc., has headed for St. Petersburg, Fla. Charles (Chuck) Davis has sold his Monroe, Monroeville, Ind., and is going to Montana to enter the exhibition field there. Joe Schilling, Connersville exhibitor, is alj smiles. His son, William, has arrived in Seattle, Wash., awaiting his discharge. He has been in service in the South Pacific for three years. On Film Row during the week were Joe Schilling, Connersville ; Bob Hudson, Richmond ; Harry Van Noys, Anderson ; William Studebaker, Logansport, and Roy Harold, Greensburg. MONTREAL The Censorship board of the province of Quebec has been reorganized by the government. Under the new set-up just ratified by order-incouncil, the industry may be called on to pay the salaries of the censors. Previously there were three on the board, a chairman, vice-chairman and one commissioner at salaries of $2500, $1500 and $600 respectively. Under the new arrangement it will be left to the LieutenantGovernor to decide the number on the commission, the salaries to be paid and from whose FOUR ACES. Group taken at recent annual convention of Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Ontario at the King Edward Hotel, Toronto, shows (1-r) Leon J. Bamberger, RKO sales promotion manager, who addressed the meeting; Leo M. Devaney, RKO' Canadian Division sales manager; Nat A. Taylor, president of Twinex Theatres, and Arch H. Jolley, MPTO of Ontario executive secretary. Taylor is also president of the MPTOA.