Variety (Jun 1945)

Wednesday, June 27, 19 IS Rudolph Berger, Metro Mgr. on Tour Of Dixie Exchanges; Other Briefs Tips Radio to Sell Peace Continued from page 1 Dallas, June 26. Rudolph Berger, new southern di- vision Manager for Metro, getting acquainted with exhibitors of this territory and other members of the local film industry. Burtis Bishop is local district manager;. l^rpy^Biilkei branch manager, and E. B. Coleman p m licity and exploitation manager. V Berger has jurisdiction over ex- changes in New Orleans, Charlotte, Atlanta. Memphis. Dallas, Oklahoma City and Kansas City. He expects to spend the next several months vis- iting the various exchanges. Briskin's Booking Exchange Murray Briskin, who runs the Riviera in Syracuse, N. Y.; the State Waterloo: Capitol Romer, and Corona, Corona, all upstate N Y. cities, has formed the Briskin En- terprises, Inc., as film booking agent for exhibitors served out of Buffalo. Estimated outfit will buy for.50 the- • »% S rp n; ^.hT>n N. Y.. with Bris- kin splitting time between N. Y. ana • Buffalo. . .-. Gillespie's Chore Jimmie Gillespie, exploitation rep for 20th-Fox covering the south, delegated to handle preem of' Cap- tain .Eddie," which opens in Colum- bus Aug. 1. He has just finished the publicity campaign on the Seventh War Loan for the picture industry lit Memphis. " 3-Day Warners' Meet Three'-day Warner sales meeting, attended by homeoffice executives and all district managers from, the field, plus zone exploitation men, opened in N. Y- yesterday (Tues- day), with Ben Kalmenson, general sales manager, presiding. Sessions were scheduled at this time so field men could attend the special pre- view last night (Tuesday) of "Rhap- sody in Blue" at the Hollywood, N.Y. District sales heads attending the meetings are Norman Ay res, Robert Smeltzer, Ralph McCoy, Henry Her- bel, Harry Seed.'Charles Rich, Hall Walsh, Doak Roberts and Haskell Masters. Concurrent with the sales meeting, Mort Blumenstock, eastern publicity-advertising director, will conduct separate sessions with the - exploitation forces. : ' Charles Einfeld. v.p. over adver- tising-publicity, who came east two ■weeks ago, will address sessions of both the sales and - exploitation groups, .' away from such—just a big canopy. It'll be called the Palm theatre. Nat Bernstein, Bernstein Theatres (Gary, Hammond and Elkhart, Ind, and 'Waukegan and Harvey, HI..), took a 25-year lease on the property last week from Milton Sleinhardt Construction Co., Miami, with latter inked for construction work. Prop- erty is located on Washington ave- nue between 15th and 16th streets. Architect is Robert E. Collins, also of Miami, who designed the Lincoln, Cameo and many other houses in that city.. Sexton to Dickinson Chain Kansas City, June 26. George Sexton named manager of Glen, nabe house operated by Dick- inson Theatres, Inc. Thompson, to Palace, Rochester Rochester, N. Y., June 26. Winfield Thompson, former man- ager of Little theatre, becomes man- ager of RKO Palace here, after get- ting release from wartime engineer- ing job. He succeeds Gradon Hodges, who returned to the Driye-m. Steinberg Sells Pitt. House Pittsburgh, June 26. Mannie Steinberg, vet Pittsburgh exhibitor, sold his Pastime theatre to Sol P. Brown in order to enter theatrical supply firm of his late brother, Sammy Steinberg. Rudy Navari, Verona exhib, has sold his Liberty theatre there to Pete and August Camerlo, newcomers to business. /Navari may build another house in that rapidly expanding dis- trict. Blumenfeld's Invasion Los Angeles, June 26. Blumenfeld Theatre Circuit, stem- ming from San Francisco, invades Los Angeles July 1 with opening of Tower theatre, recently leased, as a first-run house for" United Artists product. Joseph Blumenfeld. circuit chief, -declared-the ehfiin~will-add three or tour L. A. houses to its circuit here by Aug. 1. New X. Orleans House Opens New, Orleans. June 26. Recently completed Fox theatre, operated by Fox Theatre Co., of New Orleans, new independent organiza- tion, opened recently. Construction of the 900-seater was authorized by the government for a section of the city long underseated. Akron, O., Owner Inducted Akron, O., June. 26. Robert Postma, owner of Rialto and Norka theatres here, inducted into Army, with H. E. Bickel now operating'both theatres. Latter man- aged the Majestic before retiring. Kennedy Vice Harte Albany,- June 26. Joe Kennedy has succeeded Karl Harte as head booker at Columbia. Harte. who worked lor years at RKO and Warners in New York, resigned. Kennedy served under Joe Miller, Columbia manager, with the now-de- funct Hutchinson Co. in Albany 20 years ago. Miller's oldest son, a graduate of "Cornell, is lieutenant in charge of a sub chaser. - - >'.'• Honor New Chi Branch Mgrs. Chicago. June 26. Annual presentation of awards to film salesman members of Reel Fel- lows club who graduated to post of branch managers during past year were made at club's annual lunch- eon party, June 25. Besides a plaque for Milt Simon of 20th-Fox, past prexy, testimonials will also go to Julian King, Film Classics, Des Moines: John Sokley. Warner Bros., Oklahoma City: Harry Mandell, Film Classics. Indianapolis: Seymour Borde. RKO. Des Moines; and Bob Allen, United Artists. Milwaukee. New sales manager at Paramount Js Sam Stol), who's been film sales- man at the exchange for three years. Named following resignation of Max Roth, who left for N. Y. last week to line up with another exchange there. Property housing 750-seat Fox the- atre, plus six stores, was bought re- cently by Dr. Ansel H.. Tulupan, Chi physician, for $35,500. Transaction was made through Mark Levy Realty Co.. who secured it for Di\ Tulupan from Morris A. Sommers of Los Angeles. Buyer will operate the nabe house. . Ramsey Back From Armv ___ . Hartford. June 26. " HohoraBlj discfiargecT TrfffffTTrlnT,' Frank Ramsey is back at his old post of manager of Warner Lenox. rector "Mr, D. A."—then Major USA) and Doug Coulter, v.p. in charge of programs for CBS, and Bob Heller, CBS—they invited a few other directors and several writers. Come take-off time, the group had narrowed down to four. We were the guinea pigs. W we made good, if the trip proved a success, maybe, they said, they'd let other boys go —to Europe and the Pacific. We flew the ocean, rolled through "Ricky's Place" and the famous Walled City in Casa. We shared bucket-seats and slept on the floor of a C-47 over Sicily and the Isle of ' Capri to Naples. We dined at 'fancy messes at AFHQ in Caserta, where bright-colored parachutes dangled decoratively from the ceil- ing of a converted greenhouse. We were briefed "secretly" by G-l, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Generals, including Me- Narney and Clarfc, on the Italian campaign. We drove in open jeeps to the front over the murderous Italian mountains through ' Purple- Heart Corner" and Futa Pass. We slept and froze in muddy, wet, ice- cold tents (after which we took off our Class "A" uniforms and grate- fully donned that long underwear we laughed at in the Pentagon). We crossed the Po on a Bailey bridge, we felt the thrill of "moving up" with an army on the way to battle. We saw action with the 10th Moun- tain arid 88th Divisions.*. We got shot at, we were scared, we saw men killed and we carried ..no weapons ourselves (Geneva convention). Robson and I, with two medics (c_ne, a fabulous sergeant, carried a BAR, though he wasn't supposed to) liberated Gardone, an Italian town on the west shore of Lake Garda. In the. name of the United States Gov- ernment we -took over a German hospital and 300 prisoners from an Eric Von Stroheim major. We were pelted with flowers in the streets and drowned with wine in the homes of joyous Partisans. They made us honorary members of the Committee of National Liberation. We had them get the Fascist pris- oners out of the town-jail and-we talked to them. We finally convinced them that, we had no authority to judge them. We helped loot Mussolini's villa. Leader and Telford saw Benito's body, with that of his mistress and others hanging from a roof in Milan. We journeyed through Florence. Venice. Verona, Bologna, Naples. Milan, Modena, Pisa, Bail. etc. We celebrated V-E day in Rome, flew over the Corinth Canal to Athens, Bob Myers Back to Famous Ottawa. June 26. Bob Myers back with Famous Players Can. Corp. as booker after a stretch as chief of theatrical distri- bution with National Film Board. New Miami Beach House Miami Beach, June 26. New streamlined film house, whose principal construction materials will be such non-essential commodities as plastics and Florida mud. is skedded to be opened in Miami Beach next January by Bill Dassow, Chi man- ager of National Theatre Supply, which is handling the entire equip- ment contract for the theatre—-seals, aircoiKlilioning, heating, marquee, etc. It's their first complete setup since WPB .clamped down on mate- rials three years ago, Dassow said. House (capacity 1.000) will be somewhat of an innovation. Dassow said, with lucite front, plastic doors, boxoffice at extreme right with flow- ing architectural lines of the facade pointed in its direction—"so nobody can lose their way to the ticket win- dow"—current-attraction board in center, with title-cards imbedded in lucite and entire lobbv visible through the front. No vertical sign, Dassow said, because the trend is Aid of Pic Continued from page I interviews with Prime Minister Bonomi of Italy, Prime Minister Vulgaros of Greece, Ambassadors Kirk, McVeigh and Myron Taylor. We got Pietro Maseagni's signature on our serpentine-"shoit-snorter." All he asked in exchange was an American cigarct. We swapped views with high-level Army, AMG, OWI, PWD officials, With political leaders from black to red in every country, with Field Grade and Com- pany Grade officers and just plain til's", with Fascists (admittedly) and Communists and chambermaids and ragged, dirty kids. We broke General Ike's non-fraternization pol- icy las who doesn't) and talked to homeless German girls on the streets, in the cellars of bombed-out build- ings. We badgered and explored the minds and hearts of Italians, French, Greeks, Germans,'English. We even talked to a camp-full of Russian D.P.'S. ;• We did all this in bad. pidgin but curiously effective German, Italian and French. It got so. that after a while we found ourselves talking English with an accent! We did all these things and more—much more. We had the privilege- of seeing in a concentrated 60 days what 99% of our soldiers and riiost of our cor- respondents and visiting congress- men couldn't see. We had this privi- lege partly because, we started out as V. L P's (Very Important Per- sons) with a swell escorting officer —Lt. Colonel William F. Nee—- partly because whenever we wanted to, we got off the brass merry-go- round, and chiefly because we dou- ble-talked our way wherever we wanted to go. We were "looking for some light on post-war Europe. We wanted to know what the people there are thinking, hoping, fearing. We tried desperately to resist the temptation to become international experts in 60 days—but we failed. We were exposed to dynamite and it was impossible to resist conclu- sions. We came away with many definite impressions—which, rightly Or wrongly we have evaluated for ourselves. Of interest to the trade, here are a few; . " _,. Trip Should be a 'Must' First: The cold shower the mind goes through when it's ripped out of its Madison Avenue or Radio City Ivory T o w e r. It's stimulating, broadening, inspiring. As they say in the Army, "When you've kicked it around and laved it on, you've had jit!" Meaning you've' been through I something. For those boys in our profession who have to do war or wants one thing only—to gel home and leave Europe far behind. He must be convinced that the latter is impossible and can be disastrous. Not any healthier, again with a few shining exceptions, are the political instincts of the average AMG official now running our zone in Occupied Germany. We take our hat off to no nation when it comes 1o fighting a war. We're superb at that, but we're not using the'men or brains we have to fight the peace. It's a tough job, there's no easy solution—but the boys over there will tell you that we're fumbling today on the Rhine, and what's more they'll add that it has its roots in our fumbling on Pleasant River and the Potomac. There are vital, decisive currents flowing in the-world4oday—currents which are not fairly represented by o\ir radio and pre'ss. We must recog- nize and work with them—not against them. If we don't we're bar- gaining for .destruction. There are people in Europe and here who would like nothing better than to see us in another war against a new opponent. If you hear anybody talk- ing dangerously and maliciously about another war—tell him or her to go take a look at our military cemeteries and hospitals from Attica to the Elbe and Germany's cities- more ruined than eye or word can tell—General Eisenhower flew from Frankfurt to New York in 16. hours. Those V-2's—whose damage I saw in London—traveled faster. Some- body's got to start telling the Ameri- . can people that we're big, rich and beautiful—but politically we're still in kindergarten. If anyone can think of a better means of doing, it than radio—let him speak up. Keep on selling soap, boys—that's right and proper—but for God's sake give a little thought and network time to selling peace. Those young- sters we saw on the rubble-heaps ot Europe and your own kids in your backyard will thank you. work series to discuss the problems of reemployment. The latter tees off Aug. 11. Thus will the two most powerful media of the amusement industry be used to get over the mes sage of reconversion and getting jobs not only for those shifting from war plants to peace industries, but also in getting back jobs for returning servicemen. • There is no definite idea expressed as to the operation of the motion picture plan, since it's all in the pre- liminary stages, but the essence of the program would be to dramatize certain employment problems, by way of two-reel pix, -thus taking them out of the invariable documen- tary category. Name actors would be used in the two-rcelers along with' top writers, etc. Thus would audience interest be heightened, and thus would theatre operators be influenced towards showing these pictures, which would be distributed gratis^ of course, prob- ably by the Office of War Informa- tion or Department of Commerce, or some other Government body! Another offshoot is to try and in- fluence Hollywood in including subtle suggestions relevant to the job program in lheir full-length en- tertainment features. An entertainment committee to function within the CED is expected to be formed shortly with the idea of pushing plans further for the use of entertainment media in fostering the postwar employment setup. stood on the ancient ground of the Acropolis and liStenecTTo" a-Greek- count tell its history. His grand- father had excavated the site of Troy. He was a leader of the Greek Underground. Ffe looked and talked like Adolphe Menjou. He was fabu- lously wealthy and, with an excel- lent air, bummed American cigar- ets from us. He had ripped the swastika from the Acropolis flagpole the night of the day the Jerries put it up. Then, on May 15. Leader and Telford went home. Robson and I, eager for the postwar picture, just beginning to take shape in Eu- rope, stayed on. Studied Paley's Operation We saw more of Greece, observed the first practical workings ot UNRRA there, went back to Italy for a week with the 12th and 15th Air Forces, flew through the Bren- ner Pass in the nose of a B-25 to get a good look at the bomb damage. We Kodaked and Leicad the Coliseum, the Fonum and paid our respects to the shrine of Keats and Shelley in Rome. Then we got orders to the ETO and flew to Paris. There we "studied" Montmartre and Were in- troduced to the important and ex- citing work of the Psychological Warfare Division, ably guided by CBS' own Colonel William S. Paley. We got into .a jeep and drove through Germany for five days, then back to Paris, via the big radio transmitter in Luxembourg. Then we flew to London and home via Iceland and the North Atlantic. In all—100 hours actual flying time-^- 20.000 miles by plane—and another 5,000 by jeep. Looking back, I.recall that Rob- son and I flew in the-tails, noses and bellies and plush-seats of C-54's. C-47's, B-25's, B-17's and C-45's. We drove jeeps', ducks, an M-2Q tank, and Bill even piloted a Beecheraft for two hours over Italy. We talked personally to the Pope in an oft- the-record interview which lasted 35 minutes < 14 minutes longer than Claire Luce, they told us!) We had think programs, it ought to be a jnust...T4»q. y>',ar; g.oe.s..or_an., the .Pa,;, cific. Radio has missed 1he boat when it comes to giving our people an accurate picture of what it means to fight a war. Here we think of armies, campaigns, battles. Get close to the lighting and you find its regiments. battalions, companies, platoons, squads, and a lone GI. It's not the peak moment when the plane swoops low over the ship and goes "ra-ta-ta-tat"—although that, of course, is the pay-off. It's 99% the unbelievable story of supply, admin- istration, of soldiers with ribbons who never smell gunpowder—of mud and dirt and cold and frag- mentary living and heart-breaking homesickness. It s that and so much more which we writers, producers and directors can't be blamed for not knowing. You can never get it from Army PRO here. There's only one place to get it, It's over there. We owe it to the families of the men who are sweating it out to know and communicate. There's an unfinished job of war-reporting. There are plenty of producers, writers and directors who want to go. Send them. It costs practically nothing and it will profit. The RAF has a phrase for it. "Take your linger nut and get weaving!". (Ex- ecutives please note). Fertile Field l or Material Second: Europe (and for that mat- ter the rest of the world) is bust- ing with material which radio can use richly. Our newscasters have done a wonderful job—but tech- niques grow old fast in our business. News coverage is now fragmentary. It needs synthesis. Put a mike in Europe's /-mouth to-day—a dramatic mike—and you'd hear it sizzle from Columbia Island to San Pedro. PW Thesps -Continued from page 1- momh ago. The camp held 5,000 Americans; 5,000 French: 5.000'Rus- sians, and others, all segregated. The Yanks got insufficient food. Snyder said, and no entertainment. So he asked for permission to start a theatre going, • which was grudg- ingly .given -1 . He got together a group of 35, former electricians, carpenters, actors, costume men and went to work. Charles Dwyer, Mai Hallett pianist,. was_ a ^member, ^ A ..21.-pc_.___ GI band had been captured intact, ~ which Snyder utilized. A barracks room, to which PW'S were entitled by the Geneva convention, was turned into a theatre. The YMCA was written to, and responded with about $200 worth of lights, paints, books on theatre, etc. The PW's did the rest. ' * Costumes were cut. from old Ger- man and Yank uniforms. Curtains were made out of burlap bags, dyed with indelible pencil. .The stage front was of cardboard, made out of Red Cross boxes. Sets were of cardboard. The Yanks bought cos- metics from French laborers, and wire and wood from Russ prisoners, exchanging for cigarettes (sent by the Red Cross) and passed through the wires separating each compound and nationality. Snyder acted as manager-director and helped write shows. Ribbed 'Em in Slang The group put on variety shows, quiz sbows, and takeoffs on a Fred Waring or Ted Weems program. They staged "Emperor Jones" for four performances. At first they put on one show a week, then one a fortnight. Show/ ran three nights, so all 5,000 Yanks could, see it. Audiences consisted only of Yank PW's, with some German officers there as censors. Germans checked scripts in advance, then sat. in to make sure nothing was added or changed. The 'German High Com- mand requested a special perlor- mance of "Television." a variety show Snyder wrote, to which 15 generals came. , On the whole the Germans-disliked the Yank activity, frequently, ordering air raid drills in mid-performance out of spite. The Third: And this is by far the most GIs got back by kidding the Nazis important. There's a frightening job in skits, in slang which pas-sed over lo be done of keeping our people German heads. - accurately informed about what goes The Germans tried to get Yanks on, in Europe today. With a handful I to do a propaganda play. "The-Boy of exceptions, the average GI is j'Comes Home," promising them new coming out of this war with the costumes,, etc. But the Yank* re- same prejudices he carried in. He I fused.-