Showmen's Trade Review (Jan-Mar 1947)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

28 SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW. January 4 1947 REGIONAL NEWSREEL {Continued from Page 27) Albany to confer with Ray Smith, branch manager, and then working the Albany territory in exploiting "The Time, the Place and the Girl." Fred Epstein, New York representative, spent several days in the Albany Warner contact office. Marty Winters of the New York Warner office has been auditing the Albany Theatres. ST. LOUIS Juvenile deliquency in St. Louis was reduced by 8.8 per cent during the past year, the annual report of the Police Department for the fiscal year has revealed. The fiscal year closed on March 31, last, but the report has just been made public. The juvenile bureau, under the direction of Lieutenant Moran and staffed by 16 officers and four police women, achieved a 40 per cent reduction of juvenile crime in St. Louis during 1944. An increase in the St. Louis municipal income tax rate from one-quarter of one per cent to one-half of one per cent or more, if the courts uphold the validity of the present ordinance as a possible solution of the city's financial difficulties, has been suggested by Alderman Louis A. Lange, Republican, 15th Ward, chairman of the aldermanic legislation committee. The tax is imposed on the gross earnings of individuals and the net earnings of corporations. The tax ordinance became effective on Nov. 1. A test case attacking the validity of the present ordinance is pending in the St. Louis Court, and will likely be carried to the Missouri Supreme Court and perhaps even to the United States Supreme Court. In the meantime Lange's committee hasn't acted on the pending revenue-raising measure for a 3 per cent tax on amusements, which would net the city from $700,000 to $1,000,000 annually. Almost half of the neighborhood and suburban theatres of St. Louis and St. Louis County were closed on Christmas Eve, to give their employes the opportunity to spend the night at home with their families. A spokesman for the Wehrenberg-Kaimann Circuit, which includes 22 theatres, said that the one-night holiday was suggested at a recent meeting of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of St. Louis, Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois, but each theatre owner decided for himself whether to close that night or keep open as usual. Police are conducting an investigation into an apparent attempt by someone to start a fire in the Norside Theatre on the night of Saturday, Dec. 21. Martin Schroeder, manager, told the police he had found a lighted cigarette thrust under a stair carpeting. He said he found the cigarette when he noticed the carpet smoldering. He said that several days before a similar attempt was made in one of the rest rooms of the theatre. The Kiel Auditorium probably will end the current fiscal year in April without an operating loss for the first time in the history of the big municipal building, according to Harry B. Boyer, manager. Boyer said that $25,000 more than was turned over to the general revenue fund during the same period the previous fiscal year has already been collected. Bookings for the next four months indicate that receipts will more than balance the expenditures. However, these calculations don't take into consideration either interest on outstanding bonds against the $6,000,000 building nor a proper charge-off for depreciation. Charles W. Owens, former public relations officer at Jefferson Barracks, has been appointed field director for the 1947 March of Dimes campaign in St. Louis, John J. Powers, chairman of the campaign for St. Louis and St. Louis County has announced. The March of Dimes drive will be conducted from Jan. 15 to Jan. 30. COLUMBUS Service awards to 15 men and one woman who have been employed by Loew's Ohio and Loew's Broad over 10 years were made at a Christmas party held on the Ohio stage. Seven of the number have worked at their respective theatres since opening — the Broad in August, 1927 and the Ohio on March 17, 1928. These veterans include, at the Ohio: Charles Purcell and John B. Brobst, maintenance ; Fred Hartwick and George Halliday, operators ; at the Broad: Larry Buck and George Lingo, maintenance and Harry Coleman, operator. The Ohio's list also includes : Walter Kessler, manager, 13 years ; Robert J. Bender, engineer, 14 years ; George Schroades, night superintendent, 12 years; Edna Speakman, cleaner, 12 years and Fred Oestreicher, publicity manager, 11 years. The Broad: Carl Rogers, manager, 17 years; Roy Schumacher and Demas J. Snyder, operators, each 17 years, and Edward H^ doorman, 16 years. Kessler became Ohio manager last August, serving previously in other Loew houses. Likewise, Rogers came to the Broad two years ago from other Loew theatres. Division Manager Allen Sparrow made the awards. Neth's Eastern received a Christmas pres New Theatres Oceanlake, Ore. — Bud McKevitt, leading Oregon coast exhibitor, announces that construction will begin on his new 600-seat house here shortly after the beginning of the new year. Denver — Nadine Caselnova has opened the new Uptown Theatre, which replaces the old East, the latter having been used to enlarge a store next door. Fort Dodge, la. — The State Theatre Corporation, Jess Day, district manager, plans the erection of a 600-seat theatre on Ninth street. The 1-story, 70xl37-foot building will cost about $205,000. Wetherell & Harrison, 506 Shops Building, Des Moines, are the architects. Construction will start when labor and material conditions warrant that step. Marshalltown, la. — The Radio-Keith-Orpheum Circuit, John D. Redmond, division manager, Minneapolis, has awarded the general contract for a 1,000-seat theatre to be erected on East Main street to Svensson & Edstrom, Inc., Minneapolis. It will be of modern design, including a stage as well as motion picture projection facilities. Joplin, Mo. — The Joplin Little Theatre, Inc., George A. Spiva, chairman of the financing committee, is raising $15,000 for the erection of a 300-seat playhouse. ent from J. Real Neth, owner of the Neth local chain of suburban houses, in the form of new silhouette letters for the marquee, replacing the old marquee which had no removable letters. Clyde Sells, former Broad usher and doorman, who is Orn Huntington of the films, appears in the New Greer Garson film "Woman of My Own," and acted as stand-in for Miss Garson's new leading man from the Broadway stage, Richard Hart. Purchase of WHIZ, Zanesville, by three men ol that city has been announced. They are Orville B. Littick, Clay Littick and Ernest B. Graham. Local theatres greeted the New Year with New Year's eve midnight shows at slightly tilted admissions. The Ohio had "The Razor's Edge," the Palace presented Alvino Rey and his orchestra on stage and the Grand had a preview of "Margie" which opened its regular run two days later at the Palace. KANSAS CITY Frank Tracy and William Reinke, former Kansas City show business figures, have set up a theatre brokerage and talent booking office in the Chambers Building. Tracy continues in his work as lieutenant colonel in charge of the Civil Air Patrol for Missouri. Reinke has recently returned to Kansas City from the west coast. Annual bonuses totalling $1,100 were given out to some 20-odd employes of Loew's Midland Theatre. Mr. and Mrs. Gail A. Shikles, parents of Craig Stevens, are spending the holidays in 'Hollywood. Their Christmas gift from son Craig and his wife (Alexis Smith) was a pair of round trip railroad tickets. Annual party for employes of Loew's Midland theatre was held in the house backstage after closing, Dec. 19. Feature of the evening was the presentation of service pins to 16 members of the staff. Russ Bovim, manager, received the pin for the longest service, 23 years, with Loew's. Other pins went to Martin Maher, assistant manager, Clarence Bennie, Major Archer, Frank Dowd, Joetta Gilmore, John Morgan, Walter Patterson, Leonard Stewart, Ada Thyous and Michael Lowe, each 19 years ; Harry Frank, 15 years ; Clifford Tyhurst, John Hogan and Ed Maier, 10 years. Eats and fun were the main events on the program with speeches by M. J. "Mike" Cullen, division manager, and Bovim limited to one minute only. Fox Midwest home office employes held their annual party at the Hotel Muehlebach Dec. 19. Elmer Rhoden, president of Fox Midwest Amusement Corporation, operating theatres in the Missouri-Kansas-Illinois belt, will head up a large new citizen's organization to combine city, county and school bond drives for next spring's election. Jimmy Waldo, 10-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Buster E. Waldo, is none the worse after his recent experience of being locked in the State theatre, Kansas City, Kansas, secondrun, after closing one night just before Christmas. Alarmed when Jimmy did not return his parents asked J. H. Knowles and Charles Ormsbee, patrolmen, to try to find the lad at the theatre. The officers found the door locked and Jimmy screaming on the inside. They phoned Leo Stolzer, manager, and learned that a rear door of the State could be unlocked from