Variety (Sep 1942)

Wedneadayt September 23, 1942 EXPLOITATION 19 Stevens SucceedsDonohue for Par In Chi; Theatre-Exchange Briefs J. H, Stevens, for the past four years Par's branch manager at IndianapoJis, has been appointed head of the Chicago exchange to succeed J. J. Donohue, recently pro- moted to Dallas district manager fol- lowing transfer of Hugh. Owen to the homeofTice as eastern divisional At Indianapolis Al Taylor, former branch manager at . Omaha Jot Par, will talce over, while Jesse McBride, salesman from the St. Louis office, goes into Taylor's former post at Omaha. Phllly's First Casnalty Philadelphia, Sept. 22. First casualty in the ranks of l^al , exhibs' families in World War II was reported this week. Sidney Hirsh- berg, brother of Private Harold Hirshberg, Palace, Bethlehem, Pa., was killed during the Marine fight- ing on the Solomons. David Cooper, ex-Stanley-Warner- Ite, upped to sergeant, and shipped overseas. Jacob Biben, brother of Harry Biben, noted booker, named manager of William Goldman's News Theatre. Mastbaum is the first of the de- luxers to have an all-femme staff of ushers. Lee Blumberg has left the Stanley- Warner exploitation staff to take a post with a Gotham hosiery mill. George P. . Aarons, UMPTO counsel, recuperating home after a long seige at Graduate Hospital. Exhibs still talking about jala housewarming unveiling David Bar- rist's new mansion In Merion. Ray O'Rourke, former operator of the Doris, joined the Paramount sales staff. No Lapldns Snecessor No successor has yet been chosen to Jules Lapidus, district manager at New York for Universal who has shifted to Warner Bros, but under- stood there will be a promotion from the ranks. Lapidus started with Warners yesterday (Tuesday) as metropolitan N. Y. district manager, post left vacant several weeks ago when Sam Lefkowitz resigned to Jc n United Artists. The Lapidus appointment is the first of any importance to be made from the outside sirtce Joe Bernhard became v.p. and general manager of Warners. Ed Laird to Bcpnblio -.d Laird, long a salesman with ' •ited Artists at Dallas, resigned to Jiin Republic in that territory, in charge of the eastern Texas region. No successor a; UA as yet. St. Loals Boys and Sales St. Louis, Sept. 22. The Lux, 500-seater in Edwards- ville. 111., sold by Virgil Merritt to Paul C. Horn, C. S. Metcalf and J. Ballard who also operate the Jersey in Jerseyville, 111, Norton brothers,. Lee end Walter, sold their Norton, 300-seater, Colum- bia. 111. to Charles Goldman, St. Louis, and Tommy Tobin, East St. Louis. Goldman and Tobin are part- ners In the State, O'Fallon, 111. and the Capitol, Waterloo, 111. The Nor- tons retain the Dupo, 111., and the Norton Mascoutah, III. Frank Harris purchased the Alamo, Stewardson, 111., froin Omar C. Macy. E. G. Meyer, owner-operator of the Royal, Walmeyer, III., looking for buyer of the house before don- ning the khaki. Fete J. J. Grady Cincinnati, Sept. 22. Variety Club Tent 3 will tender a testimonial dinner in its Netherland Plaza quarters Sept. 28 to James J. Grady, who moved up two weeks ago from local manager to district manager for 20th Century-Fox. He js making headquarters in Cleve- land. Leavift Bugie, former city sales- rnan, has become local manager, irymg Sochin took over as city salesman. Lcn Bosentlul Into Service Albany, N. Y., Sept. 22. Leonard Rosenthal, Troy attorney, officer of the N. Y, State Unit of national Allied, Inc., and proprietor of the SUte theatre, Troy, honored by exhibitors and FUm Row men at di.iner in Dinty's Terrace Garden, oept. 17. Rosenthal is going info the Army. State, Oklahoma City, Reopens Oklahoma City, Sept. 22. • The State dosed past 10 days for redecorating and refurnishing, re- opened Sept. 17 with 'Pride of the Yankees.' T. B. Noble, Jr., Is owner- manager of the State. DeFazio lipped in Pitt Pittsburgh, Sept. 22. Sam DeFazio, manager of Harris circuit's Liberty theatre in East Lib- erty, has been promoted to the man- agership of the chain's key down- town house, the new J. P. Harris. Me succeeds Bill Zellor, who re- signed a week ago to go into the Army as a Volunteer Officer Candi- date. Dave Flamm, veteran Pitts- burgh theatre man who last season was advance agent for 'Roller Skat- ing Vanities," replaces DeFazio at the Liberty. Flamm was originally brought here to pilot downtown Sen- ator, but he stayed there only a fortnight, with M. M. Weir, long-time relief manager in the . Harris fluttlt, getting the Senator berth. Morton Haaf, assistant manager of WB's Sheridan Square theatre in East Liberty, has been upped to the managership of the SUte in Wilkins- burg, and Len Shapiro, chief of service at the Sheridan Square, goes to the Schenley as assistant manager. Johnston Vice Connell Richard E. Johnston has been ap- pointed ad salesman at the Warner Bros. Memphis exchange, succeeding James Connell, who has joined the Navy. Another new ad-seller for fhc company is Robert Weiland. who succeeds Erhardt Meske in the Mil- into thfe Army. waukee territory. Meske has gone Bay Jones Vice Garden Fort Worth. Sept. 22. Ray Jones, former manager of the Majestic, San Antonio, now manager of the Hollywood here. He replaces Charlie Garden, in the Army. Allied of W. Pa. in Conv. The 22d annual convention of Al- lied Motion Picture Theatre Ownsrs of Western Pennsylvania will be held Oct. 19-20 at the William Penn hotel, Pittsburgh. Sam Fleischman, convention chairman. M. A. Rosenberg is president. Dave Prince, southeastern district manager for RKO, was in town last week on sales matters. Feminine Doormen Minneapolis. Sept. 22. The World, Paramount - Steffes sureseater first-run. is switching to lady doormen because of the war inroads on male help. The door- women will be between 40 and 50 years of age. The theatre plans to replace male ushers with women, too, within a month. Canadian Changes OtUwa, Sept. 22. Robert (Babe) Berezin, Elgin the- atre manager, goes to Oshawa as manager of the 20th-century The- atres, Ltd., house there. Elgin's as- sistant manager, John Kirk, goes to head office in Toronto. Stewart Gillespie, Ottawa native, replaces Berezin, with Ernest Reid, Commun- ity theatre, Weiland, as assistant. Harrisburg Property Sold Harrisburg, Pa.. Sept. 22. Hill Amus. Co., Inc., of Wilming- ton, Del., has purchased from the Harrisburg National Bank for $13,000 the three-story building housing the Star theatre here, it was shown by a deed filed for record here last week. Denver Changes Denver. Sept. 22. Mark N. Ailing, for eight years with the RKO Golden Gate theatre in Frisco, moved into the manager- ship of the local RKO Orphcum, succeeding Mickey Gross, who's joined the Marines. The Isis, Lamar, Col., closed three years, reopened. Richard W. Dekker has moved into the managership of the Victory, Denver, from a similar post at the Rex, Grighton, Col., where he was succeeded by Don Cook, for some time assistant at the Gothic. Denver. Mike Lee, former PRC and RKO salesman, has moved over to Colum- bia, succeeding Sam Kramer as city salesman. Hugh Rcnnie, Fox salesman, re- cuperating at home after hospilaling with a serious illnes."!. George Allan. Sr.. of the State, North Platte. Neb., in a Denver hos- pital for a tonsilectomy. Abel Davis. Roxy owner, under- goes an operation on one of his eyes. Griffin's Dock St. Spartanburg, S. C, Sept. 22 Gordon Griffin named director of Dock Street theatre. Charleston. Native of China. Griffin directed Omaha Community theatre past four years and previously was engaged in theatre work at Duluth. Minn. Lure theatre. Lake Lure, N. C, destroyed by fire. J. W. Griffin, Forest City. N. C. owner. New 1.000 scaler opened at Green- ville army air base. Rialto. Atlanta, fire-damaged, set (or $20,000 repairs. Chi G. O. H. Stuck for Pix Chicago, Sept. 22. Grand Opera House, slated to open Saturday (19) as a picture house, postponed its opening because of an inability to obtain product. Theatre will announce opening dale shortly as a subsequent run house at popular prices. To the Fields, Men Hollywood, Sept. 22. Tomatoes, potatoes, carrots and other edibles, once ducked by the show business, are being nurtured this year by the film industry's Public Relations Com- mittee as part of the War Man- power Commission's drive to save nation's crops. Robert Taplinger has been ap- pointed special publicity ad- visor, with the idea of stimulat- ing all studio fiackeries in a drive to impress the public with ~the necessity of all citizens, not otherwise engaged, to go out into the fields and help with the crop-picking. Shortage of field labor, as a result of the war, is threatening destruction of crops all along the Pacific Coast. 24-SHEETSlNTOWNIN FAVOR; NO AUTO TRAVEL Although understood some dis- tributors from time to time give away 24-sheets in order 1o get ad- vertising on their pictures, that practice is expected to come to a halt as result of heavily increased orders for the 24's. This is due, ac- cording to opinion of accessories ex- ecutives, because many more boards are now available at lower costs in- side as well as outside of cities. Space is plentiful, chiefiy because many former large users of the boards have curtailed 24-sheet ad- vertising due to the war and con- version to war activities and pro- duction. Among exhibs, boards are more in demand in town since auto travel has reduced their importance along out-of-town highways. An example of how the sale of 24- sheets has soared is drawn from figures of one of the New York ex- changes showing purchases to be running three and four times as high as for last vifinter. The sheets aver- age around $2 each. According to Bernard B. Good- man, accessories sales manager for Warner Bros., more 24's have been sold in one month on one of the company's pictures than were sold usually during the entire release of an average film. Can. Booth Shortage OtUwa, Sept. 22. With frequent job switching go- ing on and a hold-up caused by National Selective Service which does not yet consider the theatre an 'essential industry' in Canada, the projectionist shortage in this part of the country is acute. So much so that Bill Hartnett, biz mgr. for the union here, spent last week in hospital from the super- headaches he has had trying to keep the booth line unbroken. Soviet Reels —■ Continued from page 5 ss amount of Russian subject matter getting into the reels. Newsreel editors deny that they haven't used every possible bit of suitable Soviet footage that has been made available to them. As a matter of fact, they say, they're aching for it. With the current dearth of good battle pictures—despite the world's most fierce war going on in every part of the globe—the newsreel maker-uppers declare they'll grab at anything like realistic fighting se- quences. As a matter of fact, the Russian censorship is every bit as strong as that of the other warring nations, the newsreel men say, and the rea- son why there's not more Russian battle footage is the same as why there's not more U. S. or English. In addition, transportation is problem that makes the arrival of Soviet film irregular and undependable. There has also been some sugges- tion, denied by Artkino, distrib in this country , of Russe product, that that outfit holds out good Soviet footage to make up feature-length films, such as the current 'Moscow Strikes Back.' Latter is doing ex- ceptional biz at the Globe on Broad- way. Nicholas Napoli, Artkino top- per declared tl.at all this film is available to the newsreels before features are made up. Despite .. the protestions of the newsreel eds, Daily Worker and its readers insist that Stalin's hordes are not getting an even shake in the semi-weekly U. S. releases and that old antipathy to anything Red Is to blame. Pass Rewards for Scrap Clicked So Well It s Now Being Extended Pix Coordinator Continued from page I would also act in an advisory capacity on proposals affecting the use of materials, talent' and man- power within the trade. Among those who have been men- tioned for the post are Eddie Man- nix, Walter Wafiier &nd Davtd o. Selznick. Mannix has been as- suming important status as an in- dustry spokesman for some time past in discussing industry problems with officials in Washington. Wanger was in Washington last week, following stopovers in Dallas and Richmond, Vi., leaving N. Y. for the Coast Fri- day (18). He has recently been mentioned in connection with active war work. Reports of the appointment ap- parently stem from sentiment within the trade favoring representation for the film industry on the War Pro- duction Board and in other official departments so that regulations which may be designed to curb the power of the screen may be fully debated in advance of promulgation. While Lowell Mellett has been serving as the Governinent-ap- pointed film coordinator, his activi- ties have largely t>een via suggestion with regard to story material. An overall production czar would osten- sibly be given broader powers over the screen with the likelihood that the exec would also be able to pre- sent industry views to Washington at the same time. Nelson Summons Mannix Hollywood, Sept. 22. Metro's general manager, Eddie Mannix, has left for Washington on summons from Donald Nelson. Says he has no idea what the WPB chief wants with him, but'reports are current he has been under con- sideration as headman of the Salvage Drive. Selznick Int1 ; Continued from page S ; lah,' "Tom Sawyer' and 'Intermezzo.' Whitney purchased 'Fauntleroy,' 'Young in Heart,' 'Made for Each Other,' and SIP's interest in 'Black- out' Latter is a British pix in which SIP had a third interest with Sam Goldwyn and Ed Small, UA lidding the balance. Between them, Selznick and Whitney paid SIP bet- ter than $100,000 for the pix they acquired. Seixnick's Holdings Selznick also assumed the per- sonal management contracts which SIP had with Joan Fontaine, Vivien Leigh, Ingrid Bergman, Alan Mar- shall, Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Stevenson. No cash changed hands for these contracts, and none was expected, since the papers contained minimum guarantees which Selz- nick assumed. Likewise, taken over by David O. Selznick was the SIP obligation to UA for two pictures. This obligation has since been vcided, presumably in the deal whereby Selznick became a partner in UA. As to why the firm split, there are a3 many guesses as demands for a second front. The Whitney clan was deeply involved in SIP, Jock Whitney alone having about $4,000,- 000 invested. He wanted an out, especially with the then cloudy world outlook. Reportedly they were prepared to write-off their in- vestment when, 'GWTW end 'Re- becca' clicked and paid off like bonanzas,, giving them an oppor- tunity to wash up the corporation while in the black. Thus the firm filed dissolution papers in August, l'j40, received the usual two years to dispose of <t» assets. DENVER (Conllniicd from page 11) A. Poe' (20th). Sturdy $13,000. Last week, 'Talk Town" (Col) and 'Lucky Legs' (Col), big $14,000. Orpheum (RKO) (2,600; 30-40-50- 60)—'Crossroads' (M-G) and 'Pierre Plains' (M-G). Trim $13,500, and best new entry in town. Stays for second session. Last week, 'Bambi' (RKO) (2d wk) and 'Highways by Night' (RKO), okay $8,000. Paramount (Fox) (2,200; 30-45)— 'Invisible Agent' (U) and 'One Born Every Minute' (U). Big $7,500. Last week. 'Footlight Serenade' (20th) and 'Little Tokyo, U.S.A.' (20th), ditto. Because use of passes to encour« age scrap contributions has proved successful in several experiments in key spots, industry's salvage com- mittee may recommend that ticket giveaways be employed wherever possible in the national scrap cam- paign next month. Medium for rec- bmmendirig and installing siiih cedure was put before the Publia Relations Committee, eastern di- vision, at its meeting last Thurs- day (17). Though still helping to pu» over the industry's September war bond drive, the PRC is starting to map details of film business' par- ticipation in the 'October salvage drive. With the knowledge that com- munities which used a free theatre admission arrangement to boost strap iron collections, reported phenomenal results, proposal is to en.ploy such plan on a nationwide scale. PRC is working, of course, ill conjunction with the War Ac- tivities Committee. Despite all appeals in the past, checkup by industry leaders reveals that such a simple device as gratia theatre tickets actually did more to break the log jam and start scrap material moving to collection agen- cies than anything devised thus far. Idea outlined is to leave it up to individual exhibitors to set the nun>ber of passes and requirements, depending on the drawing popula- tion and local conditions. Such cir- cumstances would decide whether one free ducat or a pair would be given for 10 pounds, 20 pounds. 50 01- 100 pounds of scrap material. The main thing will be to persuade whole blrcks of theatres to go for the free ticket arrangement so the salvage bottleneck may be broken. Earl Wingart, assistant to Glendon Allvine, secretary of the PRC, is be- inp. loaned to the salvage drive. He now is on loan to the WAC on the war bond campaign, but moves over to the scrap campaign the first of October. His first task will be to line up necessary trailers needed la theatres to bally the scrap drive. PRC picked up David Lipton to head one committee on the drive arid Harry Goldberg and David Weshner already are coopei;ating with him in the Public Relations portion of the campaign. HOT MARGIE HART ADS GET FROWN FROM HAYS Hollywood, Sept. 22. Hot publicity pitch on Margie Hart in the Monogram picture, 'Lure ot the Islands,' running at the Colony theatre in Hollywood, Was squelchbd suddenly by a protest from the Hays office. Newspaper ads acclaimed Margie, burlesque stripper, as the 'Yankee Nude'll Dandy' and the 'Strip Pippin.' Monogram denied complicity in the sex implications, charging that the theatre had handled all newspaper blurbs. In addition, the film house sent out handbills glorifying Margie as 'sex- sational, charged with sextricity' ia her 'first screen si'zzler.' Ads quoted Walter Winchell as referring to the gal as 'The Poor Man's Garbo.' N. Y. Hays office previously had complained to Mono about its torrid press sheet on this picture, saying it would withdraw the film code seal if the press book was not toned down. Word 'Heir Baises Ditto Streamlining of the Hays office advertising code is to be studied by the Public Relations Committee east- ern group, with the PRC to offer recommendations and changes fol- lowing intensive study. Feeling with some PRC members is that present regulations of the ad code need changing to fit wartime conditions. Decision is understood to be an aftermath of the rumpus over use ot word "heir in ad copy. Hays directorate la.st week upheld the executive committee ruling that using the word 'hell' in 'Wake Island* advertising violated the code. Basis of ruling is understood based on the contention that if an exception to code rules was granted in this case, the entire code would crumble be- cause of future requests for exemp- tion.