Variety (Nov 1948)

16 PICTURES WeilaeMlay, November 3, 1948 Cfips from Fihn Row NEW YORK Fred Schwartz, exeq veepee of he .Cehtury - qircuLt, is taking on le chores of amusement division ■ liairman, Federation of Jewish ■'hilanthropies' 1948 fund-raising .'rive. Schwartz has set a goal of 400,000 for the year. Amusement <ing chipped in $285,000 during le '47 campaign which was headed y Si Fabian, New Yorlt circuit ■ aerator. Fabian introduced bhwartz as new chairman at a mcheon-meet held last week at le Hotel Astor. Campaign starts new theatre there.. Minnesota Amus. recently applied for a re- newal of a license it had to build in Rose. Arlene Dahl back in her home town for personal appearances at State for opening of "Southern Yankee" in which she plays femme lead. Radio City had William Holden, William Demarest, Mary Hatcher and Robert Stack for- personal ap- pearances ftrst.two nilpiits of "Miss Tatlock's Millions." Although city council license committee voted 4 to 1 against nmediately arid Schwartz hopes to license to Mrs. B. M. Secrest, for- mounce fulfillment of . the goal at : mer exhibitor, for new theatre* Federation luncheon slated for flght will be carried to council floor on minority report favoring it )ed; 14. J.' M. Beatty named Eagle Lion Richfield, independent suburban change manager in Des Moines, i house, joining three other houses icceeding F. J. Lee; latter to anage EL's St. Louis branch. For e past two-and-one-half years,, ^atty has held down managership • Monogram's Des Moines exr :ange,.'-' ■ Norma Seltzer hired by Uniyer- ■L to fill the job of assistant to 2nry A. Linet, U's ad manager. in getting 28^day availability in place of 42. Wi B. Frank oil, to Hollywood to start his forthcoming picture, "Dan Patch." He plans world preem in Twin Cities. Conrad Kriedberg, former Selz- nick manager here, and more re- cently with St. Louis branch, re mdling mediae She was formerly i. signed, and back in Minneapolis, ec secretary to the managing son" clause of ruling is the "out" by whieh kids can go to footbaU games, theatres, chuieh and school events, these being acceptalble rea- sons. Frank Plumlee stepped out as district manager pf Theatre' En' terprises, Inc. (the Griffitli circuit), to enter partnership with Tom Harris in a small circuit operating out of Farmington, M*. Kansas City office now is under Ed Kid- well, brought up from Kos^well, New Mexico, where he was City manager, BOSTON The corner stone of the new Nathan Yamins research laboratory of Beth Israel Hospital was laid October 30. Building was donated by the Fall River exhibitor in August, 194,4. " Louis Nizer, executive secretary of N. Y. Film Board of Trade will be chief speal^er at invitational dinner of theatre division of Com- bined Jewish Appeal of New Eng- land, here Wov, 4. Ralph Geffner, booker at E-L, named office manager at National Screen, replacing Frank Wolf, re- signed Norman Sacknoff, assistant cashier, moved up to replace Geff- ner. Clityton Eastman, former district manager at United Artists, joined Indies' Domestic Drive-ins Jmmaitti from page 4 i 'iter of Esquire mag. Miss Seltzer kes over from Doris Glass, who signed to marry Leonard Koplin £ Philadelphia. PHILADELPHIA The Goldman and Fox followed ad of the Warner chain and up- :d top price 5c. to equal Warners^ se in firstruns from 94 to 99c Horace Heidt date at Audi- Selznick as special representative, torium, under Northwest Variety currently underway on Kelly drive- in on Frio City road. The other for which plans have been completed is in Highland Park area. New 1,000-Seater for El Paso . El Paso. New 1,000-seat Valley theatre opened here by Vest Texas Amus. Co., composed of Cesle C. Due.s, Henry Sorenson and Everett Col- lins, of Dallas; and Gene Hendon, who is manager. EL'S Krim Continned from pace < Amus. Co., Winona, Minn. club sponsorship, drew capacity house. . '.S'li.' '''i'-" f'Hy";; Chapmanj Cotumbii*. branch; mknagi^r, taking rest cure in, hosr 'pital; Pat Hallbran, local Univers«^ salesman, elected a veepee Of Col- osseum, national or^ahlzation of film, salesmen; Frank Eisenberg, of United Art- oldman office said the Warner, ifts. bought the Lake, Washburn, I Wis. Q1ICAGO William Ham celebrated 30th year as . bookeir: with ■ Paramount Oct. 22. Universal preparing for Chi "Hamlet" run, with Maurice Berg- misn, eastern ad-publicity director; Robert Ungerfeld, theatre coordin- ator; Richard Weaver, advance man; and Harold Butchin in town ove necessitated the increase, be-1 "''s. _ . , ,.i,!.,-<»oc ' to arrange Nov. 24 opening. >use operating at the cheaper!,. North Central Allied changes, Delegation from Chi to Allied -"ce pS their lead de luxer, distributors here >re up t^ convention of theatre f a &vantage in competitive "^i^n^'ne out film with j Orleans. Nov. 29, m bidmng a collect on dehycry attached for i„c,udes Jack Kirsch, head of Al- wiiiiom T TimiP T|ni,,„-„i Something other than film actually - • William .1. Do\ le limversai gripped, such as a claimed overage ,Iesman named president Mo- it-^j ^ jier picture or for un- m Picture Associates, at annual i features or shorts. It claims ection. Also named were John / = iiipoai . -. Ber#n (Par), vice president: | Pra«ice is illegal. aorge D. Hutclieon (WB^ treas-| -er, and Moses Leo Koppelman ol. LUUlk) 'ational Film), secretary. | j^e Bowles, booker for Film National Screen Service closed' classics, St. Louis, resigned to ; Washington branch although ! return to theatre field. 11 maintaimng an office there Yisxv^ Hynes, manager of Uni- d _ will hahdle . Washington and ■ ^ersal exchange, convalescing from .'.Itimore activities from the oifiee I gjja^,^ of fly ■re. Joe Woodward,'who resigned as I president and general manager Taking theu wage case to the gj. manager for Eagle Lion, I Frank Newman for the same cu-- ibUc, Stanley Warner employees | hosted at barbecue by sales and , cuit. Thia is a newly created lied Theatres of 111., Lou H. Ham- son, Richard Salkin, Abe Auerbach, Art Sass, Robert Lubliner, Ben Banowitz, Mayer Stern, Sam Abra- hams and Sol Best. cuit and organization for the drive- ins, headed by Gordon McKinnon, a vet employee. Work on all eight will start immediately. Each drive- in will accommodate 500 cars and cost about $80,000. Minnesota Entertainment Enter- prises, comprising'.prominent Twin City independent exhibitors, in- cluding Field, now has a circuit of four drive-ins started In the Min- neapolis-St. Paul area, with more planned/ Two are in operation. Ted Mann and Charlie Ruben- stein, Field (in association with; Eddie Ruben and Clem Jaunich),! the W. R. Frank g,roup, Ruben j with Joe Floyd and a Ralph Green \ group are localindie exhibitors I . .. , launching drive-in circuits. Others P^na »«> Wea solid exploita- are a syndicate headed by Ted' hook and those which are Karatz, local sound equipment jgrossers because of their fine stor^ manufacturer; Roy McMinn and ™^te"al, pim said. As to Idea Clarence Kaake, Duluth and Su-jfil'Ms. thats where we come in. perior exhibitors: and L. G. Roes- course, yow cm toly do a few ner and Al Smith of the Colonial y«arly with a really good idea." The banks are still ready to lend 60% oh filitts'whtch aii^^^^r^^^ budgeted and cOnibine a prpmising cast ■ aftd; storyi Krlm; said; ' ""rtie era ;of thie film prohjOter, however, is ended." he added. Such things as sai^- defer^ . big salaries, for > producer who ' adds nothing ^f yei^l: valiie to a- Alni ? are out so fai^ ss thier banks ar^ cbn- eerned:> ^ui (hci ^ank of America and other ebnc^rn^ are stUl solidly ; behind the picture indto^^^ i , Four-picture deal which EL had with Walter Wanger has been cut to three films, Krim said; Wanger ; •has completed two of these—"Reign " {of Terror" and "iMbsa"—and has One more to. disUyerj, :*'The ■ Blank: . Wall," starring Joan Bennett, "Tulsa" with a production nut. of' $1,650,000 was the most expen- sive pic so far made for EL. Krim came east principally to close "a substantial deal" for the sale of EL's pix for distribution in mid-EurOpe. \ While • withholding details, he said the deal called for payment to the company of hard Two New Drivc'Ina Near Dallas Dallas. Charles W. Weisenburg plans construction of a new SOO-ear drive-in between here and Seago- ville. At present he Is rebuilding the Sylvia, Seagoville. which was recently .damaged., by: fire. New house will seat 600. Weisenburg, John Fagin, and Harold Wilson, operating as WFW Theatres Inc.. are building the Dunvista drive-in at Borgen . Drive-In For JacksonviU^^ Jacksonville. . New $250,000 drive-in with 1,700- auto capacity and-seating facilities for 1,000 customers, is being readied for opening here. Con- struction is being handled by Tropical Drive-In Theatres., It will be called the Normandie Outdoor Twin Theatre. . Pitt Building Union Halted Pittsburgh. . . AFL building trade unions were currency told in federal court here that they could not interfere with the con d a hbrse ana buggy (a slap at ffi^e staff. He joined Delft Thea- the company s reputedly anti-; ^j.^ Marquette, Wis. :'.1®"[.!!'/J?? P"*""-'' parading mid- George Barlier, owner of film houses in four Illinois towns, con- fined to Villa Grove, 111., home be- cause of heart attaclv. .vvn streets. PITTSBURGH Harry E. Kafen purchased Sky ' 'leatre from Paul Becker, It is the d Ohio, having been renovated -.d renamed last • year when . ^cker took it over. Frank X. Reller, formerly with ,' ,oew's in St. Louis, joined UA '.les staff, succeeding Dave Brown, ^ "^signed. Reller will cover West! JJ^ar'^j-gofJ iii . .rginia territory. • ■ Michael Halm, recently returned ■om Europe,; reopened the Marsh 1 South Wheeling, W. Va. House | post. ' Clinton McFarland, for the last two years assistant to Jack Engcr- man, ad manager of Sterling Thfr- aires (Jolin Danz), placed in charge of advertising with the resignation St. Louis Variety Club will i of Engcrman. sponsor p.a. of Horace Heidt and Al O'Camp, formerly exploiteer his Cavalcade of Stars at the Henry 1 for RKO in northwest, back after SEATTLE William Thedford, former disr ^ ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ tricl manager for Evergreen The- j gtruction of El Rancho drive-in atrcs, Portland, is new arrival m ■ Bridgeville, Pa., as part of a sec- Seattle, becoming assistant ^ ^to j ondary boycott. Judge Robert M. Q.jj^^^ j^^^^^ .^j^^^j.^^ ^j^.^j^ woiild restrain Building Trades Council and associated unions from withholding their labor at an out- door house because electricians represented by United Mine Work- W. Kiel (municipal) auditorium Nov. 12. Net proceeds will be earmarked for tent's Heart Fund;. Maury Edgar resigned'from St. Louis Eagle Lion sales staff to devote time to his 300-acre farm four years in the service, on spe- cial exploitation for "Song Is Bom." DALLAS , , , , , , L. D. Brown purchased the Plaza d been operated under lease for at Brownwood, Tex., from Joy year by George Prostinak, noW|Houck of New Orleans. Brown al- 1 . ready operates the Queen and Ritz Mr. and Mrs. Guy Oglictti. local ; there ■libs who recently returned from j tnterstate Theatres remodeling ,a-mqnth visit to Italy, where Wigwam and Pershing in El Paso ^, ; ••L%*«l!!*w^.^'LH^"?J'rrh„r?l An addition to the Pershing will W ^ .SSn^h v™?,?J n.^iilHt",^,^i I boost seating capacity to 800. Wig- W w'^Vi J T?^^'^^" ' warn will be renamed the State. W 'ed in World War II. T.t«.rH u..** or„i ni.„iiov,th6r LOS ANGELES Paramount announced a number of changes in its western sales divi- sion; Ward Pennington upped from K. G: salesman to sales manager in San Francisco; Frank Westbrook moved from Denver to succeed Pennington in K. C. Paul AU- meyer, Denver booking manager, u^ped to sales manager; James R. Ricketts, assistant; booking man- ager in Des Moines, moved to AUt meyer's old post in Denver. Fox West Coast renewed long- term leases on three film houses in With Milton Broudy, transferred sold theS loMl MoiiSn ex- ^^"'"/"}''- Glen theatre, Glendale -re from Philadelphia exchange, XLu.U. thf oar^T^cnrnVan^ ! ^2 ivering the Main Line and some ty accounts for Eagle Lion, Dan 'yers, newcomer to staff. Is as- igned to West Virginia area. MINNEAPOLIS change to the parent "company,! Si'5"^"3„''y/^S^^ Monogram Pictures. Both plan to | ^fi^^n""*"^?: ""^ Sterland. L. A., retii-e but will continue operation | '""^ ^" yeais. of four nabe houses here in which they have an interest with Gene Autry. All stock of United Theatre Service Corp., acquired by John C, "Time of Life" bought by Min- Greerj who has been general mana ■2Sota Amus. Go. for.entire,circuit Iger for the last six months. He will id opens at local State and. .St [become president as weU as gen- '.lul Paramount soon. , I eral manager. John L. Francoiii is 'Adult' Fare Continued from face- □ 850G Costumer Continued, fiom page 3 la used the boom : ;once' in doing "T-Men." "We did something which John Ford , does a lot, had people walk towards the camera ers District 50 .were employed on | instead. It's more exciting when project , . i people come towards you and it . :; ■ ' :. ■ {'eliminates tlie need for lighting big expanses." In "Reign," he said, New Te|as^Drive^-In I ceilings were used and the light- A new drive-in to be kAown as »"? was arranged from the floor, the Starlight is being built here by skirting the need for nggmg. R. S, Starling. He already oper- ates the Twilite drive-in here. New Drive-In Activity in Ky. St. Louis. Construction of drive-ins has accelerated during tlie past year with the Columbia Amus. Co., Inc., Paducah, Ky., now hi the field. Co- lumbia plans a 600-car operatinni hi Murray, Ky., where the com- pany now operates two theatres. "Louis B. Mayer (Metro's proi duction chief) was so impressed by 'T-Men' that he had his .entire staff In at screenings of the film," Mann said. "He was Interested In learn- ing how the film could be made so cheaply and so well." In "Reign," according to Mann, one instance of the "imagination" used to save costs was the shoot- ing of the guillotine scene by placing the camera directly above the execution platform. "We elim- Opposish to the Columbia inter* .=i>....- K„ I?- ? 600-car drive-in . inated the necessity of shooting the IiTnear LK^k"^^. »rive- ! back of the platform and most of in, near Benton, Ky.; a 500-car one both sirifs. Bv «> dninp thP m«h being opened near Benton by Lake Edwards and Associates; a 25S-«ar drive-in opened by H. J. Shelby at Kevil, Ky. In IlUnois, Russell Baker is building a drive-in near Metropolis. both sides. By so doing, the mob scene was kept down to 90 people but gave the Impression of many more." influence the forthcomihg: Caha- dian situaiion. XT. »i. > .t -L , ' , X. . , - , , V ,, On the 20C& amusement tax. More than-20 of terntory s mr I retiring head and; orgamzer, of the i^v]ji(;b^ ^ya^^ dropped by the fed- ' '^i"':ff*.**^*i5"'""*»''''f"'"^ concern. ' ^^^^ government and immediately '.ade reservations, to, attend na- •■ ■ — — ■ i ,<„i,„„„„„j u., fi.» «..«.riw»;.,t ^a.; onal Allied Stales' convention at' --n. ; reimposed by the piovincial gov- COLUMBUS cmmcnts to be earmarked for hos- . few Orleans Nov. 29^30 and Dec, 1. , ■ ^a. i > ,r • • New Cedar, first neighborhood Mrs. Lelia Steams, general man-' P'tals relief, Morris Stem of Fa- louse to be built here in dozen ager of the Southern, downtown mous Players (Canadian) reported ears because of city council ban' second-run, film house, has com- that every means had been used m new sfaowhouse construction, pleted a $30,000 facelift job by the MPTA to eliminate or al- ijpens shortly. on the theatre, once playing all Icviate the tax but such efforts Kenneth Eitrem resigned as legit productions li er e. Mrs. hadn't been successful. Paramount booker to become an , Steams finished the, revamping; Elected directors were Morris RKO saleiiman at Sioux Falls, S. D. which-was originally planned by Stein, Famous Players; George 5M-Car Texas Drive-In Wichita Falls, Tex. New 5 00-car Falls drive-in opened here by John Blocker and J. S, Sands. Extended Dates ContinncA front page I ■Third priveTin Near IWiiwankef : hv^tK .WeidEei^ pi)rodi)et.^;Q^ /i..^„t ■ i<- > ., W'.lwai'kee. . is that les$er, pictures are foftuhate iri^ M^l"*^ "Ic" fi drive- to last. Out a full week. Bert Zats promoted from bUling her husband who died-four years , Peters, Odeon (Ban£r'Theat"re°s": | this" we^k b^ X?cL^hea*t%s ^itu^^^ ^-Thi^^lirrt Tv^lm^hit ..li^^c. fsti 4,<i»an/>v am i:»T.Lii. .,, » vitlJiv s,/^:,-.: i.ni,rfi\fff.wirr«».i„.,(. r^A.,-, tT ..;t«^,." situation^ ine old axiom that only three pietiireii went six week* or- longer,' while In 1941 thesis were 11 tbeatries playing sis rounds Start Corpus Christi Drive-ln '^"^\. . Corpus Christ! Tex 1 ™ holoover time in smaller Underwood & Ezell Orive-In' those outside the first 50 Theatre Corp., renewed permit for l^^y' spots, is comparatively more construction of $40,000 drive-in severe than hi larger keys. This here. Permit was originally grant- is understandable to distributors, ed more than a year ago, and work , being attributed to the fact that already has started on outdoor patrons are shopping for screen fare, with the result that smash hits drain more heavily on houses clerk to fill vacancy. ago. Bennie Berger, North Central j Allied president, praised film com-. | panics for showing more concilia'( tory spirit and being more cooper- Curfew at 9 o'clock decreed for KANSAS CITY A. (Nat) Taylor, 20th I Management Corp. It will haO^ tTere i "no situ^^^^^^ Theatres: William Sum- 1.000-car capacity. Marcus is build- ■ f^A r.?ph™ r..,l„ (c .,iY^r.« and Sam Fine B F WKjwo^her drive-ins at Appleton ^'^^^ ^^^ ^ "^H^ i Nathaniel r Centuiy merville and Sam Fine, B & F Theatres. Independent theatre rep- v^eTn"dWnng wlfh i^d^^^^^^^^^ kidTof Ka^^as City: KrnV.:but it J^^^ exhibitors. won't affect their theatre-going, ac- ^a'"- I?5rb Allen, Roy Miller Paul Mans and associates filed a cording to Edward lU(/es, police Larr.v Ritza^,^Lou Rosefield, Floyd hourt action to mandamus town lieutenant ' ' " ' ' - .- x,. . . n,, . council of Rose, Twin City .suburb, bureau to grant them a license to build a under and Lacrosse, Wis. The catch this year is that there are fewer of these good pictures available. I have discovered that when these t Drive-Ins For San Anidnio . San Antonio, ,. , rwo big drivc^ms are planned big. draw' pictures are available