What's New? (Mar 1949)

Page 8 THEATRE GIRLS COMMENDED FOR CAPTURE OF VANCOUVER THUG KAY MACDONALD A youthful stick-up artist, Ernest Dorey, who held up 2 of our Vancouver houses and who was captured as the result of the courage and alertness of two Famous Players’ employees in Vancouver, was sentenced to three years in prison. In passing sentence on the youthful bandit, Magistrate Oscar Orr commended the Famous Players’ employees who had been responsible for Dorey’s arrest. : Dorey, in police court, admitted being responsible for three downtown theatre robberies and in his confession, implicated his two brothers in a fourth holdup. In his confession Dorey told in detail how he had held up the Orpheum theatre on November 3rd, the Capitol on November 8th and the Orpheum again on November 16th. After his holdup of the Orpheum, the bandit recalled that he ran down the street to the Capitol theatre then bought a ticket to see the show. Mrs. Kay MacDonald, cashier at the Capitol theatre, noticed a youth loitering in the lobby of a hotel near the Orpheum theatre as she passed by on the way to the Capitol. She recognized him as the man who had robbed her box office of $80 at the point of a gun some time earlier. Kay told Mrs. Ann Nowlin of the Orpheum staff of her suspicions and asked her to watch the man while she went for the police. The suspect moved along before Kay MacDonald returned and Ann Nowlin decided to follow him. When he saw her in pursuit he ran down the street. The Orpheum cashier tried to attract the attention of passersby but no one came to her assistance until finally a taxi driver took a hand and they followed Dorey into a candy shop. The cabby, posing as a police officer, took the bandit into custody but the suspect shook himself free and continued his flight with Ann Nowlin doggedly at his heels. He tried to board a street car and when the girl tried to follow him he whipped out what appeared to be a revolver and said: “TN kill you if you try to get on this car with me.”’ ANN NOWLIN Changing his direction he knocked the girl aside and ran along Georgia street with Ann Nowlin still in) pursuit crying for people to stop the bandit. Her shouts attracted the attention of three men who, though "menaced by the ‘’gun’”’ closed in on the youth and overpowered him, holding him for the arrival of the police. The ‘‘revolver’’ proved to be a toy pistol but it looked real enough to his captors. To the two girls L. I. Bearg, western division manager, wrote letters of congratulation, commending them for their courage. “While we are happy to know your interest was so great you left no stone unturned in order to capture this bandit we do not want you or any other of our employees to take chances with their lives,”’ he said. ‘’To show, in a small way, our appreciation of your courage, | am asking Mr. Joiner to present you with cheques we have authorized and hope that 1949 will not prove as exciting.’’ Navy Thanks Halifax Manager Commodore A. M. Hope, who commands the Atlantic Coast Naval Barracks at Halifax sent the following to T. Murray Lynch, house manager of the Capitol theatre, Halifax: Dear Sir: It has been brought to my attention that for the past several years, your theatre has issued complimentary free admission to all Naval Hospital “Up” patients, on Tuesday and Friday afternoons. May |: take this opportunity to express, on behalf of the Naval Service and the men concerned, deep appreciation for your kindness. | feel that such thoughtful action on your part has helped considerably in promoting a greater feeling of friendly co-operation between the Service and civilian personnel, and therefore is doubly appreciated. With thanks for past courtesies, | remain Your very truly, A. M. HOPE, Commodore, R.C.N. F.P. Acquires Theatre in New Westminster On February Ist, Famous Players took over the operation of the Edison theatre in New Westminster, B.C. C. CAMERON, formerly manager of the Kerrisdale theatre, Vancouver, was appointed manager of the newly acquired addition to the Famous Players’ group _ of theatres. The Edison’ theatre was operated for about 25 years by the late Frank Kerr and has a seating capacity of 850. The theatre is on the Main street of the Fraser Valley town, a block from the company’s Columbia theatre. The Edison is one of the landmarks of New Westminster and was, at one time, the home of vaudeville presentations. Girls in White Natural for Scandrett Earl Scandrett, skipper of the Royal in Woodstock is no slouch when it comes to tying in product with public service in his community. The Woodstock General Hospital had been in desperate need of nursing students for some time past. When advance notice of “Girls In White’’ reached him, Earl immediately contacted his booker and arranged for a fast date. To publicize this subject, a little convincing chatter netted a total of 1400 lines of space in his local daily, at no cost to the theatre. Both ads appeared on the Social page. The first, a 300 liner sponsored by the local 1.D.A. druggist, and the second, a full 1100 lines, sponsored by a public spirited manufacturer, the Standard Tube Company. In the larger ad, an 8 column head proclaimed ... “If you are interested in a nursing career. . be sure to see ‘’Girls in White’’ now showing at the Royal Theatre’. Then followed snappy copy on the rest of the program, and an appeal to local young ladies to take up nursing as a career. Both ads received considerable attention, and Earl reports that he had more teen age girls in his theatre during the showing of this subject than he can remember. We don’t know what the practical results may have been, but we’ll bet that many a young lady and her parents did a lot of serious talking and thinking along the lines suggested in the ads. Incidentally ‘’Girls in White’ is a fine subject and should be given every break on your program and in your publicity. Short Brings Out Theatre Party When that excellent National Film Board short featuring the Leslie Bell Singers was presented at the Capitol theatre, Ottawa, the appliance division of the Canadian General Electric Company, sponsors of the Bell Singers on the air, through Ray Tubman, took advantage of the situation by organizing a theatre party of dealers. A letter was sent out to all GE dealers in the area inviting them to meet in the Capitol lobby to see the picture and to attend a party afterward. The tickets were redeemed at their face value by General Electric. Tate Barnet Trudell’s Guest On Capitol Stage Bill Trudell, London’s impressario happens to be a particular friend of Harry Low, boss-man of the London Arena. Harry tipped off Bill to the fact that Charlie Barnet, famous band leader was scheduled for a one-night stand in his emporium, and then the wires began to sizzle. Bill contacted his favourite booker, Harrison Patte, after a little wire-pulling, arranged the London date on ‘’A Song is Born” to coincide with Barnet’s appearance. It may be recalled that Barnet does a piece in Danny Kaye’s newest opus. By a strange coincidence, just about that time, Western ‘’U’’ was in the midst of selecting their annual Queen of the year. What more natural than having the finalists on the stage of the Capitol, with Charlie Barnet as host? A couple of phone calls and the stunt was in the bag. A tape was made of the interview, the crowning ceremonies, etc., and was aired over CFPL with plenty of theatre mention Barbara Ann Scott happened to be the guest of honour at the University shindig, but, sez Willie, it was no go. Her contractual obligations prohibited personal appearances. Needless to say, Bill’s customers on the night of the appearance were thrilled, and the kind of goodwill and publicity the theatre received can’t be paid for with dollars. Just a thought fellows . . . Keep your eyes peeled, a lot of celebrities are making the rounds of Canadian cities. It just takes a little work and a few friends in the right places to repeat on Bills stunt. The box office take on these special nights proves whether or not it pays off. Smart Merchandising Around the Circuit On the opposite page we see: (1) The attractive window display created by Jerome the photographer for his tieup with Charlie Doctor at the Capitol theatre, Vancouver to discover Vancouver's most photogenic teen-ager in connection with the showing of “The Velvet Touch”. (2) One of the 3 front windows arranged by Jim Cameron of home office with the T. Eaton Co. to sell “So Dear To My Heart’ at Shea’s and the Nortown in Toronto. (3) Bill Burke of the Capitol theatre, Brantford, rigged up this stunt to exploit “Life With Father’. (4) The photographer provided this attractive model to hand out entry forms in the lobby of the Capitol theatre, Vancouver, for ‘The Velvet Teuch” photogenic contest. (5) Peter Cook, manager of the Montcalm theatre in Hull didn’t wait for people to come in and buy tickets for his midnight show—he sent these two lads out on the street selling ‘em in advance. (6) According to the caption on this picture which appeared in the Vancouver papers, pretty Joan Hall, a high school student, loves horses and when she was given an _ opportunity to ride “Princess’’ through the downtown streets she readily agreed. Somehow or other cards advertising George Raft in ‘’Race Street’ at the Strand theatre were on her costume. ae ee ~— oecamsa a cite Same -~ * oe