Variety (October 1953)

20 PICTURES Wednesday, Ortolxr 7. 19.>3 Clips From Film Row NEW YORK Jack J\ Harris, film buyer for Walter Heart* 1 Theatres. huddling m San Francisco with Maury Sc-lm. 11 / to aid in launching a new nationwide circuit ol specialized houses which the Keade and Schwarz organizations are setting up Max A. Cohen, heart of'Cinema Circuit, sailed on the Libert c Friday *2> .Tor a tour ol Palis, Home and Madrid. He’ll study new technical developments in film techniques and scout fresh over- seas product, DENVER Dave Wantoek reopened Jne Lake, Johnstown. Colo. Had sold house to Merf Kvans hut latter closed it when he* left to become manager of the Lakewood, Lake- wood, Colo. Fay Hoyd quit as manager of the Unique, Gunnison, Colo. John Denman returning to De n- ver, this time to manage the Denver, being promoted by Fox Inte r-Mountain Theatres from city managership at Great Falls, Mont. He* succeeds Bernie Hynes, who quit to go to Hollywood to ent/r production. John H Roberts, owner of the- atres in Ft. Morgan and Brush. Colo., taken to a Ft. Morgan hos- pital following heart attack. Ralph Batschelet. manager here for 21 years, lately at the- Tabor, has quit to become vice president and general manager of the newly formed Television Theatres, which will operate the Webber, and the ne w 1.280-ear Centennial drive-in, being built at Littleton, Colo., near Imre. as well as ticups with schools and churches. Despite North Central Allied’s admonitions against 3-D. more theatres here and throughout ter- ritory continue to install it. 'l ower, one of two St. Paul loop first-run houses reopening this month, will play twin hills. German "Keepers of Night” had Twin Cities’ first-run at Campus, local arty nabe house. Current Minneapolis Federal Reserve hank reveals signs of busi- ness leveling ol! in territory, with continued weakness in farm pr ices, growth in biz inventories and re- ciuction in spending noted. How- ever, Twin Cities’ employment is still at record high. as salesman here with RKO, named sales manager for Universal in Philadelphia under exchange boss Edward Heiber. John Wilson reopening Koppe! Theatre in Koppel, Pa., Orpheum in Franklin, which has been closed since early June, also has unshut- tered. LOS ANGELES Ward Pennington, former Den- ver branch manager for Para- mount. appointed sales manager for that compan.v's Sail Francisco branch under Jack Stevenson. Latter was recently promoted lo Frisco branch manager, succeeding H. Neal East. Latter upped to as- sistant to George Smith, division chief. Irving H. Levin, proxy of Filmakers Releasing, signed Harry L. Mandell as veepee in charge of domestic sales. Mandell was for- merly with Warners, Eagle Lion and Selznick. BOSTON Nate Levin, AA city salesman, upped to branch manager of com- pany's Detroit office. Ken Mayer, Universal salesman, resigned Jo enter the nightclub biz, opening the Torch .Room at the Glass Hat Club John McGrail. Universal flack, entered the Carney hospital for an operation. While hospitalized, Tom Bowtl. former manager of the Beacon Hill, will handle tub- thumping for U. Lou Newman, vet theatre man- ager, appointed manager of Gor- man Theatre, Framingham, owned by the Smith Management. Nick Lavidor, longtime manager of E. M. Loew s Center here, pro- moted to district manager han- dling the circuit's eastern Mass., Maine and New Hampshire thea- tres. Harry Lavidor. his brother, transferred from Thompson Square Theatre to the Center with Frank Kostis. formerly of New England Theatres, taking oyer the reins of all the Thompson Sq. DALLAS Irving Rust named buyer and booker for Leon Theatres; succeeds Harold Brooks, who resigned to join Lester Dollison. Rust was buyer and booker for Jefferson Amus. Co. Rooking department for Rowley United Theatres, headed bv Dave Callahan, moved into new quarters here. Texan Theatre, operated by Horwitz Theatre circuit, shuttered in Houston. The building will be razefl to make way for a new build- ing. Vincent Sherman. Hollywood producer-director, accompanied by a writer and cameraman will visit Dallas, Houston, San Antonio and Fort Worth. He plans to produce a film based on career of a wealthy Texas woman in the oil biz. Vernon Christian. RKO-Radio, elected f>rexy of the Dallas lodge of Colosseum of Motion Picture Salesmen of America. Texas Theatre in Oak Cliff, owned by Rowley United Theatres, opened after being closed for a week for major overhaul which included installation of 1.700 new seats and installation of a stage. Complicated Journalism Italo producers team of Car- lo Ponti and Dino De Lauren- tiis, with neither speaking English, had a distinguished Interpreter at their N. Y. in- terview last week in the per- Renato Gualino, Italian Producers * B’way Bottleneck Dr. the son of head of Assn. • Situation complicated became slightly in connection with a couple of questions hav- ing to do with Italian Films Export, of which Gualino is managing director. Ponti-De Laurentiis pix so fiir haven't been channeled via 1FE. Italy’s Needs Continued from page 4 at * ’ Fir fl Bari lu A i: 12 Biggest Continued from page 4 CHICAGO Charles Avgeris leased Hinsdale Theatre, Hinsdale. Ill . from George Valos and reopened with dual policy and two changes per week. Holiday Theatre. Round Lake, 111 . badly damaged in a windstorm, bring rebuilt as a quonset. Jack Garber. Mack for Roosevelt Theatre, hack from hospital sans ulcer. Me Vickers to have world proem ol “Sra of Lost Ships” Oct. 22. with John Derek, Wanda Hendrix and Walter Brennan coming in for personals. Filmack Trailers expanded TV sales department with three addi- tions to stafT and one promotion from ranks. Hal Lansing and John Thorsen in as TV sales reps; and Hal Tate named to tele pro- duction dept, l’at Collopy. in Ftlmack’s theatre dept, for nearly two years, tipped to slide produc- tion co-ordinator. ALBANY Chester Theatre in Chestertown, which Jules Berlmuttcr. of Albany, recently leased from Walter H. Wertime Estate, being facelifted during shutdown, and will be called the Carol on reopening this month. Lou Jeffords, former man- ager of the Grand in Watervliet for Perlmutter, will be manager. The Colony, second-run nabe in Schenectady, taken over by Ellis Eisenstein from John Gardner, for many years the operator. Gardner continues his Turnpike Drive-in at Westmcre, outside Albany. OMAHA Dan Flanagan returned as man- ager of Pioneer and Trail theatres ,n Nebraska City, after serving as acting manager of Hiawatha, Kans., I house. "The Robe” is slated for initial Nebraska showings the middle of October. Elmer Haines phonic sound at Sidney, Neb. installed stereo- his Fox Theatre. "Vice iPar), and were MINNEAPOLIS Universal exploited* Ben Katz beating drums for "All American," due at State soon. "Moon Is Blue,” in its seventh weejt here, starting its fourth in St. Paul where pictures rarely run longer than two weeks. Weekend holdouts at HKO-Or- pheum and World tor "From Here to Eternity’’ and "Moon Is Blue," respectively, reminiscent of "good old days” here. AH six Minnesota Entertainment Enterprise*' Twin Cities' area o/onei *> shuttered for season bv end of l.c l week, their earlie st c iPsings ( m mt owner Ted Mann planed to Los Angeles to** Mmnesota- Southein California lootb.tll game. WII here receiving mans in- q aiies aX to k lease ol "Hoove of Wax ' in 2-D Marciano - LaStarza fight pi x failed to get a run in Minneapolis or St. Paul Bout at !o< .<! Radio ( it> Paramount eirrn E.gge.t Art-explrtl’af * or {(,: f > Rota PHILADELPHIA Louis J. Coffman, attorney in film industry, accepted chairman- ship of Variety Club, Tent 13. Heart Fund campaign. Crescent Theatre Co. operating Crescent. W. Collingswood. N. J., filed anti-trust suit in U. S. District Court here against Columbia, RKO and 20th Fox. claiming $75,000 damages in alleged discrimination involving seven-day clearance in favor of nearby Century Theatre. Audubon. N. J. PITTSBURGH Franklin Film Exchange named distributor here of new Atlas prod- uct. Alex Levin leaving Soisson The- atre in Connellsvill**. which lie has managed for several years, to open a dress shop Francis Milton petitioned Al- legheny County commissioners to relieve him of his lease on the Greater Pittsburgh Airport The- atre. Joel Golden. Allied Arti*ts sales* man and formerlv with Warner Theatres as hooker, suffered heart attack recently and is in MoiLe- fiore hospital Shea circuit taking over opera- tion of Colonial in Erie; will con- \* i t it into » second-run While Shea Theatre lemams first inn out- let Mr. and Mr* Max M Summ'T- v is tele*, i-.ed on vilte now oper t heat i c under iting the Knox Pa agicement with an heavily against the new Cinema- scope method. "Moon Is Blue” <UA), a very strong third in August, still has such sustained strength that it managed to cop fourth money. "The Caddy” (Par), the new Mar- tin-Lewis comedy, wound up fifth although sock in most locations opening weeks. "Stalag 17,” another Paramount release, was sixth, the same rank- ing as the preceding month, attest- ing to its staying qualities. "Gen- tlemen Prefer Blondes” '20th), No. 1 for August, landed seventh posi- tion with nearly $400,000 despite its tremendous draw in the previ- ous month. j "Island in Sky” <WB) took ! eighth spot, not measuring up box- ' of flee-wise to some previous John Wayne starrers. “I, the Jury” I <UA>. a 3-D effort with added draw of being a Mickey Spillane story, j copped ninth place even in the I face of some erix barbs. "The Scoutmaster" <20th) man- | aged to edge up to 10th. "War of Worlds” (Par) and "Martin Luther” • Indie) rounded out the Golden Dozen in that order. "Wings of Hawk” <Uk Squad" <*UA), "Arrowhead” "Devil's Canyon” (RKO), "Sword and Rose” <RKO) runner-up films in that sequence. "Robe,” which obviously shapes as the outstanding newcomer, was not included in the September list- ings because it was out in release only in the month’s final week in more than one key city. Playing in Chicago, Philadelphia. L. A. and New York (second week), the film rolled up a total gross of nearly $500,000 for the single week. It is due to be launched in 44 keys ! during the present month. "Little Boy Lost" (Par), launched late in the month, shapes as an- • other big boxoffice winner based on initial playdates. "Lion in Streets” <WB) also looms as po- tentially strong although not open- ing too well in N. Y. Absence of I James* Cagney from the b.o. scene lor too long may have hurt his latest starter. "Mocambo" *M-G), which started , big ;it the N. Y. Music Hall this week, was sock on its teeoff in San Francisco. "The Actress." an- other from Metro, has been some- i what uneven thus far although reg- istering some fine to good sessions. "All American" (U>. another new pic*, did nicely in Detroit. "Moonlighter” MVB', 3-D film. far has been spotty with many slow* showings. "All i Desire” *L ' racked up some additional stout coin during the month. "Return To Paradise" 'UAb eighth in August, showed several big to sock playdates last month. Latin Lovers" (M-G>, inclined to mild showings in some bigger; dates, had several wesks of okay to strong dates. Cruel Sea" U' registered many big to smash weeks, mostly in smaller houses. "Half A Hero" ' M-C.t is rated a big disappoint- ment on showings to date. j Par giving an advance on delivery of the negative of such films as it might take on. Duo have been dis- cussing with Par distribution of two other of their films—"Mambo,” another Silvana Mangano starrer. and “Attila” with Anthony Quinn in the lead. Like "Ulysses” they are to be shot in English. "Mambo” rolls in early Decem- ber. Playing opposite Miss Man- gano will be either Cornel Wilde or VHtorio Gassmann. Other male lead is a tossup between Farley Granger and Falsetti. Katharine Dunham also will be in the film. It’s already certain that Par will take the picture for North Amer- ica. Most Costly Ever Made Ponti and De Laurentiis said they believed it would be wise for the Italian industry to reduce its output in favor of more important films. This, they held, would also serve to concentrate the industry’s technical, artistic and financial re- sources. Production in Italy still is fur cheaper than in Holiyw-ood. even though "Ulysses,” with a $2,500,000 budget, is the costliest film ever made in Italy. The producers didn't think their industry was doing itself a dis- favor by dropping many of the smaller, arty productions and mak- ing films that would collide with Hollywood head-on. “Those little films with subtitles were no com- petition,” they asserted. "Now we go in for bigger things. Many see this as implying a loss of quality, but it isn’t necessarily so. We con- sider that our big pictures also will have a clearly Italian flavor. The urtistic films did the spade- work. Now we have to build on it." They added that the industry in Rome would continue to make the specialized entries that find favor in U. S. arties, but that it was im- practical to successfully run an in- dustry on "exceptions.” 23 Continued from pane 3 sic Hall or for a twin date Astor and Victoria theatres. Right now, Columbia's Here to Eternity” looks set loijg run at the Capitol mount’s "Little Coy Lost” j* to stay at the Rivoli. United ists’ "The Moon Is Blue at • , Victoria and Paramount's "Sk. e 17” at the Astor still aie tiu ~ entrenched, and the Music n. ] has just preemed Metro's ,j,,. gambo.” Cinerama isn’t going budge from the Warner Th< „* . for months. One intriguing possibility that, after the run of "Tlu* Robe the Roxy may enjoy a new presu^ position in the Broadway lineup taking some of the gloss off tu Music Hall. Smaller companies say that n worst comes to the worst, tin \ can always preem their pix out- side the Times Square area or up- date them on the circuits. Many continue to feel that the prestige and publicity emanating from a Broadway opening continues, an important factor even though oi * admitted that these engagement* rarely mean profit. If a real shortage of outlets de- velops, the distribs may turn to the lormer film houses that have turned legit. In recent year*, some of the companies have pre- ferred preeming their more un- usual pix in the arties where, it successful, they can settle down for very long runs and a reason- able overhead. Closed in Color Screen Writers Continued from page S | 4 Adele Buffington. Morgan Cox, Warren Duff, Charles Hoffman. Beirne Lay. Jr., Walter Reisch and James Webb. Nominating committee urged members to use the mail ballot to insure as large a vote as possible, stating "the committee, recogniz- ing the constitutionality of proxy- voting, nevertheless voted unani- mously to urge members to cast their own ballots, to demonstrate their personal interest in guild ac- tivity. which is so needed.” Valentine Davies is chairman of the committee, while other mem- bers are Robert Bices, Everett Freeman. Ivan Goff. Roy Huggins. Jesse Lasky. Jr.. William Ludwig. , Frank Nugent, and Barry Ship- man. Will Be Fxec Committee i Exec* board has ruled that after the November elections the ad- i visory committee of TWG w ill be known as the executive committee of TUG. also that members of this committee will in the future be elected, not appointed. Sixteen ! writers will be elected from the following 32 nominees for the com- mittee: Dwight Babcock, Lee Berg. Robert Ibices. DeWitt Bodeen. Mor- timer Braus. George Carleton Brown. Morgan Cox. Dwight Cum- mins. Albery Duffy, Fenton Earn- shavv, James Gruen. Douglas Hcyes, Polly James. Curtis Ken- yon. Lawrence Kimble. Sid Kill- icr. Etna Lazarus. William Livelv. Ellis Marcus. A1 Martin. Betty Mcars, Donn Mullally. Jo Pagano. Stuart Palmer. Milton Raison. Dean Riesner. Maurice Tombragel. Catherine Turney. Eugene Vale. Malvin Wald. Arthur Weiss and Maurice Zimin. Continued from page prodding. For most comm< n i.d purposes the screen size would tie large enough. This closed-circuit colorcast co- starred with the backstage factm« in dealer appeal. Nine fullblown facets of the company’s chapeau styles were presented live with snappy running commentary by Frank Waldecker. After each ex- hibit, the nifty femme and equally nifty male models entered t tie stage from the sides and put on revue-rigged .skit bits matching the number’s title such as Easter Parade. Lunch at the Club. Fair Weather Foursome. Scene Under Starlight. Sand and Surf. Roundup Time. Young Man’s Fancy. Town \; Country, Bull Market. Finale was tagged Dramatis P» r- sonae with the whole cast and pro- duction personnel assembled on the stage for kudos—these including Edmund R. Richer and Donald M. Smith. Jr., of Grey ad agency: Bai- bara Jones, director and stager; William Uliman. Jr., fashion co- ordinator; John Martin, production and technical control: Norman Paris Trio, and E. A. Korchnov sales and ad veepee for Lee. and who supervised the entire getup. Color Generally Good The color values were generally good and many of the brighter tints excellent, though with some observable departures from fidelity when the actors appeared onstage to reveal hair that didn’t match up with the hues in the telecast 'for instance, a youngster's flaming red mop came out medium brown in the video'. During the first couple minutes of the screening, some ef the colors played 3-D tricks, danc- ing crazily before the eyes of view- ers. When the eye became accus- tomed to these tinted terps it put them back on the screen wheie they belonged and thereafter the “registry” dovetailed. (Word vv.,s that generator acted up for brief period and was then rected.) Halpern said at the session the selfsame facilities will be avar able for single markets or in r e- works of selected cities as an o ! * junct to his company's black white setup currently employed b r closed-circuits in some 50 an >'■ He said companies will be able “network” their meetings. * 1 through TNT color TV sirmiltai ously in a number of major t kets. The non-compatibility factor 1 currently inveighs against the U system in home telesets is not p. of the hot issue vis-a-vis FR compatible setup, since the ticim stration related to business and dustry conventions or other In- gatherings having no link with 1 ing loom video. tl «* cor- il>..t ,1. •*j •B i