Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, December 24, 1949 Minn. Judge Rules Lotto Illegal Lotto games, known by various trade names, are illegal under the Minnesota state antigambling law, District Court Judge Paul W. Guilford ruled in Minneapolis this week. Judge Guilford's ruling may open the way for theatremen to attack the Minneapolis city ordinance, which permits such gambling when sponsored by charitable, fraternal or benevolent groups. In fact, North Central Allied President Ben Berger indicated that such action was contemplated, declaring that the games have "been draining dollars off our box-office." Pat McGee Denver Unit Moves Foi Variety Affiliation Denver's Rocky Mountain Screen Club took another step toward becoming affiliated with the Variety Clubs International, this week, when it elected its officers to conform to Variety Club regulations. The following officers, to be installed next month, were elected, and Denver sources said the affiliation of the former Screen Club with the new tent will take place at a dinner in early February when R. J. O'Donnell, chief barker, Variety Clubs International, is expected to deliver the charter : Pat McGee, general manager of Cooper Foundation Theatres, chief barker; Bernie Hynes, first assistant ; Hall Baetz, second assistant ; William Hastings, property master ; Harry Green, dough guy. Canvasmen will be R. C. Hill, Fred Brown, Ed Mapel, W. H. McLaren, Duke Dunbar and Kenneth Smith, Robert Selig and Mayer Monsky. Variety Club Notes The Atlanta Variety Club, which recently had a visit from International Chief Barker R. J. O'Donnell, this week elected the following for 1950: Chief Barker Guy Brown, First Assistant John Cunningham, Second Assistant Emery Austin, Dough Guy R. B. Wilby, Property Master Willis Davis and Directors Harry Balhnce, L. J. Duncan, Boyd Fry, John Fulton, J. E. Hobbs, R. J. Ingram . . . Louis Gordon has been elected chief barker of the Boston Variety Club, succeeding Horace Stoneman. Gordon is one of the youngest men to hold the post . . . Cleveland Tent Chief Barker Irwin Shenker has appointed the following committee chairmen : House — Lou Ratener ; Entertainment— Sanford Gottlieb, Sanford Leavitt, Leonard Greeneberg, Milton Grant, to serve on a quarterly rotating basis ; Trailers — Oscar Ruby, Nat Barach ; Membership — Milton Mooney, Nat Barach; Public Relations — Harold Greenberger, Sidney Friedman; Welfare — Irwin Pollard ; Hospitality — Tony Stern ; Constitution and by-laws — Justin Spiegle; Secretarial— Hilbert Horwitz, Milton Grant; Scholarship— Dick Wright. Highlight of the club's festivities this week was its annual Christmas party for needy children which featured a turkey dinner and a floor show. Robert Snyder and E. J. Stutz were in charge of arrangements . . . Canvassmen selected for the San Francisco Variety Club are : Nate Blumenfeld, William Coovert, Ken Dailey, Neal East, Cliff Formerly 219.95 THE GREATEST VALUE IN television! You Con Toke It With You THE ART OF SUGGESTING folks away from the movies in order to buy television is probably the idea behind the above ad which appeared in a New Orleans newspaper to advertise video sets in a town which has no network connections. Note the flag in the upper left hand corner. Giesseman, Al Grubstick, Rotus Harvey, Jerry Karski, Mel Klein, Spence Leve, Ellis Levy. Directors for the Variety Club of Wisconsin, who will serve during 1950 are Arnold Brumm. Jack Lorentz, James Kilbert, Gordon Hewitt, Joseph Strother, Harry Melcher, Ben Marcus, Charles Trampe, Joe Imhoff, Bob Haynes, John McKay . . . Joseph Ansell was elected chief barker of the St. Louis Variety Club, succeeding Tom Canavan. Other officers are : First Asistant Paul Krueger ; Second Assistant Johnnie Meinardi ; Property Master Dick Fitzmaurice ; Dough Guy Mike Riordan. Canvassmen are : Fred Joseph Les Grand, Sam Levin, Rus Bovin, Herb Washburn, Jim Tapella . . . The Columbus Variety Club tied in with the Dispatch this year to put on a second annual kids' festival, held for five days before Christmas in the State House yard, with rides supplied by Floyd Gooding, and popcorn supplied by local theatres. Chief Barker John Barcroft was executive chairman with Chief Barker Elect Frank Ferneau and Ramon Cram, promotion manager of the Dispatch. 'Thief Heads Board's 10 Best The Exceptional Film.s Committee of the National Board of Review this week selected "The Bicycle Thief," Italian import, as the best film of 1949 and cited its director, Vittorio de Sica, as the best director of the year. Other selections were in the order named : Film Document's "The Quiet One;" MGM's "Intruder in the Dust;" Paramount's "The Heiress ;" AFE's French-made "The Devil in the Flesh;" Eagle Lion's British-made "Quartet;" Rosselini's "Germany Year Zero;" United Artists' "Home of the Brave ;" 20th CenturyFox's "Letter to Three Wives ;" Sir Alexander Korda's "Fallen Idol." Acting honors went to Ralph Richardson for his work in "The Fallen Idol" and "The Heiress," as the best performance of 1949, while meritorious citations were awarded Gerard Philippe for "Devil in the Flesh," Lamberto Maggiornia and Enzo Staiola for their work in "The Bicycle Thief," and Pierre Fresnay for "Monsieur Vincent." Graham Greene was cited for the script on "Fallen Idol." Conn. Showmen Face Wage Law Connecticut theatres this week faced the possibility that they might be brought under the state's widened minimum wage law as Gov. Chester Bowles and State Labor Commissioner John J. Eagan agreed on a resurvey of four fields of employment affecting approximately 150,000 workers. Included in these four fields are some 8,500 employes in theatres, shooting galleries, bowling alleys and other places of "recreation" who are said to average $19.90 a week. Gov. Bowles, unable to get a 75-cent minimum wage law from the legislature, asked Eagan to cover more employes by minimum wage orders, which the state's Minimum Wage Board is empowered to make effective by order. 28 Columbus Houses Shutter Before Xmas The number of neighborhood theatres in Columbus, Ohio, which closed during the preChristmas week to beat the slump, had risen to 28 this wek with many scheduled to be closed on Christmas Eve. The 28 included the Arlington, Avondale, Beechwold, Boulevard, Champion, Cleve, Columbia, Dixie, Drexel, Empress, Esquire, Garden, Grandview, Hollywood, Hudson, Indianola, Lane, Linden, Livingston, Main, Northern, Old Trail, Parsons, Pythian, University, Victor and Westmont. The J. Real Neth Theatres — the Eastern, Markham, Bexley, Clinton, Cameo, Lincoln, and the State ; the Perkas-operated houses — Ritz, Rivoli and Oal, and the World, the Little of the H & S Group, the Southern, Uptown, Majestic, and the Wilbur and the Fifth Avenue, remained open. MPAA Adds Advice Unit foi Foieign Films The Motion Picture Association of America this week approved a plan to set up an "informational and advisory" unit to assist producers of foreign-language pictures who may wish to distribute them into the United States. The organization, which will act purely as an advisor, will be headed by International Chief John G. McCarthy, and at present consists of Loew's International President Arthur M. Loew, RKO Foreign Distribution Vice-President Phil Reisman ; 20th Century-Fox International President Murray Silverstone, and Joseph M. Seidelman, president of Universal-International's foreign department. Further expansion with paid and advisory personnel is planned. Rountree Will Rebuild Blasted Theatre Exhibitor Leon Rountree, whose Holly at Holly Springs, Miss., was wrecked Dec. 15 by a blast thought to have been caused by a leaky line in a recently installed natural gas blower-type heating system, this week announced that he planned to rebuild the 400-seat house, immediately. The blast, which shook the tow-n, occurred between 10:30 and 11 P.M.. after the theatre had closed for the night and emptied a full house.