Showmen's Trade Review (1945)

November 3, 1945 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW 31 five years has been a salesman. His successor has not as yet been named. San: Gorrel, Republic branch manager, reports that his office has sold 65,000 Roy Rogers fan photos to exhibitors in this area and that he has orders for another 35,000. Demand comes from adults as well as children, Gorrel states, indicating that the Rogers films are popular with grown-ups as well as children. Jack Flemm has reopened his Tivoli, Akron. The Mouse has been dark since last December. Harry Schreiber confirms the report that the RKO Palace, Cleveland, is playing its final week of stage shows in combination with pictures. From cow on the policy will be straight pictures, opening with "The Dolly Sisters." Admission prices will be lowered to meet the established downtown first run scale of 45c-55c-65c. Whether 51 ge -hows will be resumed later in the year is a question to which there is no answer at this time. DES MOINES f the Tri-States and Central States Theatres in Iowa and Nebraska will be specially decorated for the Victory Loan Drive, G. Ralph Branton, special events chairman for WAC, mm .:r.ced. He is urging all the theatres, through bulletins to the exhibitors, to carry out the plan. Fire broke out in the projection room of the Casey, Casey, la., just after the last patron had eft the house. Origin was in the projector which had broken down. The fire department put out the blaze and no one was injured. Fred Mitchell and John B. Blong, both of St. Lucas, have purchased the Waucoma from Ed Borcherding of Sumner. The theatre has been redecorated. Larry Hensler, film salesman, has joined Hygienic Productions and will travel Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota. He formerly was with Warners, and at one time served as manager for Monogram at Des Moines. Marie Slatkoske has left for Kansas City where she will take over the office management and booking for the new office of King Enterprises. She held the same position at Des Moines recently, and formerly was contract clerk with Universal. DALLAS Appn ..ximately 150 service men have returned to civilian status over the Interstate and Texas Consolidated Circuits. All returning service men have been given employment of equal importance to that held before entering military service, and in many instances promotions over positions held prior to entering service. Within :he ;>ast two weeks many familiar faces have -eturned to Elm Street and have received assignments. Fred McFadden was appointed manager of the Telenews ; Forrest Thompson, rormerly manager of the Melba and Tower, was appointed manager of the Majestic, replacing Hack Rifle, who has resigned to enter the grocery business with his father ; Lee Newsome, appointed assistant manager of the Majestic; Henry Long, appointed manager of the Melba and Tower, with Red Cummins as his assistant Ht the Melba ; Leroy Beavers, back to his old assignment as manager of the Knox ; Russell Holly field, formerly at the Majestic as trea?urer, appointed manager of the Melrose. Francis Barr, Marine combat correspondent on Two Jima, Guadalcanal, Guam, Eniwetok, Okinawa, and Kwajelein has assumed duties as issistant publicity director of the Dallas Theatres in charge of publicity for the first-run Majestic and Interstate's suburban theatres. Bill Elliot is ">ack also, and has assumed his old duties in :harge of Interstate's art department. The accounting and auditing departments of the general office also have many of their former mployes back. R. D. Teagarden, Joe Lewandos, J. W. Corrie, S. J. MacGillavary, Tommy Corrie, Stuart Adams and S. J. Mings have all returned to their former positions. Lynn Harris, who was wounded in combat, has been discharged and has returned to his desk. Robert Watson and Marc Tucker, formerly on the staffs of local theatres are now; employed in the warehouse. By January 1st, Interstate executives anticipate having more than 300 of the 800 boys who have been in service, back with the company. Establishment of a second unit of the Variety Club Boys' Ranch at Copperas Cove, has been announced by James O. Cherry, chief barker. The new unit will double capacity of the ranch home for neglected and delinquent boys. Construction will begin immediately in the $30,000 administration and dormitory building. Establishment of this second unit is a continuation of the enlargement and improvement program instituted by the Variety Club, when the showmen's organization assumed sponsorship and financial responsibility for the ranch in April, 1944. Addition of some 1700 acres of land and a dormitory have brought present capacity of the ranch to 50 boys. With the opening of the new unit, the capacity will total 100 boys. It was for their work at Boys' Ranch that Tent No. 17 received the national Variety Club citation for outstanding philanthropic activities. Karl Hoblitzelle, president of Interstate Circuit and Texas Consolidated Theatres, returned to Dallas Monday after spending the summer in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Phil Longdon, district distributor chairman of the WAC and Fred Larned, state distributor chairman, hosted a luncheon for branch managers and film salesmen in the Variety Club on Monday. Purpose was to discuss means of stimulating activity and interest in the Victory Loan Drive. Leo Smith, formerly with National Screen Service in Dallas, and now an independent oil producer operating in Mississippi, is in town renewing acquaintances. Lt. Commdr. Paul Short has reported back to the LTnited States Naval Hospital in NewOrleans, after spending a thirty day sick leave in Dallas. Frank McCarthy, Universal's southern and Canadian divisional manager, accompanied by Maurice Bergman, eastern publicity and advertising director, is in town for a few days for conferences with the Oklahoma City and Dallas branch offices. Will Yolen, of Warners and special representative for Mort Blumenstock, is in Dallas to confer with R. J. O'Donnell and Frank Starz on plans for the world premiere of "San Antonio" in San Antonio, November 22nd. Fred Canata, general manager of the Horwitz theatres in Houston and Dallas, is here on a brief business trip. Al Reynolds, Interstate city manager in San Antonio, was in Dallas last week attending a meeting of the county chairmen for the Infantile Paralysis Drive, to be held January 14-30, 1946. Reynolds and Dan Quill, postmaster in San Antonio, are co-chairmen for Bexar County. Fred Florence, Dallas banker, is general chairman of the drive. Karl Hoblitzelle and R. J. O'Donnell are state co-chairmen for the amusement industry. ST. LOUIS Circuit Judge William S. Connor, in the Equity Division of the Circuit Court, has dismissed the petition of Ralph W. Baur and Henry H. Klaverkamp, stagehands, who had sought an injunction to restrain the St. Louis Theatrical Educational Society from removing $6,000 in cash and securities from a safety deposit box at the Mercantile Commerce National Bank. The court sustained the demurrer and also upheld the motion for dismissal on behalf of the bank. Baur and Klaverkamp some months ago filed damage suits for a total of $102,250 against the St. Louis Theatrical Brotherhood Local No. 6 and its officers, charging that they had been discriminated against in their efforts tc find work as stagehands. Fred Wehrenberg, head of the Fred Wehrenberg Circuit, on behalf of the Cherokee Business Men's Association, appeared at a hearing before the St. Louis Board of Public Service to protest against the proposal of the St. Louis Public Service Company to operate express bus service on its Cherokee bus line eastward and northward along Gravois Avenue from Cherokee Street and Gravois Avenue instead of following the present route of the regular Cherokee line. Wehrenberg's Michigan, Virginia and Cinderella Theatres would be affected by the Public Service Company plan to substitute buses for the Bellefontaine Street Car Line. Lester Levy, former Monogram salesman, who had been in the Army for many months, is being discharged and will soon rejoin the company's sales staff under Manager Barney Rosenthal. Exhibitors seen along Film Row recently included W. G. Struck, Arlee, Mason City, 111. ; Tilden Dixon, Roxy, Crystal City, Mo., and Ozark, St. Clair, Mo. ; Ed Clark, Clark, Mattoon and Time, Mattoon, 111. ; Roni Pedrucci, short subjects booker for the Frisina Amusement Co., Springfield, 111. ; Charley Beninati, Ritz, Carlyle, 111. ; Paul Musser, Lyric, Casey, 111. ; Joe Goldfarb, Uptown, Upper Alton, 111. and Ted Coleman, Mount Carmel, 111. Rembusch Theatres. Corporation plan the erection in Wabash, Ind., of a new motion picture theatre to cost about $250,000 with equipment, it has been announced. NEW YORK The female portion of the Paramount Choral Society consisting of 50 girls, gave concerts last week at the Brooklyn Naval and Mitchell Field Hospitals. Lt. Ben Heend, formerly with RKO, has been discharged and visited the home office last week. Mitchell Rawson, MGM publicist, has returned to New York from a coast visit. Charles S. Chaplin, United Artists Canadian sales manager, has returned to Canada after visiting the home office. Leo Pillot, discharged from the Army, has rejoined the Columbia exploitation department. J. A. McCarthy, Universal southern and Canadian sales manager, is back at the home office from Dallas. Harry Brand, 20th-Fox coast publicity head, is here from California. Sophie Lippman, Warner short subject booker, out the past four weeks, has returned to work. Walter Branson, RKO western sales manager is due here November 15 from Los Angeles and San Francisco. Col. Emmanuel Cohen, executive producer of the Army Signal Corps at Astoria, L. I. since May 1944, has been discharged. He formerly was Paramount's production head and vicepresident in charge of the studio. Mort Spring, vice-president of Loew International, was out ill last week. Gloria Undell, daughter of Harry Gold, UA eastern sales manager, is on a belated honeymoon trip with her husband, Seymour, in Mexico City. Leo Jaffee, Columbia home office assistant treasurer, was home ill last week. Maurice Bergman of Universal is visiting Texas cities. Howard Galitz has been discharged from service and rejoined RKO's theatre service department. The Paramount home office and exchange employes held a bond rally last Monday. Cedric Gibbons, MGM art director, is visiting in New York. Walter L. Titus, Jr., and Bea Ross, branch operations head, and of the publicity department respectively of Republic, celebrated birthdays last Sunday. Cliff Smith, head of the St. Cloud Circuit, has returned to New York after a three week tour of (Continued on Page 35)