Variety (Jun 1941)

8 EXPLOITATION Wednesday, Jane 4, 1941 Yet Film Salesman Recalls When Theatre Managers Were Showmen WB Baflyhooer Berns Ties io With A.C Beauts Bill Berns, oi Warner Bros.' home office publicity department, has been handed the exclusive franchise by San Francisco, June 3. Treadmill discussions on the plight ct show biz always rise up in times cuch as the present, when a general downslant sets In, but seldom get anywhere. A chance recollective re- mark by George Seach, on the occa- sion of his 25th anniversary as a pic- ture peddler In San Francisco, points up a significant factor. I Showmen's Variety Jubilee, sponsors 1 remember,' he reminisced, "when of Atlantic City's annual beauty the glint would come into a theatre.'pageant, for selection of Miss New manager's eyes before I'd even fln-, York, Berns got the franchise via Ished my sales talk; he was already ^ his after-Warner hours press-agent- laying out a campaign in the back of ry for Starlight Park In the Bronx, his head. More than once that cam-1 where finals of the pulch contest paign has sprung into action be- ■ will be held Aug. 17. fore I could fold up a contract after ^ negotiating with RKO to the signing. I've seen managers caUipyn „fl preliminaries In the circuit's In their publicity and poster, men (j^jy^gg throughout the city. Initial and start things buzzing before tiie' jydgings get under way early in Ink was dry. Those fellows had j^jy^ Franchise-holding pufl artist Ideas—and showmanship!' _ . ' Is actually a triple-threat man, also Seach draws no comparisons with - doing a film commentary show on modem methods, but does admit that WBNX, In the Bronx, and WPAT, some of the new generation has the Paterson, which he Is tlelng In with old-time flair. ! the Miss America contest Competition has shown jreat- strides In showmanship, too, the' veteran conceded, with an example 'C««»f CntUlfurA being Shipstad & Johnson's 'Ice Fol-I OiaildtC IfldWlUIU lies' at the Winterland. Seach's passing reference could stand a follow-up. The ice bunch made a terriffic play for the Memo- rial Day holiday crowd while most of the theatres did nothing. The 'Fol- ■ lies' spent—and is making money; 24 FligliU of Fancy Ban Antonio, Juna In conjunction with fhe ibowlns of Paramounf■ aviation eplo which was filmed here, *I Wanted Wings,' Hangar Six, Inc., at Stlnson Held here Is offering as - a prize a Piper Cub 05 h.p. airplane and a course of eight hours In flying -for a 60-word letter answering the ques- tion 'Why I Want to Fly.' liOcal entries are submitted In a national contest which will be held In other cities. Majestic theatre, which Is showhig the film, la offering official entry blanks which can be obtained by any one over 16 years of age. Si Seadlor Puts The Pitdi on For N.Y. Subway Bally New York. Editor, Vabibtt: We like to think of VABiErr as a constructive force In an Industry that supports us all. That's why some of the boys, including the writer, felt that an Injustice had been done, Innocently enough. In o u/in • h tl' article on the 'Movie of tiie So M-U KeVlSeS Its Ads, Month' selection by the New York Subways Advertising Co. This piece Omaha s Fdm Row Revamps as Borg Replaces Olson; Olher Ijhn Briefs Omaha, June 8. Omaha's film row Is undergoing changes. Russell Borg of Kansas City has replaced C. K. Olson, long time manager of the local branch ex- change of Warner Bros. Olson's Slans are Indefinite but he may go to lansas City. Otto Slegel, Unlveirsal manager, goes to Buffalo for U and is replaced by W. H. Sherman iof Indianapolis. ! Pat Marksbury of Sioux City, brought here to replace Lou Eggart (draftee) as treasurer of the Brandels theatre, doesn't like It and has dropped out. Replacement to be an- nounced soon. Metro is revising entire campaign sheets ^1 oyer the place; innumer-. ^ Joan Crawford picture, 'A Wom- able radio tieups; flashes in down-' , „ , ,-1 1.1 • down wIndows^ splashes in every ."^s Face,' as result of big biz pic- section of the paper—news, society, theaue, sports; all the angles which once went with theatre show biz. CAPT. LYNN FARNOL AT MITCHELL FIELD Lynn Famol has been called to active duty in the U. S. Air Corps with rank of captain. Former United Artists pub-ad head, now operating his own publicity office in New York, Is due to report for one year's service on June 16. He has been assigned to MltcheU Field, L. I, where he will be in charge of pub- | lie' relations. He plans to continue ' operation of his office. He served In 'the Army Reserves from 1920 to . 1924. Double wedding of members of Famol's staff took place on Saturday (31). Burt Champion, formerly of UA press department and now Far- nol's assistant, was married to Lucille Palmer, nltery singer, in New York. Nancy Hartshorne Free- man, Farnol's secretary, aisled it With Fred J. Harper, Jr., salesman f6r the publishing house of Duell, Sloan & Pearce in Philly. ture did at United Artists theatre in Detroit, where the regular selling ideas were discarded in favor of the unusual. There star was billed in the ads as 'Scarface' Crawford, with photographic Insets showing muti- lated right side of her face, which Metro had been careful'to avoid in all its previous layouts. Decision was made following early release returns. Biz was good In every one of the keys with the exception of Detroit, where it was smash. In towns where 'Face' has already played M-G is rushing the new cam- paigns to exchange caters in order to catch coining subsequent runs. HAL NEIDES HEADS UP 16 COAST THEATRES appeared In your May 14 issue on page 8. I thought you would perhaps like to get for your readers the view- point of at least one of tiie adver- tising men concerned, myself, a viewpoint that is concurred in by others to whom I have spoken. ^What the'subway people are at- tempting to do is for the benefit of our business and should be heartily encouraged. Such an article as Vjuubtt printed would tend to dis- courage the subway advertising out- ^t which believes good pictures are newsworthy and are spending money to support this belief. The article intimates that the film Industry is carping about the vari- ous selectons and that 'some tiieatre men have called It unfair.' I ques- tion whether many theatre men would resent an enterprise that has Kennit Carr Back in Dea Mdnea De^ Moines, June 3.' Kermit Carr returned to manage the Des Moines theatre. He replaces Harry Holdsberg, enlisting in army. C!arr joined Trl-States Theatre Corp. In 1929 as u^er at Paramount, later manager of that house and In 1937 went to Ottumwa, la., to manage the Ottumwa there. House was destroyed by fire April 21 last A. K Blank, president of Trl- States Theatre Corp., has purchased the Young Realty Co. building and site on tht southwest corner of Sev- enth and Walnut from Mrs. Lafay- ette Young, Jr., widow of the pub- lisher of the former Des Moines Capital. Purchase price was not disclosed. Actual value of the. ground, as set recently by tax appraisers, is $291,520 and the building $51,980. It Is said to be one of the largest out- right sales of Walnut street retail property here in the last 30 years. Blank states he made the purchase for Investment purposes and has no present plans for Improving the property. AUI Hicks' AddlUon Baltimore, June 3. C. W. (BiU) Hicks added to his string of local nabes the downtown sure-seater Little. Class house fea- turing foreign and art plx will con- tinue same policy under manage- ment of Maxwell Weinberg, who operated for Sam Blum,* previous owner. George Kline, Boyertown, June ig Irving Cooperman, assistant maai ager of S-W's Strand, upped to man- ager of Llndley. Sid Bloomfleld and Sam Tanne- baum dissolved partnership In ope> rating the New Ideal. Stanley Arnold, S-W booking de- partment, deferred by his draft board after getting a gala farewell by his colleagues and four weeks' gay from the company. He left on is vacation instead. Brandt's IM Bonses Takeover of operations of seven New York City film theatres in the Knickerbocker and Belle chains by Harry Brandt last week gives him control of nearly 100 theatres in the Greater New York area. Houses taken over by Brandt are ■ the Harlem-Grand, Star, Palestine, Delancey, Clinton, Palace and Bijou, Spangler'a Fae.eUft Detroit, June 3. F. R. Spangler enlarging and re- modeling his • Capitol, Utica, Mich, located in the area where the new Chrysler lank arsenal and other de- fense industries are springing up, as well as new residential centers. Detrrit Screen Clob .Elects Detroit, June 3. Russell Ruben, of Amusement Sup- ply Co., named president of the Detroit Screen Craft Club. .Other . officers elected are: Nat Goldstaff, the general good of picture business, Graystone theatre, vice-president; at heart, even thou^ 'the movie of I Sol Goldberg, Esquire, secretary- the month' selection does not happen treasi^rer; Manny M. Schare, Town, to be playing at their house. rh6 \';t^^^IL^r''^^^',:^^^3^.^V^ —- subways wiU be carrying these car-' Aj?"*^^'"' ««uUve board mem-, n,er. Aerial Show as BaOy For 'Wings' in Detroit Detroit, June 3. Those premiere searchlights, which usually just pencil the sky, came in for a real workout in connection with the opening here of 'I Wanted Wings' at the Michigan. Utility as well as flash value came out when the theatre arranged for a special air show by the First Pursuit Group of nearby SeUridge Field. \The fliers put on their maneuvers over down- town Detroit from 9 to "10 p.m. Thurs- day (29), with the searchlights help- ing to set off the aerial' circus. So spectators—^d the fliers- could enjoy both the aerial and the picture show, the film didn't go on until a midnight, reserved-seat show- ing. San E^ancisco, June 3: Hal Neides, former manager of the Orpheum who recently handled the campaign on 'Fantasia' at the Geary for Walt Disney, has been named division head for 16 Golden State and Lavln theatres in the Frisco ter- ritory, headed by Bob McNeil Spot was last held by Roy Cooper, now chief film buyer for the circuit. Neides drew written praise for his exceptional campaign, on the Disney opus, which had one of its most suc- cessful runs In the country here. cards for many months to come and I her. Aiken Back In the Bis Pittsburgh, June 3. CJharles Aiken,' out of show biz sev. eral years, named manager of Harris- Manos theatre In Jeannette, succeed- ing H. A. Doman. Aiken, one time Republic salesman in this district, has lately been sales rep locally for Sun Oil Co. At one time, he was Par manager In Atlanta and has also represented various indie exhibs In se vera l spots. WB just acquired Alpine, Punxsu- tawney, from Harry Batastini. House was an Indie and had no connection with local Alpine circuit. Batastini recently annoimced plans for erection of a new theatre at Marionville. Deal gives Warners two houses in Punxsy, other being the Jefferson, which is piloted by Mrs. Mariette McCartney, only woman manager in WB chain. Two indie spots, Nu-Luna and Gable in Sharon, merged in partner- ship agreement and will,be operated by a new corporation known as Sharon Theatre C3o. Harry Stahl, of Nu-Luna, together with his brother, Herman Stahl, Oil City exhlb, rep- resented first house and John Muller acted for the Gable in deal, which became effective Sunday (1). Charles Lynch, veteran theatre man here, has joined the Harry Hendel organization as manager of Hendel's New Granada while Frank Reller becomes assistant to Marty Burnett, manager of Perm, for sum- Temporarily replaces Walter Mj„».*)..»«>~, r^„K Kessler, who will serve as relief 51^"^^ i^.!iP'«"!8« in Loew.district managed there will be opportunities for aU theatee men's social clubs, also has S'y^^XJ cSllenZin a^^^^^ to win the selection. One might by 1 elected officers with Samuel J. Co- T^Briefles-J Keil^on tha tiie same token hisUt that aU Tic- mella. Jam Handy Pictures, presi- shingletowTi' exhlb^le^^'for sS! ture of the Month' choices. Academy dent; Edgar A DouvUle Globe thea- week vacXrin Califwnfa. . .Sam Awards, Trade Paper Polls, be aban- ^e, vice-president; Walter Rickens,' Rotbensteln, Cambridge Springs and ■ ■• ^v«^ly' secretary; Carl Rush, Oak-1 West AligulDpa theatre 0^^^^ mnn tr<>Bsiiri>r iinH .ToTnao 7-ii,^,lcnn ' "'*..'>'*"' "■nsa'^e Owner, re- doned because one picture at a time must -win. B.O. Hype From a practical consideration, the. 'Movie of the Month' car-cards reaching an estimated circulation of 151,000,000 readership actually bring business to the boxofllce. In the case of the current 'Movie of the Month' selection, 'A Woman's Face,' now appearing on the car-cards in the subways, we have every reason to believe 'that It was one of the helpful factors in extending the run three weeks and in giving the Capi- tol theatre (N.Y.) the best business it has had in a year with the excepi- 1 tion of 'Gone With the Wind' and { the (Thrlstmas business of 'Comrade IX.' The previous 'Movie of the man, treasurer, and James Davison, recording secretary. Ed Alperson's BKO Berth Eddie L. Alperson, appointed gen- eral manager of film buying and booking' department of RKO thea- tres by Charles W. Koemer, general manager, last week, at one time was general sales manager of Warner Bros, and for years.general assistant to Spyros Skouras supervising film buying. Status of Max Fellerman, as chief film buyer and booker for RKO the- atre operations, is not changed by the new appointment covered after serious operation. Carolyn Lelberman, of WB theatre office and sister-in-law of Harry Kalmine, Warner zone manager, will be married to Jerry Goldberg early next month... .Bob Kay new student salesman for M-G, coming here from Detroit office. 'Shoes' to Get Special Showing for B'way Mob Broadway diaracters are to be .i j 1. ,t — —^ ' ——1 x-u honor guests when Jules Levey selection was Road to Zanzi- ager, was named theatres officer in I built his own 320:seat Brisbane In staces a New York nreview of his ^""^ " ^"^"^ charge of three Camp Croft houses, Brisbane, near south San Francisco, i^T M^^ir PT^duc^oT TigMl'tended ttiat tills would'have done here. Private Geor|e Refowich for-I finding 'local comp^titish tough Shoes.' a Damon RuZ'n Toli^ I great business, at tile, Paramount ""f.^fg^r jlii House debuted Maylast-running Capt. Kaplan's Army Chores Spartanburg, S. C, June 3. ^ -■ Capt Arthur Kaplan, former New luxe style York (Fifth Ave. Playhouse) man-1 Rene C, Joins Canadian Air Force San Francisco, June 3. Joe DeMartini, Larkin theatre pro- jectionist, off to jofai the Royal Canadian Air Force. Walter Mcintosh, travelling audi- tor, perusing Paramount's books and working nights at it Paul R. Sprage's Qulncy theatre in Quincy, fire-wrecked some months ago, completely refurbished in de Poirier, newcomer who Shoes,' a Damon Runyon story. Broadway showing wiU be held early this month, date depending on when a theatre is obtained for the showing. Film will be nationally released June 13. - ■- Because the story of 'Tight Shoes' highlights typical Broadway figures, Levey is sending a special invite to such personalities as Broadway Rose, Harry the Horse, High-Odds Arnold. Broadway Sam and others. Blocks of seats 'will be reserved for the Lindy bunch, songpluggers, horse players, the Jacobs. Beach crowd, performers, columnists, sports scribes, etc. CUMMINS •BEVIVAl' POnCY Pittsburgh, June 3. Samuel Cummins, New York op- erator, has leased Casino, local home of burlesque, from George Jaffe for the summer and will turn It into a "revival' house during June to August Plans to show only old silent hits, first of which opened Luntzel, have been using their own over weekend. It was 'Chaplin on Broadway' dawn patrol to assemble Parade,' coUecUon of four of Chap- 1 one of the most comprehensive "blue lln's two-reel comedies. books' of the main stem ever com- Deal ■with Cummins was closed Pii^- Luntzel's assistants include only after Jafle had tried for three Leo Lindy, Steve Hannagan, Bob weeks, following end of hurley sea- Goldstein and Joe Gould, son, to peddle sex exploitation plx { Tight Shoes' was given a sneak theatre, without the subway cards, nevertheless it Is conceded by the theatre people that two cards in each subway and elevated car reach- ing millions of picture-going New Yorkers certali}ly contributed to the boxoffice result Editorializing the car-cards In the transportation lines in New York has been a smart, aggressive step and its sponsors deserve commenda- tion for a forward-looking idea which has infused new interest Into this advertising medium. In picture business we like to break away from old routines, creating interesting and exciting innovations. We're definite- Levey's assistants, headed by Jim ly for tlie progressive attitude of the i..-^ ...J New York subways and. we have a suspicion that Varibtt, despite that article, believes hi forging ahead with lis. Si Seadler, (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer). and living model' stage show for adulb only', but without much suc- cess. preview at the RKO Colonial, N. Y, recently and also at the Uncaln, In Miami. WB Family Reopens Philadelphia, June 3. Stanley-Warners' all-nighter, the Family, reopened last week after being shuttered since its disastrous . fire of two months ago. Charles [Article in question stated that the ^i^Jl±,f^ manaee^of flie Dante "J:- £S- fath«"opB*dteeWtUrd.^'°**'. perturbed bv jUmindustn/corpinaon. Vine streeters are getthig set for ' its selections.— Ed,l I the annual clambake tossed by Pennsylvania theatres, is assistant At Pottsville, Pa., Refowich has been succeeded by his sister, Doris. ~ Construction quartermaster, war department Camp Croft S. C, will receive bidis until June 5 for con- etruction of another theatre unit (TVpe Th-2), completion required by Aug.-90. Fcaiberatone's Acqalaltlon Spokane, June 3. George Featherstone, pioneer operator here, purchased the Rex from Allen Zell. Harry Smith, who operates In Metallne and lone. Wash,, has pur- chased the Rex, Newport. Willard (Buck) Seal, manager of the Orpheum, slowly recovering from major operation. with three changes weekly. George Seach, mainstay at RKO exchange shtce the days of Mutual, puffing a new pipe, a present from the staff at a surprise party tossed in honor of his 25th anniversary with the firm. Slegel Back in Bulb Buffalo, June 3. Otto Slegel back -with Universar exchange here after two years as Omaha U branch manager. Riviera, Geneseo, managed for Kal- lett circuit by James Kelly. Paul Schlageter promoted from Information clerk at Shea's Buffalo to assistant manager Shea's Niagara, William E. J. Martin, Buffalo variety Club secretary and Courier- Express dramatic editor, wUl marry this month. Walter Loefller becomes manager of Cataract Niagara Falls, on trans- fer from Shea's Bellevue. New Grand, Westfleld, wlU be re- opened by Keller and Blfikely June 15. Liberty, Syracuse, will be re- modeled and redecorated over the summer by Sam Weltman. Colonial,, Elmira, reopened" after extensive renovation.