Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1947)

SHOWMEN S TRADE REVIEW, October 18, 1947 PHILADELPHIA Columbia Southeastern Division Manager Harr> Weiner became a grandfather over the weekend, his daughter-in-law, Mrs. Herb Weiner, having given birth to an 8 pound. 10 ounce son at a New York hospital. Virginia Mayo and Michael O'Shea spent a combination honeymoon and personal appearance in Philadelphia last week, Virginia doing advance work on "Secret Life of Walter Mitty" and O'Shea tagging along to be near his recently-acquired wife. Messrs. Callow and Blum)xTg of the Stanley-Warner advertising department acted as hosts and kept the O'Sheas busy fur their three-day visit. The Variety Club, Tent No. 13, is sponsoring an old clothing collection for the displaced persons of Europe. Many theatres in Northwest Philadelphia were thrown into a "blackout" for over an hour due to a break in the power of the Philadelphia Electric Company. The "blackout" came at 9 :00 p.m. Saturday evening, one of the worst times for such a catastrophe to happen to a theatre owner. Paramount re-opened the Frankford Theatre this week on a last-run, double-bill policy. Renovations were made wliile it was closed for the summer. The porter of one of the central city theatres was sent by his manager to the Center Theatre to see Mr. Goldman and pick up an envelope. However, when he returned without the package, it turned out that he had gone to the Goldman Theatre and asked for Mr. Center. Latest independent distributor to hit the Street is Box-Offlce Pictures, comprising former Paramount salesman Johnny SchaefTer, Nelson Wa.x, and c/thers. They will handle two Universal re-issues a month. The granddaughter of Benny Glatz, NKl.Xf projectionist, was seriously hurt in a fall. Ben Rosenthal, Columbia booker, has taken his young daughter home from the hospital. New clerk at Clark Film is Janet Saltzman. Ruth Dubrovv, Eagle-Lion bookkeeper, has returned to her desk after a seige of illncs-. ST. LOUIS The Railway Express Agency has asked permission from the Missouri Public Service Commission to increase express rates from 14 to 54 per cent, depending on haul and classification. The Kerasotes Bros, will open the Senate Theatre in Springfield, 111., about Nov. 1. House has been rebuilt and the seating capacity raised from 860 to 1,200. Improvements, including new equipment, will cost around $75,000. Paul Musser, who operates theatres in Casey and other southern Illinois spots, had a narrow escape from death when his auto skidded on wet, loose gravel, near Casey, and crashed into a telephone pole. No bones were broken but he was hospitalized for two days. Ix)cal economy wave finds Jay Zimmerman, office manager for MGM, off the payroll after 27 years of service. Herman Schwartz, salesman, and an office girl at Eagle-Lion, have been REGIONAL NEWS INDEX Atlanta 25 Boston 23 Charlotte 23 Chicago 20 Cleveland 24 Columbus 17 Denver 18 Des Moines 18 Harrisburg 22 Hartford 18 Indianapolis 22 Los Angeles '8 Louisville 23 Milwaukee 22 New Haven 22 New York '7 Omaha 20 Philadelphia IV Portland 18 St. Louis 17 Salt Lake City 23 San Francisco 24 Toronto 25 Vancouver 25 Washington 24 dropped. Paramount dropped a salesman. MGM salesman are off the road, making sales by telephone. Tony Tedesco has been added to the Warner sales staff, taking over the southern Missouri territory formerly covered by D. J. Edele who is now St. Louis manager for Film Classics. The wife of Jimmy Bradford, Columbia salesman, is ill at their home in Quincy, 111. Harry Arthur, Fanchon and Marco executive, now in Boston, expects to leave, upon his return here, for the west coast. Inmates of various St. Louis institutions will continue to enjoy weekly motion picture shows, which were about to be discontinued, largely through the efforts of David F. Barrett and the St. Louis Times. Theatre managers who will speak on the Youth Cinema Clubs of America, founded by Mrs. A. B. Burt of St. Louis, at the October meetings of the Better Films Council of Greater St. Louis will be Joseph Dvvyer of the Maffit, and Irving Wenzel of the Manchester, both in St. Louis; Vernon Whiteside of the Shady Oak in Clayton, R. H. Wendt of the Osage in Kirkwood and Jack Siepker of the Ozark in Webster Grove. The Rodgers and Yale Theatres in Anna, 111., the Ritz in Cobden and the Doll in Joneshoro were forced to close for six hours, Sunday, Oct. 6, when a trunk cable at the plant supplying their electric power was burned out. Yields to Cemetery A second drive-in theatre which was to have been built in the Milwaukee area has been abandoned due mainly to objections raised by the Wisconsin Memorial Cemetery management to its location near the burying ground, though there were other objections. The county sheriff, among others, held that the narrowness of the highway would make it almost impossible to control traffic when the show was over. 17 NEW YORK The ;Motion Picture Bookers Club jammed the balloon-decorated grand ballroom of the Hotel Commodore last Sunday for its eighth annual shindig and clambake which turned out to be one of the merriest events of the season. .\ffair was strictly fun with President Oscar Lager setting the good example of no speeches. Committees were : Arrangements : Eddie Richter. Harold Margolis, co-chairmen, Lou Wolff' ; Publicity— Melvin Morganstern, Milton Arnsvvalder, Ruth Lowenthall ; Tickets — Al Blumber, Ben Levien, Sam Feinblum, Bernic Myerson, Fred Mayer, Ann Plisco, Jean Slade, Lou Trachtman, Jack P'erley, George Blendermann. Harold Klein, Larry Morris, George Trilling, Joe Ingber, Irving Kaplan, Lou Fischler. Archie Berisch, Myron Starr, Lucille Taniienbaum, Etta Segall, Adeline Ginsberg, Tony .\goglia. Film row offices in part had to go without water for several days last week because a main burst and the street had to be busted up first to get at it. Employes were also putting in protests about working on Columbus Day. Herman Beadeker has moved up from the iOth Century-Fox poster department to the contract department. Estelle Sichelman, same outfit, has resigned from the bookkeeping department. Mildred Landau, ex-film rowite has put out a swanky card, announcing the arrival of the "new landau," to get over the information that she is the mother of a seven-pound, four-ounce boy named Ronald Steven. Ex-filmrowite Gertrude Strull and Murie Cappell were back on the row visiting friends. And Exhibitor Sylvan Leff, of the Highland Theatre at Utica, was a film row visitor. Sylvia Zelvin, formerly a cashier at MGM, has left the Leo, the Lion, to join an outfit under the British Lion. Her new job is with tiie J. Arthur Rank organization. COLUMBUS District Theatres of Washington, D. C, which operate in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia, is scheduled to move into the middle west with the erection of a 1,000 seat theatre planned on a piece of property recently bought at the corner of Howard and Beach Streets. Construction is to start Jan. 1. Al Taylor, 92-year-old veteran exhibitor whose 50 years in the field had covered founding the Dixie, was buried in Madison Hills Cemetery last week. A member of the Columbus Variety Club, he is survived by four daughters—Mrs. Charles Miller. Mrs. F. H. Burr of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Mrs. Goldie Raye and Miss Mae Taylor of Columbus, three sons — Roy R., Charles G., and Delton, — and five grandchildren. Funeral services were also held last week for James Gregory, 71, operator of the Shelby State. His widow, two sons and two daughters survive. Ray Ketchum, president of the Wooster Junior Commerce Chamber has been named manager of the Wooster Skyline Auto Theatre. (Continued on Page 18)