Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, November 12, 1949 23 Regional Newsxeel News of Events and Personalities Reported by Correspondents Throughout the Nation ST. LOUIS President Edward B. Arthur of the St. Louis Amusement Company stated that refusal of the board of Aldermen of Overland, Mo., to approve of rezoning for the construction of a fourscreen 1,000-car drive-in will not stop its plans but that another site in the general neighborhood would be selected. St. Louis Amusements plans to build two other under-skyers with four screens and accommodating 1,000 cars, costing about $150,000 each, one in the central western part of St. Louis county and the other in the southeastern part of the county. Twentieth Century-Fox President Spyros P. Skouras will be the special guest speaker Nov. 15 at the annual St. Louis Week dinner, conducted by the St. Louis Chamber of Commerce. . . . Timmy Tapella, assistant to Mrs. Bessie Shulter at the Columbia and Roxy theatres here, was recently released from St. John's Hospital following a hernia operation. . . . Pirtle Amusement Company President Sam Pirtle returned to his home in Jerseyville, 111., last week and is reported making an excellent recovery from his second operation at a St. Louis hospital. Teddy Todd is the new publicist and exploiteer for 20th-Fox in this area. . . . Columbia exchange's Rose Mary Ragusa was married Nov. 4 in University City. . . . F. R. "Bud" Moran, salesman for various film companies in this area, has joined the sales staf¥ of Eagle Lion Manager Edward Cohen in Omaha. . . . Robert Gable, formerly of Lawrence, Kan., has succeeded Henry Seamon as Manager of Commonwealth's New Calvin, Washington, Mo., and Seamon has been transferred to Searcy, Ark., to manage the circuit's drive-in there. Dead: 'Charles S. Moran, projectionist at the St. Louis Garrick, on Nov. 2. . . . Guy Faul, 72, former part-owner of the Lyric, Winchester, 111., on Nov. 2, of a heart ailment in Jacksonville, 111. . . . Mrs. Mary A. LaPlante, wife of Arthur LaPlante, Columbia assistant manager and St. Louis city salesman, Oct. 30, following an operation. OMAHA Tri-States District Manager Bill Miskell is giving a change of pace to its drive by holding district meetings outside Omaha. The first was at Grand Island with managers coming in from as far away as Sioux City. . . . Guy Griffin is remodeling the Cass at Plattsmouth. . . . Betty Lannon, daughter of West Point Exhibitor Phil Lannon, was married here. . . . Glenn Van Wey, Gothenburg (Neb.) exhibitor, is back from a checkup at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Paramount Manager M. E. Anderson is vacationing in the South, Eagle Lion District Manager Harold Beecroft was here from Dallas. . . . EL Auditor John Vallin was also in town. . . . A recreation room is being built' for employes in the RKO exchange. . . . Caroline Joyce of Universal was operated on at a local hospital and will not return to work for several weeks. Mrs. Anto Polanka bought the Shelby Theatre, Shelby, Neb., from Earl Barclay and Laura Moorehead of Stromsburg, Neb. . . . E. C. Lund is building an addition to the Glud Theatre, Viborg, S. D. Part will be used for a concession stand, part for rental and in the spring the auditorium will be enlarged. . . . L. A. Bramson REGIONAL NEWS INDEX Albany 27 Atlanta 25 Boston 25 Buffalo 28 Cincinnati 28 Cleveland 27 Columbus 24 Denver 28 Des Moines 26 Hartford 23 Indianapolis 24 Kansas City 27 Los Angeles 25 Louisville 26 Milwaukee 25 Minneapolis 28 New Orleans ' 23 New York 26 Oklahoma City 27 Omaha 23 Pittsburgh 27 Portland 24 St. Louis 23 Salt Lake City 26 San Francisco 24 Toronto 23 Vancouver 24 Washington 26 will shut down the State, Elk Point, S. D., for three weeks in December. He has been ill of pneumonia and wants to get away for a rest. RKO Booker Howard Clark spent the weekend in Kansas City visiting RKO Booker Bob Ivraus there. . . . Elmer Huhnke, Minne Lusa owner, and Independent Booker Oscar Hanson attended the Allied meeting in Minneapolis. NEW ORLEANS "Port of Entry," 20th Century-Fox production, will be filmed in New Orleans. It will be directed by Elia Kazan. Casting Director William Mayberry is expected to arrive here this month to select Louisiana actors to appear with the Hollywood cast. A new drive-in, on the Air Line highway just 10 minutes from the heart of New Orleans, will open the first of January. Owned by Woolner Theaters, Inc., which also operates other driveins in New Orleans, at Memphis and Little Rock, the new 1,000-car, $200,000 drive-in will be called the Air-Line Drive-In. Bernard Woolner said it would be the largest in the South and will use first-run films. It will have a screen tower 70 x 70 feet which will withstand a 250mile wind, Woolner said. Sound and projection equipment were specially designed. The drivein has a promenade of 75 feet and a patio where refreshments will be served. Lawrence Woolner will be the manager. Universal Manager Charlie Otto is off on a two weeks' vacation. . . . Paramount employes held a gala Hallowe'en party at the office. All for One Manta-Rose's Hammond, Inc., drive-in, according to a Chicago reports, is featuring twin film bills with buck night shows, allowing whole families in one auto to enter the drive-in for $1. HARTFORD Micliael J. Daly has been named Connecticut sales representative for Harry Goldman and Bob Cobe, Boston theatre premium distributors. . . . Connie Sessca is the new doorman at the Hartford Center. . . . Howard Spodak, brother of the Lincoln and Crown theatres. New Haven, executive, has joined the house staff of the New England circuit's Paramount in that city. . . . Barbara Faydozzi is new on the service staff of the Hartford Crown. . . . George Prescourt and George Reese have joined the service stafif of the East Hartford Eastwood. . . . State Usher Edward Salone was named chief of the service staff. . . . John Ahearne and Joe Bilaek have joined the Meriden in Meriden as projectionists. . . . Peggy McCarthy, Ann Carnar and Grace Prescott are new cashiers at the State. . ..Service staff additions at the Hartford are William Orsini, Ralph Bohm, doormen ; and David Fitzgibbons, Arthur Grimaldi, Robert Utterback, Don Mullane, Jerry Cutner, ushers. New England Theatres District Manager Ben Rosenberg visited Manager Raymond McNamara and Assistant John R. Patno here. . . . William Barnett resigned from the service staff' of the East Hartford Eastwood. . . . Manager Jack A. Sansone of the State, Manchester, Conn., is due back from sick leave on Nov. IS. . . . Mrs. Henry L. Needles, wife of Warner Theatres Hartford district manager, has been released from a local hospital following an operation. . . . Bill Mortensen, managing director of the Bushnell Memorial, Hartford, has been elected a director of the Pheonix State Bank and Trust of Hartford. ... A baby daughter was born to Manager John Cordeiros of the Academy, Fall River, Mass., and his wife. . . . Manager Fred Raimo of the Circle, Manchester, Conn., and Mary Renn of that city, were married Nov. 5 ; John Mancini, chief of the service staff of the Hartford Strand, is relief manager during the couple's honeymoon. Ruth Gumbelobich of the Paramount exchange in New Haven has been re-elected president of Local F-41, front office employes, in th?'' <:ity. Also re-elected were Republic's Caroline Marra, vice-president ; Universal's Lucy Baransky, treasurer ; Paramount's Theresa Poppa, secretary. Dead : Michael Adballa, 65, for years associated with the Palace, New Britain. TORONTO The Motion Picture Theatres Association of Ontario gave complete endorsement to the aims of the Motion Picture Industry Council of Canada at the former organization's convention in Toronto. Chairman J. J. Fitzgibbons of the MPICC was unable to be present and his assistant, Morris Stein, presented the purposes of the Council to the convention, stating that "public relations means everything in our business." Stein also urged that the MPTAO press for relief from the 20 per cent admission tax. The Ontario Ass'n approved the national committee's move that all Canadian exhibitor bodies should apply to the government for a television license for all theatres in the Dominion. The MPTAO elected four new directors : Ben Ulster. Broadway, Toronto; Harry Mandell, 20th Century Theatres ; Stan Gosmell. manager, {Continued on Page 24)