Showmen's Trade Review (Oct-Dec 1949)

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SHOWMEN'S TRADE REVIEW, December 31, 1949 25 Show Business The peace and goodwill season did not pass up theatres this yeai*. In Louisville, William Rosenthal's Vogue tied in with the St. Matthews Chamber of Commerce for a special show with the kids bringing toys as admission and the toys in turn being turned over to the county fire department for the needy children. Approximately 1,200 kids came in with a second show given for approximately 1,000 orphans free In Salt Lake, Harry Ashton, manager of the Uptown, held a "Make believe party" featuring story telling for the kids plus cartoons, candy and Santa Claus, which is a follow-up to the 30-men "Pops" concert he put on with a special orchestra The Lyric, same town, gave a special Kris Kringle Corporal drive, to aid the needy with Republic donating pictures to Manager Warren T. Butler The Bountiful, also Salt Lake, gave free shows for needy children under direction of Manager Julian Bills .... Dan McLean and Lee Dibble of the Embassy, San Francisco nabe house again served free cake, punch and cookies to all patrons. * * * Out in Omaha, the Children's Memorial Hospital received a complete portable movie set from the Ballantyne Company and R. D. Goldberg, staged a special Christmas show at the Dundee with the proceeds going to the World Herald Good Fellows Fund which provides toys to the youngsters and food for the needy Tri-States also held a Christmas party for some 150 employes with District Manager William Miskell starting the party off with an at 8 A. M. breakfast. Mrs. Jean Chenail, manager of the Williams at North Adams, Mass., has resigned with the E. M. Loew circuit not announcing her replacement to date Max Hoffman, who recently resigned as Warner Bros. New England zone chief booker had a party thrown for him at the Reacebrook Country Club Fanchon and Marco do not plan to raise admissions for their New Year's Eve show in St. Louis. . . . Their Fox went Vaude on Dec. 24 with a policy of eight acts which is scheduled . to be varied occasionally by name band acts and personalities. . . . The Home, Oklahoma City, was robbed of $800 at closing time . . . Seven boys were being held by Davenport, Iowa, authorities for damaging the screen of the Sunset by allegedly shooting it up with metal clips from rubber bands. . . . Guthrie Crowe, president of the Kentucky Association of Theatre Owners, has been named March of Dimes chairman and Russell Phillips, manager of the Franklin at Greensburg has been elected to the city council. * * * The Calways, who operated the LaFarge at LaFarge, Wise, have renamed the house the Mars. . . . Chicago Allied held Open House last week for members and other film folk. . . . The remodeled Astor, Toronto, is running "The Tinderbox," Swedish cartoon feature with English subtitles. . . . Paramount Publicity Director E. H. Fitzgibbon has recovered from his recent illness and is back on the job. . . . Estelle O'Toole. secretary to Henry L. Needles, Warner Theatres Hartford district manager, is back after an illness. MANAGERIAL CHANGES: Dan McLean and Lee Dibble, co-owners of San Francisco's downtown Embassy, have taken over the 1,000-seat neighborhood Ellis from Bill David. . . . R. M. McKibbin has returned to the management of the remodeled Victoria. Toronto, which reopened Dec. 28. Best Training I.M.P.S. Member Lewis Turner, relief operator in Nashville, Tenn., contends ttiat the best training an apprentice projectionist can get is to work without reel alarms. This will develop a sense of alertness and responsibility. Turner believes. He has been doing just that in a smalltown theatre. 2,000 Kids Attend Dandrea Xmas Patty Alore than 2,000 children crowded the Stanley Theatre in Bridgeton, N. J., on Dec. 24 for the third annual Christmas Party instigated by Manager Dan Dandrea and sponsored by the Bridgeton Merchants Association, of which Dandrea is president. 'Santa Claus made a personal appearance on the Stanley stage shortly after the children assembled for the matinee and proceeded to interview the smaller fry, presenting each of them a gift from his huge pack. Santa's visit was followed by games, carols and a screen show. Toys and goodies by the bushel w'ere donated by local merchants, including dolls, games, candy canes, comic books, fruits and other things dear to the hearts of the youngsters. The Bridgeton Evening News carried a front-page picture of gifts on display and a story, while an editorial praised Dandrea and the local merchants for their true Christmas spirit hi doing everything to make the youngsters happy. First to Use Video First use of television by local theatres in Omaha came on Christmas Eve. Tri-State Theatres presented an 8-minute reel, " 'Twas the Night Before Christmas," over KMA-TV. ^Stars in Making^ Series in Piqua Amateur talent that may develop into star material in the entertainment world abounds in many places. Manager Thor Hauschild of Schine's Piqua, Piqua, Ohio, is one manager who is determined to seek it out. His means of discovering the hidden talent among Piqua residents is a series of 1,3 half -hour shows on his stage recorded for radio broadcast. Only two of the series had been give nun to the first week in December, but their success has been astonishing even to Hauschild. The "Stars in the Making," as he called the series, is something easily to be duplicated in almost any sized town and will garner goodwill and civic standing for both theatre and exhibitor. The merchants of Piqua have shown an unexpected and appreciative interest in "Stars in the Making" as shown through their donation of prizes which is snowballing into a whale of a lot of loot for the winners in the 13 shows. .A.mong the articles to be awarded on the final night of the series, are : set of Rogers silverware, 20 pounds of butter, five $5 meal tickets, 25 gallons of gasoline, two $25 cash awards, a $15 set of stainless steel tableware, 20 spaghetti dinners, another 50 gallons of gasoline, camera, pen and pencil set, large barrel of groceries, case of motor oil, three $5 tickets, three 10-pound hams, ton of coal, more cash prizes, five individual gallons of ice cream — and more coming in every week. Hauschild publicizes these live talent shows in his lobby display built around some of the donated prizes, with others listed on the "wings" attached to the display, all surmounted with a portrait of one of the talent discoveries, the "Stars in the flaking" title standing out conspicuously.