Variety (November 1954)

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WCTUHES CHICAGO Wally Heim, UA publicist, home from hospital arid on crutches after knee Operation resulting from fall down stairs at. his home. Uptown Theatre■ only house in town to book theatre telecast of Opening Night at Metropolitan Opera Nov. 8; asking $2.50 ad- lissiofl; Women’s Variety Club of Illinois sponsoring opening game of 195- 55 season of Harlem Globetrotters as fall fund-raising .project for La Rabida Sanitarium. Clark Theatre installed Precipi- tr.on air purifier iri its $50,000 re- modelling program to rid house-of such.allergens as pollen, lint and. dust, ' 'Remit. -Russell, formerly of Schoenstadt: circuit, made ..assistant film b^iyer of Illinois Allied buy- ing, and. booking-department. Lambert Swatek, Tribune ad amusement chief, numbered, full page color ad taken by United Artists last ...week for “Barefoot Contessa" as the eighth taken by the film, industry in last.two years.. This is a record number of four- color pix . pages in the v Trib for' the period. It points up that films re. at a bally' high. Circuit owner James Coston and Alliance Theatres toppers P. J. Dee, S. J. Gregory and James Gregory planed to Coast to attend Charles Skouras, rites. Doug .Helgeson, “Cinerama” gen- eral manager here, reports. 1,235,- • 000 people have attended' the film, in first 65 weeks. Otto Preminger in town for. couple days making appearances •for "Carmen Jones,” which opens at United Artists this month. Ginger. Rogers and husband Jacques Bergerac due here Nov. 9 to hypo “Twisted Fate,” which opens at Monroe next week. NEW YORK John T. Babbitt, New York re- gional manager for the Army & Air Force Motion Picture Service, transferred to the Atlanta regional office as. manager; replacing him is Rich r.d O. Schmidt who moves, up from a similar AAFMPS berth in Washington. Al Burks, Warner Bros, home- office exploiteer who recently cov- ered the Washington, Philadelphia and Charlotte areas transferred to Dallas, Memphis and Oklahoma City territories. PHILADELPHIA Chamber ol’‘Commerce filed an objection with Zoning Board against: permit for A. M. Ellis’ pro- posed new' Roosevelt Boulevard ozoner, asking: that acreage be held for industrial sites. New Penn Theatre, North; Philly nabci has shuttered, Stanley. Warner Commodore. West Philly nabe, switched to art house policy, playing English and other foreign product Charles Beileri, Warner branch manager; back at the exchange after major operation. Harold S. Eski increased hold- ings with purchase of eight thea- tres in Pittsburgh territory. “Laurel and Hardy in Utopia” will.be released nationally by Ex- ploitation Productions, Inc., Jack H. Harris, general sales manager of EPI, announced. Film is first made by Laurel & Hardy since 1945, and Comeback is due to tv popularity. Sidney Samuelson, president arid general manager- of Allied of East- ern Pennsylvania, sent a series of nine bulletins to membership. cov- ering major. Allied squawks against the distribs. ■ RCA Service Co. technical prod- ■ ucts department has signed a serv- | ice arid maintenance pact with the. Balaban & Katz Circuit, in Illinois, | Indiana and Obi . W. L. Jones, I RCA v.p„ and Al; L. TrebOw, rep- I resenting B&K, handled; the,riego- ! tiations. ' ■ !' DALLAS Harold Schwarz, owner of Tower Pictures. Co., named a director- of Midwestern Security Life Insur- ance Co. , A. R. Milentz celebrating his 25th anni as operator of Park The- atre at Liberty. Frontier Theatre Circuit opened the State at Pecos, Al Cook named manager of. house. Bill Hardy and O. L. Lowery, owners of the II. & H, Amus, Co.,' bought the Glade . Drive-In at Gladewater. Abe Levy sold the 483-seat Texas Theatre; Waco’k oldest nabe house, to Edward Fadal. House was origi- nally opened; by the late J. A. Lemke as the Lyric in 1927 and later operated as the Texas by In- terstate. Claude Ezell and Associates took over operation of the Hi-Park Drive-In,. San Antonio, formerly owned by Carlton H. Weaver. Dan Goodwin is the manager. Members of the . film industry honored J. B; Underwood On his 25th anni with Columbia Pictures. Underwood is Col division mana- ger with headquarters here. Kendall Way awarded the “R. J. O’Donnell Award”, given annually here by the Variety Club Tent 17 | “in appreciation^ of tireless efforts j in behalf of the Variety Club Boys | Ranch and. other charities of Tent 17- during the past year.” H, H; Carlile announced that construction has started on a new S0n-car ozoner at Dimmitt. The, C'Scope-equipped drive-i will cost about $50,000. Walter Jolley took over ,as man- ager of the Garland Road Drive-In at Garland; formerly was With Dickinson Theatres in Kansas. Pioneer Drive-In opened be- .tween Cross Plains arid Rising Star by Bob- Vaught and Hugh Mil- lington. . The. ozoner is C’Scope- equipped. . G, W. Wooten reopened Sunset [Theatre in San Antonio which has j been shuttered since February, For the last 14. years base photo Jab chief at Kelly Air Force Base, he previously spent.15 years operating theatres at, Victoria, Brownsville, •Yorktown arid Graham. New York Theatres OOOWA^EFi BROS. OOOOOOOOOOO O O s§ BoiREfl s T A^Nc Juo y | ■ jaMBS O | Garland Mason § coqooCINBmaScOPM ooooo technicolor .*.0 stereophonic Sound JACK CARSON CHARLES BICKFORD ' •c^'ccn play pftoooeco «v VIKf- TOM NOONAN MOSS HART* SIDNEY LUFlX/ -B'RICT^o Ov , MUttCAk OriifCTtON BY MAY HfciNOOnr- GEORGE CUKOR A TRANSCOfM ENTERPRISES PROD ■PffCGCNTCD NT , , ■ • '/ WARNER BROS. «o».‘c V’ kmhjlo arun »^ P iw ctRSHWi CONTINUOUS at TWO THEATRES! PARAMOUNT B’wcy & 43rd S». VICTORIA B'way I 46»h $*. — R.AD10 CITY MUSIC HUL_ Rockefeller Center IRVING BERLIN'S “WHITE CHRISTMAS’’ in VlstaVltlon starring BING CROSBY . DANNY KAYE ROSEMARY CLOONEY • VERA ELLEN Color by Technicolor ♦ A Paiamoupt Picture and jpitUClim STAGE NESfHTATiOH BOSTON Justi “Jud” Parker, former Uni- versal and Screen Guild salesman, named Republic’s branch manager, replacing Herb Schaefer, who joined Buena Vista Productions. New England Theatres conduct- ing a''“Profit and Prestige Drive" • during the final quarter of the j year. I Herbert Schaeffer, for the last } year Republic branch manager, re- signed to join Buena Vista Pro- ductions handling the Disney fea- tures; will cover the New England I territory. Fred Bragderi, who recently re- signed his post as Columbia, sales- man, joined Times Film Co., and will handle the New England sec- tion. Dorothy Riley appointed hiari- ager of; B&Q’s Art Theatre, Quincy: Formerly a cashier and assistant .manager, this marks the. first time. ' a femme manager was named by the circuit; replaces Robert Dyette, who resigned, to ertter another biz. Seven ozoners are currently under construction in Massachu- setts for spring openings. MINNEAPOLIS W. R, Frank, local circuit owner- Hollywood producer, to N.Y; to help campaign for his “Sitting Bull” at the Mayfair there, After Broadway preem, ' he will fly to Europe to arrange for openings of film abroad. Harold Waistead promoted, from assistant to manager at RKO-Pan theatre • here, succeeding Janies HeUser; latter transferred to RKO house at Dubuque, la., as manager. St. Paul city council delayed ac- tion for 30 days on measure im- ! posing tax on billboard advertising, ! opposed bv theatremen. [ Frank Mantzke, local “Martin 1 Luther” distributor, also assigned #3RI Ett to distribution of it in Milwaukee exchange area. Federal district court, gave S. D, Kane, North Central Allied execu- tive counsel, additional time to pre- pare his written brief defending NCA’s picketing bf Columbia branch here. Minnesota Entertainment Enter- prises, comprising a group of Twin Cities’ leading indie exhibs, won out ,in fight to obtain only avail- able! drive-in, license in Minneapo- lis suburban Bloomington where it already has a‘ deluxe • ozoner,. one of the five in its chain. Population growth permits the second Bloom- ington outdoor theatre, as. per a local, ordinance, arid Otto Kobs, owner of suburb’s conventional theatre, also was., seeking the . li- cerise, Warner exploiteer Don. Walker in from K. C. to work on “Star, Is Born” 1 out-state dates, B. O. “Buck” Stoner, new Para- mount division rnanager, paying his first local visit; DENVER Neno Pepitone, assistant at the Centre, made manager of the Es- quir , succeeding Hazel Spiller, who moved, to executive staffs of the Centre and Denver. Paul Anglin, Universal exploita- tion man, Boston, added to the divisional staff of Fox Inter-Moun- tain Theatres, arid will supervise showing of art films. Rocky Moun- tain states. Dick Fulham, Republic salesman, moves to a similar job with 20thr Fox, : Wm, Carter now managing the Santa Fe. Robt. Demshki resigned as Cen- tennial Drive-In manager. Ralph Batschelet,. general manager of the operating company, is. running the ozoner. Wally O’Neill, owner the Vita, Spearfish, S. D., and Bud Lovell, bought, the Knox Drive-In, New- castle, Wyo„ from Ted Knox. PITTSBURGH Sam Gould, who quit WB in Greensburg to go with Associated Theatres in New Castle, returned to former . community as district manager for four of the eight Pennsylvania houses that Harold S. Eskin Enterprises .acquired from Stanley-Warner circuit. . Nor her t Stern, who heads Asso- ciated Drive-In Theatres, propos- ing a new one in Duquesne Place for Spring. Stanley - Warner showmanship, awards here went to' Jack Kieffer, of the Enright, in East. Liberty; Leopold Satori. Strand in Oakland; Lou Fordan, Memorial, in McKees- port. and Michael \Cardbne, Harris in Tarentum. Robert Cannon, manager of Shea’s McKean and Bradford The- atres, reopened Shea’s in Bradford as. an arty house. Shea’s has been shuttered for several months. Basle-Laskey Theatres Inc. pur- chased the Westover Drive-In near Morgantown, W. Va,, from.the Bell Bros. Dick Brown, long-time jexhib and son of late Harry Brown, who managed the legit *Nixon for years, now salesman for Coyne and Evans Ch evrolet "^agency. Ray Allison retiring from busi- ness and negotiating lease on his Rivoli in AltOona; was a Par sales- man here more than 30 years ago; While I. , T; (Ike) Sweeney, Re- public exchange manager, is On sick list. Walter Titus, company homeoffiee exec, is here to look after the- branch, Corporal John Fabac, former assistant to Stan Harner, Stanley- ,Warner purchasing chief, home after 18 months of Army hitch in Austria; will ekercise GI rights by enrolling at Pittsburgh U. LOS ANGELES Harry Man dell, general sales manager ' of- Filrnakers Releasing Organization, appointed Scott Lett as company’s southeastern sales rep. Robert I. Kronenberg, prez of Manhattan Films Internatibnal, inked deal with. Ed Harrison in New York to handle the Japanese import, “Ugetsu,” on the Coast. Universal booker Stanley Cohen resigned to handle sales ih. South- ern California for Manhattan. Films. He was formerly with Sid Luft at the Zeppo Marx agency. Harry Mandell and Charles Kranz appointed to the board of directors of Filrnakers Releasing Organization. Benedict Bogeaus* RKO release, “Cattle Queen of Montana,” will get saturation booking after its world preem in Billings, with 35 Montana-Idaho key situations al- ready set. Ben Marcus, head of Allied The- atres and owner of Marcus chain in Milwaukee, here for discussions i with Hal R. Makelim. Pair is hold- ing confabs on the Makelim Plan for exhibitor-guaranteed showings of a program of features. 'Wednesday, November 3, 1954 Columbus, Nov. 2. Despite the rockets of opposition that have been bursting about their heads the last two. years, Ohio’s Film Censor Board appar- ently thinks it will be in operation a long while yet since it has just ordered a Cinemascope screen in its. basement viewing audi- torium. Four-track sound equipment ought to be-in place withi 'the next 30 days.. In the past,, board has had iat arrange special screenings at neighborhood or downtown theatres for* Cinemascope productions. MISTRIAL FOR CLAUGHTONS Jury 11-1 For Distribs After Eight Hours Miami, Nov.. 2. Federal Judge George Wi White- hurst today declared a mistrial in the long-drawn $9,450,000 antitrust suit against six .'major film com- panies brought by E. N. arid Wil- liam Claughton, operators of sev- eral indie houses in the Miami area. The distributors involved are Paramount. Warner Brothers, 20th- Century, Universal - International, Columbia and. United Artists. The jury, after deliberating for eight hours following the six-week trial, was eleven to one; in favor pf .the defendants When they re- ported back to Judge Whitehurst that they were unable to agree. Under. federal judicial procedure the court was then. forced to der clare a mistrial as required when a- unanirrious. agreement is not reached. The Claughtons have not indicated if they will continue with the suit. Republic Opens Formosa . Opening of a Republic branch on Formosa necessitates .a new div- vying up of the Motion Picture Ex- port Assn, permits for the first half year ending Dec. 31,1954,- Earlier,, the eight MPEA members with of- fices bn the island had agreed' on a split of the available 134 licenses. When that was done, Republic didn’t have an office on Formosa, distributing via a local organiza- tion; With Republic now in the market, MPEA argued with, the Na- tionalist Chinese authorities that the Republic quota should be taken out of the indie allocation. How- ever, the Formosan authorities didn’t go for the idea. New split will see nine distribs carving up the 134 permits. 300-Seat Artie Marks Its 25th Anniversary Rochester, Nov. 2. Rochester’s oldest art film house, The Little Theatre, has completed , a.three-week celebration of; iti 25th Anniversary. Two first runs were screened: “Pickwick Papers” for two weeks arid "The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T” for one week. Mr. and Mrs. Ben Belinson’s 300- seater in East Aye. has managed to survive crashes, depressions, double features, wars , and wide screen by offering a fare of first run art .and foreign films, together with returns of musicals and/or Oscar winners. NEW JERSEY ANTITRUSTERS Republic Included With Majors In One Action • i ' '/ ■ Total of $4,981,500 damages are sought by three New Jersey ex- hibitor firms in two separate treble- damage antitrust suits brought in N.Y. Federal Court last Week against the eight major dis- tributors and several theatre cir- cuits. Golden Lane Theatre Corp., Operator of the Temple. Theatre in Union City, N;J;, asks $3,750,000 from the majors as well as Repub- lic Pictures and Skouras Theatres Corp. Lane outfit, Which charges the distribs refused to license it With firstrun product, claims this pol- icy favors the exhibitor defendants and caused the Temple “great dam- ages.” Union City exhib seeks an injunction.requiring the distribs to license their films in a “fair and open market.” Sompru Theatre Co., owner and operator of the Court Theatre, Somerville, N.J., until 1943 when it leased the house to the Brookpru Theatre Co., wants $639*000 from the eight majors, Walter Reacie Theatres, and three Reade sub- sidiaries. Brbokpur seeks $592,500 from the same. defendants. Both plaintiffs charge .the' distrib de- fendants with maintaining a sys- tem of “unreasonable clearances,” among other things. Minneapolis, Nov. 2. Loop first-run theatres have;, new cause for concern in the pres- ent application of the bus company providing all local .transportati for another fare boost to 20c straight with an additional 2c charge for ransfers. Present rate of 20c cash ot r five tokens for 90c With charge for transfers represents a boost fron\ 5c not so many years back and five hikes in. the past decade. Exhibitors point out that high cost, of downtown filmgoirig is al- i'eady a considerable handicap for the loop boxoffice. With $1 th regular, night admission for C’Scope pictures and 85c prevail- ing otherwise in; downtown first- run houses, attendance, iat a loop house for a couple usually means an outlay of not much under $4, including trarisportation. Add baby sitting expenses and it’s a real box- office hurdle. MERCHANTS WANT PIC HOUSE RELIGHTED Minneapolis, Nov. 2. In nearby Ellsworth, Wis., mer- chants, discovering that the town's lack of a film theatre not only hurt their business, but also that the community as a whole has been less , happy and citizenry morale and spirit lower since the shut- tering of the. only showhorise, have taken the bit in their teeth. They’ve decided to subsidize the operation of the theatre while, try- ing to put it on a payras-you-go basis and have arranged for its reopening. Patent Office ‘Show’ Washington, Nov. 2. U. S, Patent Office unveiled an exhibit provided by. Chromatic Television Laboratories In the lobby of the Commerce. Building here last week. On view is Cliro- matic's color tv tube ’ the Vari- ous stages of its development arid on hand to explain the details for the four-week “run” of the dis- play are Al Chesnes arid Robert Dressier, Paramount engineers. Par owns 50% of Chromatic, All part of the Patent Office’s program of acquainting the public with its service. ADDED TICKET WORKSHOPS Metro Accepts Bids From Ohio .and. Montana Two more Ticket Selling Work-, shops have been scheduled by Metro, making a total of five so far. New dates; are March I in Colunqbus in cooperation With the Ohio Allied unit and May 10 in Billings at the request of the Mori' tana Theatre Owners Assn. Mike. Sirrions, head of M-G cus- tomer relations, Will conduct all ' the sessions. He’ll be assisted by Emery Austin, exploitation chief.. A number of panelists will be se- lected to cover various phases of promotion and advertising. The first of the Workshop ses- sion under Metro sponsorship teed off last Thursday (28) at the Wil- liam Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh, when various indie and circuit theatre groups were on hand. Sessions are also scheduled for Indianapolis, Nov. 16, in cooperation with In- diana Allied, and in Boston, Dec. 6,' in association with the Independ- ent Exhibitors and Drive-In Thea- tre Assn, of New England.