What's New? (Oct 1952)

Page 2 SEVERAL TORONTO MANAGERS ASSIGNED TO NEW POSTS Daley, Trebilcock, Cook, McCammon and King Move—Marshall from Ottawa to Toronto Toronto theatres became the hive of activity as a number of managerial switches were effected in the last few weeks. Tom Daley, manager of the Imperial theatre, took over the reins of the University theatre from Fred Trebilcock. Fred has moved over the the Imperial theatre. Tiffany ‘Tiff’ Cook has moved from his post at the Capitol theatre to the publicity department at head office under James R. Nairn. “Tiff” will look after theatre exploitation. Henry Marshall, manager, Regent theatre, Ottawa, takes over the helm at the Capitol. Malcolm McCammon has become manager of the Alhambra theatre following the resignation of Don Stein to enter the automobile business. Malcolm’s post at the Bloor has been taken over by Michael King, manager of the Village theatre, Toronto. Both Tom Daley and Fred Trebilcock are members of Famous Players 25-year club, and both have played an important part in the establishing of theatres. Both bring to their new posts a wealth of experience. ‘Tom, the grey-maned captain of the Imperial for 16 years, in moving to the University, will be moving back to a district where he will find though a great many physical changes, but few who have forgotten him as he frequently took his strolls around what has now become Toronto’s ‘Fifth Avenue” of shopping. He began as a projectionist at what is now the Strand, St. John, N.B., in 1907, and as such Tom Daley is one of the real oldtimers in theatre business. From St. John, he moved to Halifax, and then to various other spots in the Maritimes. From the Maritimes where he was in charge of installation of equipment in many theatres, and acted as projectionist at the Gem theatre, St. John, N.B., until 1916, he was asked to join Famous Players in 1924 and become manager of the Algoma theatre, Sault Ste. Marie. He had already been house manager of the Casino theatre, Halifax, specializing in smart advertising and exploitation. He took time out from Famous Players to join a circuit in New York State, but returned to our organization to become manager of the Tivoli theatre, Toronto. He was in charge when it became the first house in Toronto to open with a permanent installation of sound equipment in 1928. In his years as manager of the Imperial, Tom has become extremely well-known through his work with the K-Boys Police Club, a recreation group for boys sponsored by the Kiwanis Club. But Tom, the man with the smiling Irish countenance, is probably Canada’s best known theatre manager, and what is downtown Toronto’s loss promises to become uptown Toronto’s gain. Fred Trebilcock, the boy who spent his time in native Peterboro reading trade papers rather than comic books to better know the film industry, is an active exploiteer. He was first prizewinner in the Canadian Moving Picture Digest in its Fifth Annual Showmanship Contest of 1945. He gained honorable mention in 1946 and 1947. In going to the Imperial, Fred returns to a theatre where he once worked for six years as an assistant manager. This followed an assistant manager’s job at the Capitol theatre, Hamilton. From the Imperial Fred got his first manager’s job at a theatre in Toronto’s east-end for a short period, then he became house manager of Shea’s, Toronto, under Jerry Shea. In the fall of the same year, 1937, Fred was moved to the scene of his first job in theatres, when he was made assistant manager of the Uptown theatre, Toronto; at that time it was under the direction of Famous Players. Fred began at the tender age of 19 in the business. Today at 44, he is probably one of the youngest members of our Twenty-Five Year Club. Two years later, just as World War II was declared, Fred became manager of the Uptown, and two years still later, in 1941, Fred was back at Shea’s again as manager. A short excursion into the RCAF interrupted Fred’s stay at Shea’s which was ended in 1950 when he became manager of the University. One of Fred’s great loves is the running of fashion shows. For the showing of ‘I Can Get It for You Wholesale,” Fred arranged for Thornton models to parade right in the lobby of the University theatre. For ‘“Rhapsody in Blue,” he had four windows with that theme in Simpson’s department store. And for “Affairs of Susan,” Fred arranged for a display in a window of the original gowns. Malcolm McCammon, who is taking over the Alhambra, is the father of two children. He began his career at the Tivoli, Toronto, in 1947 under Len Bishop, after a checkered career of working in radio, as a coalsuperintendent, railroad man and insurance salesman. “Mac” as the tall heavy-built dark Malcolm is known to his friends, stayed at the Tivoli for a year, then became manager of the Village theatre, Toronto, for two and a half years, until he shifted to the Bloor. The first day of Malcolm’s stay there was an auspicious beginning as there was a fire in the theatre, and though not serious, ““Mac” emptied the house quickly, and rated front-page stories in the daily press. Looking back on the incident, the modest ‘‘Mac” says, though not in so many words, ““Twarn’t nothing.” But “Mac” has been at the Bloor for just six months, and since being there, he has interested himself particularly in candy sales, and set up a candy bar. His ideas have caught the interest of John J. Fitzgibbons, Jr., president Theatre Confections Ltd., and it is our feeling that we are going to hear a lot about ‘Mac” in the future. Another one to watch is Michael King, 27, who is moving down to the Bloor from the Village. Michael forsook the hotel business to get into theatre business. He began as an usher in a downtown Toronto theatre on a part-time basis. When an opportunity presented itself, Michael was made an assistant manager of the Eglinton theatre, Toronto, in 1950. In August of 1951, Michael was made treasurer of the Imperial theatre, Toronto, and in April of this year Michael followed Malcolm McCammon into the Village. Michael has had a checkered career as he has wended his way back and forth across the Atlantic with his parents three times. He was in the Canadian Army for a year, and is married. JEAN POULIOT TELEMETER HEAD Mr. Fitzgibbons has appointed Jean A. Pouliot Chief Engineer of the new Telemeter Division of Famous Players. Born in Quebec in 1923, Mr. Pouliot graduated from Laval University with the degrees of B.A. and B.A.Sc. His distinguished father is Dean of Science at Laval. JEAN POULIOT Upon leaving the University he worked for the Canadian Sig nals Research and Development Establishment at Ottawa. A notable achievement was the development of a system of radioteletype for the Canadian army. He was also responsible for the installation of the first radioteletype link in Canada between Ottawa and Halifax and subsequently for the link established between Yellowknife and Ed monton. In 1946 as Commissioned by the Department of National Defence as their representative to make a two-month tour of Germany to investigate the state of development of German television and frequency modulation equipment. Mr. Pouliot was stationed in Churchill, Man., for three months in 1948 to study the effect of cold temperature on army communication equipment, In 1949 he was appointed superintendent of the Canadian Navy Electrical Laboratories in Ottawa and was responsible for the development of radar, asdic and communication gear for the Royal Canadian Navy, working under special orders from the Department of National Defence. | SS ————————— eee