Variety (Nov 1940)

8 EXPLOITATION Wednesday, November 6, 1940 Learning at first-Hand While it's nothing new to film salesmen .who see what happens or doesn't happen in the field, producers are themselves beginning to learn about and lament the apathy of the average exhibitor in getting behind pictures which they place. Among these of recent date was Walter Wanger who is reported to have been shocked over the lack of show- manship interest exhibited by many accounts in selling their product to the public. ;•>'..'• The . lack of support among exhibi- tors is not confined to the. smaller independents but- includes larger chains/particularly |hose: which have whole towns sewed. up and buy the pictures of .all companies. Where this occurs, the average, manager' merely uses small ads in the papers, often taking them from the press books or getting put cheap copy themselves. The lack of effort ex- tended in getting local publicity and in exploitation tieups is also decried by distributors-as well-as the pro-. ;. ducers who are not so familiar with the activity of the 1 ' exhibitors. . It is pointed out by a leading showman that most top-bracket or high-budget pictures have . received 'sOihething' from . their producers but that advertising and selling must put into such pictures what they lack, this being where showmanship counts. There is no doubt but that many pictures are put over for big- ger gains- in New York and some other highly-competitive keys be^ cause . the \ theatre managers use every' means at their command to. Bell whatever they are playing. • '■: This costs the.theatres money but it frequently is bread cast upon the waters that comes back many times; whereas in scores of situations, from small to comparatively large that are controlled by circuits or local indies,: the lines of least resistance are fol- lowed. In highly competitive situa- tions an account often, goes out of the way to. get a good showing for a distributor so that he, might continue to be favored as a customer through his capable efforts in putting film' over. Against this, where a town is controlled, the distrib has to sell the same customer over and over again regardless of what happens to his product when it is dated. Meantime, these accounts are constantly com- plaining about rentals, whereas if effective local • showmanship figured more importantly, the money on the gross that applies to rental might - turn out to be comparatively reason- able. Without the showmanship, the fixed rental might otherwise appear excessive. Gloria Jeaii arrives east tomorrow (7) for appearances in various RKO theatres on that day, Friday, Satur- day and Sunday in. connection with 'Little Bit of Heaven,' in which the 12-year-old singing starlet has a role. . Putting in personals in. Westchester RKO houses .tomorrow. (Thurs), youngster Friday (8) will take bows at the Albee, Brooklyn, and various Queens theatres; Saturday (9) in the Bronx. and upper East Side and Sunday in Brooklyn nabes. NW AiG^ A^s More Baliy, Extended Time For th^ Belter Films Minneapolis, Nov. 5. ; Man bites dog story gets new twist with Northwest Allied .here coming out for 'greater; emphasis, on exploitation of the better pictures through various means' of publicity and . extended . playing: time', as . a means of 'renewing the public's in- terest in movies and building greater theatre attendance/ Usually this ter- ritory's independents place all the re- sponsibility for unsatisfactory grosses on the producer-distributors because of inferior product, and meetings are given over to recitals of grievances. At the organization's district, meet- ing, : however, the better exploita- tion, and the extended playing time were declared to be 'the most ef- fective solutions of the problem that could be ; adopted;' But it also was pointed but that :'never in the indus- try's history have. there been so many forms of. competition' for the- atres to combat. -V - .'■'_ ■. As to advancing admission, prices for selected pictures, the exhibitors decided that 'there must be a differ- ent method of releasing and protec- tion granted to exhibitors agreeing to boost scales'—a method different from that employed by M-rG with 'Boom Town.' - WB STARS TO NEW MEX. FOR'SANTA FF PREEM Hollywood, Nov. 5. New Mexico takes a three-day holiday Dec. 14^16 to celebrate the world premiere of Warners' 'Santa Fe Trail' at Santa Fe. Picture is ex- pected to fetch 80,000 customers into town, with openings in three thea- tres at $2.20 top. Scheduled, for. personal appear- ances . are Errol •: Flyhn, Olivia de Havilland, Raymond, Massey, Alan Hale, Ronald Reagan, Guinn Wil- liams and Van Heflin. . Merchants, Theatres In AMround Rock Heap Rochester, N. Y.; Nov* 5. First complete merchant-theatre tieup was arranged here by manager Lester Pollock, Loew's, and manager Jay Golden, RKO Palace, with 'Shop, Dine and Go .to a Movie* week open- ing Nov. 21. Chamber of Commerce and newspapers are cooperating. . Idea, which was initiated by Loew's district manager Charles Kurtzman, includes selling the public by every form of exploitation, radio, special ads, editorials and street decorations. Sponsors figure to get people down- town,, sell them some bargains, give them a swell time and thereby, tend to make it a habit as height of sea- son approaches. s Del Exhib Hypoes B.O. Via Detroit, Nov. 5. Kramer theatre here has turned . its back on the present .film, era and: all \ Saturday midnight shows are showing films more : . than 20 years old. ; ■ V- Initial program was 'Cash Parish's Pal,'-With William S. Hart; 'Race for Life,' with Barney Oldfield; 'Mystery in Manhattan,' with Douglas Fair r banks and Jewel Carmen, and a newsreel containing shots of the San ; Francisco earthquake and bathing beauties of 190^; First try. was successful and idea Is being continued. 00 TEARS FOR HOLDTTF Laredo, Texas, Nov. 5. : Fred Torres, arrested in San An-, . tonio several months ago in connec- tion with the attempted holdup of the. Tivolo here last August, was found guilty and assessed 50 years in the state penitentiary. ■■■ >■ ■ Gene Autry party, similar to the one recently heltTin New York, will be tossed at the Hotel Manger in Boston Saturday (9) for kids se- lected by 75 theatres in the terri- tory which show Autry pictures. Warbling cowhand,, who • is appear• ing with the rodeo in Boston, will play host to the kids. , Stunt is being promoted in Boston, same as in N. Y., by Dave '. Whalen, Rep publicity head. Bill is footed by the participating theatres. Each one sends a boy and a girl chosen on a bingo idea from stubs dropped in a. box during showing of an Autry picture. Pleasant Queue-Wait '' • Toledo, Nov.: 5. Believing that. many would be standing in line at the Loew's Yal entine to see 'Great Dictator' biiert ing day (31V Jack Lykes, manager, arranged with the Willard hotel grill, adjoining the theatre, to have waitresses : serve hot coffee and doughnuts to those standing in;line A chain service from the grill was maintained throughout the morning. In addition, Paul Spor and hi5 or- chestra were in front of the house to play some of the score of 'Dic- tator.' Tog Tickets' Rainchecks At Drive-In Theatre Houston, Nov. 5. *FogTickets,* Issued to patrons of the Texas Drive-in theatre in an emergency when a heavy fog rolled up from the bayous, are ah innova- tion established by F. F, HcHenry, new manager of the Drive-In. v The theatre operates every night, regardless of the weather, but if a heavy fog rolls in or a heavy rain- storm obscures the screen, 'fog tick- ets' redeemable at any show within a : month of the date, are issued to patrons. ;;. •• ;y Nearly 400 Theatres Represented at Ohio Columbus, Nov. 5. . Annual 'convention ot the Ohio ITO, held Oct. 30-31 at the Deshler WaUick hotel, proved to be the out- standing get-together of indie ex r hibitbrs in recent years. Nearly 400 theatres were represented, plus reps from the major film distributors, equipment companies' and other Allied units. ; Contrary to , precedent—most ex- hibitor meetings have plenty of idle chatter—each of the speakers oh the two-day program contributed at least one constructive thought. Sidney Samuelson, Philly chairman of AID, explained the activities of the new Allied information bureau, 'Ultimate purpose of this office is to supply exhibitors • with data on their. own businesses comparable, to that al- ready possessed by ; film salesmen'.* He told of the difficulties over 'Ari- zona* with Abe Montague of Colum- bia, convention passing a resolution otesting. company's refusal to co- operate with AID. Abram F. Myers, cdunser for Na- tional Allied, discussed, in detail the consent decree, observing, 'Nothing can prevent the film companies from grouping, one desirable picture with four Unwanted ones, therefore I can-' not see where the settlement is in the interests of the independent ex- hibitors.' Arthur Kelly, v.p. and general sales manager of UA> impressed the indies with. a straightforward dis- course on the problems facing the industry today. Admitting there may be a need for adjustments' he voiced the plea that everyone in the indus- try recognize 4he difficulties facing each branch, cooperating in preserv- ing the high standards of; the Ameri- can film .business. • : He stressed- the point that quality of production must be maintained^-or else! H. M. Richey of Metro could see nothing wrong with the industry that good pictures couldn't solve. He expressed the hope that someday he might attend an exhibitors' meeting where the discussions were on how to Improve business-^not the fight to justify existence. : Presided over. by Judge Arthur Day of the Ohio Supreme Court, the testimonial dinner honoring ITOO president Martin G. Smith, Toledo, was the highlight of the convention. Speakers included Myers, , Samuel- son, Richey, Kelly and Billy James. Nearly 200 attended, prominent guests Including Fred Harrington of the western Pennsy unit, D; H. Pal- freyman of the Hays office, and Gen. Gilsoh Light, adjutant general of Ohio. Smith was presented with a new Buick by *the convention in ap- preciation of his 20 years of service to the organization.' Heading the ITOO for another year will be Smith. Other officers in 1940 will be:; vice-presidents, Wes Huss, Jri, Cincinnati, and. Max Stearn, Columbus; treasurer, Hoy Simons, Washington C. H:; and di- rectors: Henry. Greenberger, John Kalafat, both of Cleveland;. Harold Bernstein, Cincinnati; Nat Charnas, Toledo; C. A. MacDonald,Columbus- Henry Fickinger, Galiori; L. F. Eick Martins Ferry; Ray Wallace, Al- liance; J. W. Trunk, YotingstoWrt; C F. Pfister, Troy; Jerry Steele, Ober- lin; Leo Kessel. Lancaster, and Henry Thomas, Oak Hill. ■ / Loss of License 30- For Failure to Pay Taxes ;/ / Columbus, Nov.-5. Amusement tax license of. F. C. Buben, operators of the National theatre, Akron; was revoked for 30 days last week by William S. Evatt, head of the State Tax Commission. According to Evatt, suspension was ordered when Buben failed to pay $426.63 in back admission taxes and assessments; .' Amount is due on the National and Palace theatres, latte* formerly op4 erated by Buben. Albany, Nov. 5. Bert Robbins, son of Herman. Rob- bins, president of National Screen and its subsidiaries, is now working at the New York office after break- ing in here. He was attached to the local branch . during the summer; spending weekends with his parents at their vacation villa on Schroon Lake. Robbins left school to enter the trailer-accessory-poster business operated by his dad. A $50,000 mortgage on Palace the- atre property, the largest and costli- est of its kind in Northeastern New; York, was filed in Albany county clerk's office.. Recorded atv same time was an agreement between Copia Realty Co. (a Fabian corpora- tion) and RKO Proctor Co., amend- ing a lease on the building. The lease, which will expire Jan. 31, 1940, outlines the manner of pay- ment. Mortgage given by Copia Realty to RKO Proctor is subject to two other mortgages. One is for $500,000, given by Copia to Equit- able Life last May; The other, on which a balance of $80,809 was due in May, was from Copia to the Pru- dence Co., Inc. • ■ " Palace, seating 3,700 itself, was projected in 1929 and finished in 1931. Fabian circuit has operated on lease for some time. . The signing of a modification of an old lease by Fabian Theatres Corp. on historic Harnianus Bleecker Hall (destroyed by fire last winter) with Christopher H. Buckley took pla'ce here. Buckley, who now owns two theatres in Bennington, Vt„ said he thought the deal indicated a hew playhouse would be erected on the site. Lou Golding, Fabian division manager, who was in New Jersey, stated no plans had been made as to construction. . ' Arthur Heads St. L. Variety ; St. Louis, Nov. 5. Harry C. Arthur, Jr., directing head of Fanchon & Marco's interests here, elected Chief Barker of the St. LOuis Tent-No. 4, Variety Club. Others: Lou Ansell, first asst., chief barker; Harry Hynes,. second asst. barker; George Wiegand,, dough guy: C. B. Nelson, property master, and mem- bers of the board of directors, Clar- ence M;.Turley, Sam Shuchart, Clar- ence D. Hill, Alvin Wolff, Herb Wash- burn, Joseph Ansell, Harold W. Evens, Ray Cdlvin and Barney Ro- senthal. Delegates chosen are A. L. Matreci and Ray Colvin and the na- tional canyassman is Louis K. Ansell. Geo. Hoover Gets the Job ■ • ■ ■■ . Miami, Nov. 5; ' ': Appointment of George Hoover, manager of the Sheridan theatre in Miami Beach, to newly created post of city manager of Paramount Enter- prises, has been announced by S. A. Lynchr prez of the Par affiliate. Hoover's elevation comes as result of resignation of W. R. Lynch as general manager of the chain/ Duties will be identical, but general man^ ager tag is being discarded. ,.HV Fine, district manager of the Mullin & Pinansksi chain in New England, was first considered for the post, but discussions held here were non-productive, and Hoover was given the nod. Newsreeler Goes Revival Hollywood, NOV. S. Newsreel theatre, off: Hollywood and Vine, gave up the' ghost and goes in for revivals. Opener is 'Great Train Robbery,' first feature- length film. Beedle Heads Pa. Body ^ _ Pittsburgh, Nov. 5. Fred A. Beedle, Cannonsburg, Pa., exhib. has been named president of the AMPTO of western Pennsylvania for 1941, succeeding M. A. Rosenberg, operator of three local nabe houses, Harry Walker elected vice-president at annual convention last week and Joseph Galman and Fred Herrington chosen to retain their old posts of. treasurer and secretary, respectively. Rosenberg was named to the board of director and Carl Poke was re- elected to the board. William Walk- er, brother of Harry Walker and his partner in exhibition, also placed on the board 4o succeed Peter Antd- noplos... ■-'.:' '.'.;•: ■ ...?^ rris interests have purchased William Penn theatre, Northside nabe house, from a realty group in that district, - Spot has been operated by- circuit for several years under a lease, with outright sale consum- mated recently after . couple of months of negotiations. At same time, Harrises reopened Senator, formerly. Loew's Aldine. following five-month shutdown during the summer. Senator had been waiting to. get under way. again for a h.o. click picture from its sister house downtown, the Alvin, and finally got it nv U's 'Hired Wife,' which had two big weeks at latter spot before be- ing moved. ; McClure on North Side reopened under management of Mannie Gol- den, vet exhib who has been away from the business for several years. Golden's son is an asst. mgr. with WB here. Y Herbert Schaefer and Herbert J. Staminger, partner-exhibitors in in cal area, have taken lease on En. worth (Pa,) theatre and already £ sumed operation. House was on erated until recenUy by John anrt Werner Lund, and was' later man- J. Booth, long identified with this spot. ^ Work wUl start in next couple of weeks^on new WB-FN exchange on Film Row. ^ ■ 6 ; vu WB has just taken over new Whitehall in Brentwood ^district from indie interests. House wa s completed in big shopping center only few weeks ago and will open Thursday (31). Deal with builders and Warners has been pending for few months and closed within last fortnight although announcement wasn't made until weekend.. Charles Shannon, of Boulevard, named man- ager of the house. . He'll be suc- ceeded at Boulevard by James Laux moving from Cameraphorie; with Paul Williams, asst. at Sheridan Square, getting, upped to Laux's post. Albert Schemel, asst. at Melrose, re- places Williams. : Garbett's Acquisition • Des Moines, Nov. 5. E. M, Garbett, who recently took over the Grande • Uast Des Moines, and operates the Varsity, Avalon, Lincoln and Forest neighborhood houses in Des . Moines,' has . bought the Marion at Marion, la , from H CMershon. The Nashua theatre, Nashua^ la;, sold to ; G. Hi Ballard by C. A. Menold.. Select's 20 Branches A total of 20 branch offices have been established by Select Pictures,. independent distributor headed by Charles Kranz and of Which Eddie McAvby, . formerly . eastern . sales manager of RKO, is v.p. over dis- tribution. ,•.' ■-■ In 10 days or two weeks Select will hold a sales :meeting, either in New York or Chicago, attended by all branch managers, to discuss sales plans on the indie product the com- pany will release. Imhof to Chi Metro Milwaukee, Nov. 5. Joe Imhof, office manager here for Metro for :20 years, transferred to a similar post in the Chicago branch, succeeded . by Joe McMahon, chief booker for M-G in Chicago,. / Toby Ross Shifts Rochester, N: Y.. Nov. t>, Toby Ross, manager '■, of; Schine's Elmwood, Penn Yan, for last three years, transferred to Andrews, Sala- manca; ' He is a violinist and one- time leader of RKO Palace orchestra here. Wallace Fblkin moves: from the State, Rochester, to the Penn Yah house, and Clayton Cornell takes over at the State. John Allcock, Ashland, O, suc- ceeds Bill Brimmer as manager of the RialtO, East Rochester, and Sam Shafer returns from Herkimer to take charge of the Dixie, succeeding Joe Deacon, who resigned. Morton Berg made house manager of the Madison under Schine city manager. Bud' Silverman,. and Joe Goldstein takes charge of the newly acquired Webster. Rowland's Addition Columbus, Nov. 5. ■ Fred Rowland, owner of small local indie circuit, has taken over the ultra-tricky Bexley theatre. Bex- ley is famed duo-auditorium theatre. Projection and sound equipment de- signed by one of the owners, Ted Lindenberg. Lease calls for use of, the special equipment. Bert Wil- liams has been retained as manager.. Rowland has the Main, Parsons, Columbia and . Hollywood nabe houses. :. Tawson Succeeds Cildweli. , Denver, Nov. 5. William Caldwell has resigned as 20th-Fox. salesman, succeeded. by George Tawson, assistant booker. Caldwell left for Oklahoma City, Assistant booker job goes to Howard Metzger, head shipper. • Marie Giesler, cashier at the Ori- ental, and Larry Morahan, assistant manager the.Egyptian, married. u R. A. Spurlock sold Fairplay the- atre at Fairplayr Colo., to. R. D. Er- win, who has added it to his string of small towns. ^ Premier Exchanges here and Salt Lake City become Select Attractions following signing of a 10-year fran-> chise on distribution of Select films. Sam Feinstein remodeling the ola Zaza, and will rename it the Klya. ,C. A. Mulock; manager of the Pal- ace, expects to leave the hospital vri a couple of weeks, after recuperating from an operation. In parts, of Colorado and- New Mexico politicians were having' a hard time getting audiences to -po- litical rallies until they hit on th? plan of renting theatres and giving the crowd some films along with the speeches.