Variety (December 1952)

I«l* • • *1 r twu 11 if. Wednesday, December 10, 1952 HCfeiES Itlllk . •!«••»- t ihm-h i immmt i im t mi > * » m - m » > » t dips From Film Row UM-l-H-l-i ♦ iMUUMii I M - 44 4-44-4-X NEW YORK James E. Grainger, Republic’s sales Chief, enroute to the Coast via Chicago, Milwaukee, Denver, Seattle, Portland, and San Fran- cisco. He will spend the Christmas holidays in Hollywood. Grainger also will confer with company prexy Herbert J. Yates, now on the Coast. Pat Notaro, manager of the Fa- bian in Hoboken for the past year, resigned effective Jan. 3 to join Roth Enterprises of Washington. D.C., as an executive. Roth firm has a string of houses in D.C. and Virginia. Notaro, who once was manager of Warner house in Ha- vana, continues to act as co-man- ager of Los Chavales de Espana, singing-instrumental group. George H. Bookbinder, special sales rep for Franco London Film, planed to Paris Saturday (6) for confabs with company head Henry Deutschmeister. He’ll be abroad about three months. Dr. Hans Hass, Austrian scien- tist and producer of the RKO documentary, "Under the Red Sea,” enroute to Sydney, Austra- lia, to study marine life there and help plug his film at Aussie thea- tres. Si Fabian, of Fabian Theatres; Manny Frisch, of Randforce Amus. Corp., and Paramount prexy Bar- ney BaLaban accepted co-chairmen posts with the amusement division of the Federation of Jewish Phi- lanthropies. Mike Simons, Metro’s exhibitor relations staffer, has a sked of four speaking engagements, beginning next Monday (15) when he ad- dresses the Professional Social Workers of Wheeling, W. Va. Fol- lowing this he’ll .talk at meetings of the Rotary Club in Martins Ferry, the Kiwanis Club in Bellaire and the Advertising Club, Marietta, all Ohio. MINNEAPOLIS Federal Judge G. H. Nordbye on Dec. 13 will hear motions in the $125,000 damages which he award- ed local independent exhibitors Sol and Martin Lebedoff because of clearance discrimination against the Homewood Theatre. Counsel for major distributors and Minne- sota Amus. Co., defendants, want the v judgment cut to $105,000, while the Lebedoffs are seeking a boost to $150,000. Film exchanges this week hold-- Ing their first all-industry Christ- mas party at Calhoun Beach hotel. Jack Kelvig resigned as Repub- lic office manager to take similar OUTDOOR REFRESHMENT SERVICE ' frtmCMit toCaot Va s - o b ■ <-1 s. :' ; post at 20th-Fox where he succeed- ed Glen Roberts, resigned. While here with "John Brown’s Body,” Tyrone Power had his pic- ture taken with a cutout of his wife, Linda Christian, in front of the RKO-Orpheum to help exploit "Happy Time,” playing at that house. She appears in the film. Big biz still being chalked up over the territory by "Quiet Man which ran for 34 days in Fargo, N. D., population 37,981, setting a record for the city. Pat Letcher, Metro exploiteer, piloting around the Twin Cities "mermaid” Pat Smith from picture “Million Dollar Mermaid,” open- ing at Gopher here Dec. 24. Film salesmen, who make terri- tory in their cars, having usual rugged winter going as blizzards, deep snow and icy roads make travel hazardous for them. World preem of Allied Artists’ "Hiawatha” is set for State here Dec. 17. Film’s star, Yvette Dugay, will come here for launching. It will be State’s second 1952 world preem, other being Republic’s "Woman of North Country.” Both pix have special Minnesota angles. ST. LOUIS Joseph ML Keating, manager of the St. Louis Amus. Co. Lindell, appointed a member of grand jury investigating alleged collusion be- tween cops and racketeers. Marion A. Osborne, head of Out- door Amus. Co., Mattoon, 111., sold his ozoner near Mattoon, to the Mattoon Theatre Co., controlled by the Frisina Amus. Co. Mayor Ray Parker, Brentwood, St. Louis County who doubles as manager of a SL Louis county ozoner, plans to relight the Shu- bert in midtown St. Louis. The Shubert, once a legit house was operated by Service Group, Inc., until, it was darkened last* May. George Pliskos relighted his Regal, a 900-seater here, dark since Xmas. 1951. Herman Ferguson, Malden, Mo., exhib is convalescing from injuries suffered in a recent auto accident George Cohen, booker for 'Co- lumbia St. Louis exchange, upped to the sales staff, and traveling in Illinois. DALLAS Lou Novy, prez of Trans-Texas Theatres, Inc., Austin, bought the Majestic, Fort Worth deluxer from Interstate Circuit, Inc., last week. House is a former vaude and legit house. Novy owns the Capitol and Rialto here as well as Austin and Amarillo houses. Eddie Fadal converted his old Elm Street Theatre at Waco into an arty house. It will be called the Coronet. It will he patterned after the Coronet Theatre at Dallas, operated by Alfred N. Sack who will assist Fadal in booking this spot Recommendation of the city planning commission that an area in the Aliena Village shopping cen- GREAT MOTION PICTURES ARE PROCESSED BY PATHE O ter In San Antonio he re-zoned from manufacturing to residential was approved by the city council. This blocks for a time any pro- posal of the Statewide Dnve-In Theatres to construct a new ozoner in the area. A safe in the Airline Drive-In in Houston was broken into, accord- ing to manager Guy H. Price. Over $1,400 was taken by the robbers. The new $117,000 Key City Drive-In opened at Abilene by Maurice Cole. It has a 600-car ca- pacity. Cole formerly owned ozon- ers in Ft. Worth and Corsicana. Interstate’ Theatre Circuit an- nounced that construction will get under way soon on a new theatre at Vernon to replace the Vernon Theatre destroyed by fire in Sep- tember. New house will be a 1,200- seater. Vernon Wynne named manager of the State, Pittsburg; replaces Buddy Gotcher who becomes man- ager of three Tri-State Theatres at Idabel, Okla. Albert L. Smith leased the Pal- ace at Abilene for five years. House formerly was operated by inter- state who turned house back to its owner, S. P. Nesmith, in June. MEMPHIS Jack Hogan, assistant manager of downtown Malco Theatre here, moved to West Memphis, Ark., to take over managerial reins of Crit- tenden House, also owned by Mal- co. Jack Bundy, former manager of West Memphis Crittenden nabe house, upped to manager of Cross- town, nabe theatre, also a Memphis Malco operation. Sunset Drive-In at West Mem- phis, 10 miles from downtown Memphis, poured it on for their patrons last week by offering six full-length films and six cartoons for two days. Show starts at 6 p.m. and shutters at 3 ajn. Boff biz resulted and ozoner may try it again. PHILADELPHIA The legit theatre gets a plug on the screen at the Goldman via a trailer advertising the Eddie Dowling-Margaret O’Brien produc- tion, "The Intruder,” current at Locust Jimmy Dorsey’s daughter Julia in town to help exploitation on “Million Dollar Mermaid,” Christ- mas film at the Randolph. Joe Nevison, manager of Erlen Theatre, who last season introduce weekly, one-act plays, presented four juve pianists in a concert there last week. Program was given between first and second night shows. Attempt to rob safe at the Up- town Theatre missed when thieves failed to crack the safe containing $1,700, Clifton Webb will be honored bj the Poor Richard Club at a dinnei Dec. 20. CHICAGO Roger Sher, who managed the Lans, Lansing, 111., took over op^ eration of the Holiday, Park For- est, HI. Holiday had been run by H&E Balaban circuit. Joseph Skyes will manage the Dunes and Zion in Zion, IU. Police censor board reviewed 88 films last month, checking four for “adults only,” all being foreign films. One import was rejected. BEN PI VAR, Independent Film Library , President says: * “Onup very survival is often dependent upon lab service. Pathe has never let ns down.” DETROIT Irving Teicher, original owner of the Studio Theatre here,- taking over management of the Palmer Park for operation as a first-run foreign and art film house. Thea- tre is in process of renovation. Franklin Theatre started an ex- clusive German language feature policy with product supplied by Ca- sino Film Exchange of N. Y. Bob Misch, associated with the Butterfield chain for 25 years, joined Paramount as a booker. . When the lab work can make or break a picture, don’t take chances. Specify Pathe because Pathe produces the highest -quality work with best service available anywhere. Both New York and Hollywood Have Cowplcic Pathe Laboratory Facilities: 3 JMM ‘ • l 6 MM • COLOR • BLACK AND WHITE Pathe Laboratories* lie. is a subsidiary'of Chesapeake Industries* Inc. PITTSBURGH Richard P. Morgan, of New Jer- sey, appointed executive secretary of Allied Motion Picture Theatre Owners of Western Pennsylvania, succeeding veteran Fred Herring- ton, recently retired after more than 40 years in post. Morgan, a lawyer, was with Par legal depart- ment in New York for some time before going into exhibition him- self in Watertown, N.Y. More re- cently, he was connected with Wal- ter Reade circuit and Consolidated Theatres. Herb Reed is Metro’s new ex- ploitation man in this territory, re- lieving . Waddy Watson, who until now has had Pittsburgh in addition to Cleveland and Indianapolis. Watson will concentrate on latter two cities with some help from John L. Johns, formerly in WB contact department here, who joined Metro field staff several months ago. Jack Dolde appointed manager of Loew’s Ritz following resigna- tion of Carl Ferrazza to go with an indie circuit in Cincinnati. Victoria Cooke and Betty Jen- kins of the Metro inspection de- partment moved up into the gen- eral office. Adelaide Flood resigned from Metro staff to live in South Bend, with her husband, Dave Flood, Notre Dame halfback, until he gets his degree. WB has given Pucsburgh Press the new Doris Day-Ray Bolger pic- ture, "April in Paris,” for Scripps- Howard newspaper’s annual pre- Xmas world preem in behalf of the Old Newsboys Fund for crip- pled youngsters at the Children’s Hospital. LOS ANGELES Columbia is reissuing "Ladies of Chorus” to capitalize current pub- licity on Marilyn Monroe, who played one of chorus girls. Jack Thomas, after five years with Hallmark Productions, signed with Sol Lesser Productions as gen- eral manager of roadshow depart- ment. Warners closed a deal to dis- tribute five features which are to be delivered by Alex Gottlieb, starting with "The Gardenia,” cur- rently in production. Stanley Kramer’s "Member of Wedding” will open at Beverly Canon theatre Dec. 25, making it eligible for the Oscar Derby. Harold Wirthwein to Omaha for cOnfabs with Sol Francis, manager of Allied Artists exchange. Maxwell Shane and Ivan Tors withdrew their indie, "The Glass Wall,” from United Artists, and closed a deal for its release through Columbia. Robert Lee Perkins, Paramount’s Far East manager, and N. Metori, general sales manager for Japan, arrived here for studio huddles. RKO acquired U.S. distribution rights to "Heavy Water,” feature- length documentary produced in Norway by E. Slotfeldfc Ellingsen. Picture, dealing with Nazi intrigue, won the documentary prize at the Venice Film Festival in 1949. Robert L. Lippert set deal to distribute "Perils of Jungle,” pro- duced independently by Clyde Beatty. ALBANY United Artists opened an office in National Screen Service Corp. local headquarters, with Bob Ad- ler, former Allied Artists sales- man-booker, as sales manager. Branch is under direction of Man- ny Brown, Buffalo manager, and Moe Dudelson, district manager. Dale Herman resigned from Smith Howell Film Service to take Adler’s place with AA. Filzgibbons , Continued from pxgt 4 maa TV Sales Convention - ■= « Continued from page 4 ~ astic, and some reported strong point-of-contact sales immediately after, the show in the theatre lob- bies. ' Monday’s session pointed up the need for such schooling, via the tremendous magnification given even the slightest errors by big- screen video. Thus*, use of the word "fillum” (film) and "dja Hear” (did you hear) had a jarring effect far beyond any folksy intimacy such diction might have imparted in a meet held in the usual way. In. contrast to this, the brightest spots in the show were Kate Smith in a special pickup from NBC’s Hudson Theatre, N.Y. (Lees be- came a participating sponsor on Miss Smith’s daytime video show Monday), and the filmed commer- cials for the NBC program trailer- ized for the audience. This would prove again that showmanship will be all-important even for a busi- ness session. Session also pointed up how im- portant color will be for theatre TV. While the cameras showed off the Lees carpets excellently, to the point where it was almost possible to feel their texture, a verbal de- scription of their colors was no substitute for the real thing. To compensate for this, the outfit set up a sample display in each thea- tre lobby for the dealers to see on their exit. Also on the debit side of the presentation was the faulty placement of Teleprompter units used by the Lees execs. Their con- stant looking off to the side dis- sipated further the required in- timacy. On the credit side, however, was the fine camera work evolved by TNT prexy Nathan L. Halpern and director Herb Sussan. Use of rear- screen projection on the sets, split- screen techniques (including one in which one person was in Wasn- ington and the other in N.Y.), fades and super-impositions came off ex- cellently. One camera seemed to be out-of focus and there was also some unaccountable static in the sound system. Show originated from NBC’s Studio 3B in Radio City, N.Y., plus the two remote pickups.from D.C. and Indianapo- lis. Lees rented each theatre on a straight four-walls deal, with the rental in each case based on a number of factors, including seat- ing capacity, location, importance of the locality to the Lees sales market, any cut-in on regular box- office hours, etc. Stal. Glenn Ford signed a two-picture deal with UI, starting with "Wings of the Vulture,” to he produced in Technicolor by Aaron Rosen- berg. on to TV channels and refusing to grant licenses to applicants for in- dependent TV stations, has had a recent audience with Prime Min- ister St. Laurent in Ottawa and been promised that Famous Play- ers’ application will "he given some consideration” when the PM re- turns from the current London con- ference of Commonwealth prime ministers. At that time the private TV applications will be taken up by the Cabinet.) Meanwhile, oh Telemeter (over which the CBC has no control), Fitzgibbons is working quietly on the proposed trans-Canada pay-as- you-see plan; already has the fran- chise for the Quebec area, sees no problem in Hamilton, Ontario, and is currently negotiating with city fathers in every key-spot across Canada. He has reserved two chan- nels and can start immediately to erect an antenna system across the country. On the Hamilton, Ontario, deal for example, he will build a 300- foot antenna on the mountain to relay TV from Toronto, Buffalo and Rochester. A similar setup in Van- couver will pick up Seattle pro- grams; and thus across the conti- nent to service Canadian key cities from adjacent U. S. points that have TV, this on a minor initial installation charge to TV set-own- ers, plus a monthly service bill of 25c to $1 on separate program- ming, to provide community coaxial cable service for the Telemeter coin setup. Meanwhile, there are no existent civic.regulations in Canada govern- ing the granting of such a fran- chise but these negotiations are underway, with possibility of a blanket green light granted by the premieres of the 10 separate prov- inces, this obviating individual city ordinances. "v££ - ' In iht Nip* V*Hiy,t\**t Sin Pr*nclseo,n*Hl*i "BiiuIIau" fovefy vlmyird’Oitil* of the d* Liiour fimlly. 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