DECEMBER

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VANCOUVER
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recenlly
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WINNIPEG—With
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Vancouver Orpheum
Has Birthday Party
Till' Uiplii-uni Tlliiitri' heir
celebriited Its 25th untilver.sury unci
almost slmultiincously Ivan Ackcry, man-
Bglni? director, celebrated his 52iid blrth-
Tlie theatre manager observed the 25th
iannlversai-y of the theatre with a blp birthday
party and the giveaway of valuable
prizes from the stage.
Ackery came to the Orpheum 15 ycurs a^o
succes.sfully pulling both the Strand
and Dominion theatre.s out of the red, and
been at the Orpheum ever since. Vaudevllle
had Just died when Ackery took over
management of the second largest theatre
In Canada, which has had an estimated
20.000.000 patrons use Its 3.000-odd seats In
Its quarter-century of existence.
Ackery. through his many tricks of showmanship.
hiLs kept the Orpheum pretty well
filled with patrons. Any picture with a good
a Jungle film, sea story, horror
in Ackery's dish. He can exploit the
I
gorilla possibilities of the first, the aquatic
.aspects of the .second and the terror of the
last. And chances are he will make newspaper
copy—which is his 24-hour hobby.
Ivan is a lover of stage shows and there
are some of his friends who say he would
put almost anything on stage as long as It
had promotional possibilities. He has come
up with some consistent winners in Frank
Sinatra contest, the Dinah Shore contest, the
Handsomest Milkman in Town, etc.
RKO and Columbia Tied
jFor First at Winnipeg
energetic Ben Adelman
'of MGM sparkplugging the program and actmg
as president, the Cinema Center Mixed
Bowling league reaches fever proportions
every Monday evening. Now at the end of
the first quarter, the standings are as follows:
High averages; Eddie Shell. 244;
N. Shanas,
217; A. Smith. 210; B. Segal. 207. and A.
Wlnegratsky. 196. Among the women are L.
Coutu with 196; M. Mallard. 195; P. Sellwood.
190; F. Scammell, 171, and M. Pearlman. 164.
The high team single is Empire-Universal
with 1.099. and high team .-ingle plus handicap
is J. Arthur Rank with 1.130.
Currently the RKO and Columbia teams
were tied for first place. J. Arthur Rank, second;
Empire-Universal, third; Paramount,
fourth: MGM, fifth; Warners and 20th-Fox,
sixth.
Private TV Assurance
Lifts FPC Stock to 18^2
TORONTO—Since the a.ssurance from Parliament
that provision will be made at the
present session of the House for private interests
to secure licenses for video, the stock
pf Famous Players Canadian Corp. on the
Toronto and Montreal marts has risen by apsroxlmately
two $1 points. The advance has
Jeen from an approximate $16.50 at mid-Noifember
to $18.50 at the end of the month, the
atest price being the high for the year.
Earlier in 1952 when TV prospects for the
hain looked dim. the common shares were
.rading on the exchange floor at $15.50.
Mike J. Fewer Manages Nickel Where
He Starfed as Usher 45 Years Ago
trr Jf )HN Mike J Keacr. one ot
most colorful rxhlbltorn. ^l«^t«^ »
the Nickel TheaUe In St John'n, Nfid . when
It opened in IB07 Hr
^^^^^W ^^^fli
attended n school bc-
^^^r^ ^^^H the theatre, then
^m ^^H known OA St. Pntrlck ii.
H ^^^^^^1
and wa.1 nn usher
H^ ^^^^^H After about
Wh^ ^^^^^H month.i, Mike tiecame
^^^ ^^BJ^^^H an operator.
^^B ^^^^^^H an a takeup
^^^^k^^^^^H today retain.^
^^^^^^k^^^^H the or mechan-
H^^B^^ * ^S l.sm of the flrnt machine
In u.se at the
.Mike J. Kcwer Nickel. He .say.H It Li
the only one of It's kind In Canada. It was
produced In Britain and called the Blascope.
It didn't have what Is known In common
practice as an intermittent movement and
star wheel. It did have an Intermittent movement,
of course, but this was done by a
cylindrical affair of brass which Included a
velvet-covered roller, known as a beater. Thl.s
device beat or pushed the film down one
frame each revolution. It was surprising how
steady the picture appeared.
The nol.se created by this apparatus could
be heard all over the theatre, but the piano
helped to drown out the noise. The show
being made up of two reels < ten-Inch i and
an illustrated song. The admission was five
cents.
Rank Crew Preparing
For Cape Breton Picture
ST. JOHN—Studying preliminary plan.f for
shooting all or most of a film story on Cape
Breton Island, have been several members
of the J. Arthur Rank production staff from
England. The story is about the settlement
of Cape Breton by a band of settlers from
Scotland. Baddeck Is being given the top
spot in the plans, including the summer home
of the late Alexander Graham Bell, known as
Belnn Breagh. Bell Is burled there.
Tentative plans call for launching the production
early In June at Baddeck with importation
of a group of technicians and
screen performers from overseas. The population
of Cape Breton still is basically
Scottish.
More Sets to Retailers
MONTREAL—TV .sets are moving out of
factories in Canada faster than they can be
made, the latest report from the Radio-
Television Manufacturers Ass'n of Canada reveals.
Stocks on hand have fallen steadily
over the past .several months and the Inventory
of all sets was reported as only 6.491 at
the end of October. During Octot>er. a total
of 23,631 sets moved Into the hands of retailers,
compared with 19.241 In September.
The suggested retail value of these sets was
$10,204,684. The majority of sets out from
factories during October went to the Toronto-
Hamilton area. Montreal, then Windsor and
Niagara Falls.
lei pfoa
new
checked over quite ofeccentric
bu!.:i.. '
wheel and I:
^•
Ingx wrr.- !, -ew
and wrr . lock \X» imciimiliim.
iilo;,,....„ *."
Fewer npent moat of hu life m a projectionist,
but In Utter )r«ar>i he iimmivkI Uit
f.Mt\t theatre In which he »lart«d hU 46 jrc«nr
In the theatre bUAlneM
In mulllnii over old time* and people In
the film exhibiting bualnew In Newfoundland,
he citcA the names of many who did
duty In the operating room* of the theatres
In the "old day^." Including Hughey Hlckey.
Bobby Walsh. Maurice Malone. Paddy or Pal
Edward.n, the la.^t named vrtrran now manager
of the Popular T. Grand PklU.
•
What u wonderful there U in
the very fine equipment m ir«- in the Nickel
today a.s contrasted with that of 4i years
ago." he commented. "Time surely marches
on In theatrca."
There are seven children In the Mike
Fewer family, five .lon-i and two daughters.
One Is a projectionist at the York Theatre.
which Ls affiliated with the Nickel and also
managed by Mike. Another .Mjn ha-i been
stationed for the pa.st three years In Germany
as a military policeman In the Canadian
army
Apology to Critic Gets
Plug for Substitute
TORONTO— Manager Paul TurnbuU of the
Famous Players' Granada at Hamlltoii
turned a booking mlsuke Into extra publicity
when he apologized profusely to the film
reviewer of the Hamilton Spectator over the
substitution of the picture without advance
notice. The advertised picture was "Hell
"
Gate a print of 'Cripple Creek " was delivered
to the theatre.
The newspaper critic commented, in p«rt:
•As we left. Mr TurnbuU continued apologizing:
'I can't say how sorry we are about
the mlxup. You see. our new.spaper advertising
and our booking did not make .sense.
The publicity department was not advl»ed of
a change In the booking, so they sent out cuts
to the wrong newspapers. We Just could not
make a change In time.'
•How about Hell Gate^ Not Just yet." said
TurnbuU. •Cripple Creek" has proved so
popular we've changed the advertising rather
than the program I dashed up to the Spectator
my.self with a composite ad—designed
by me. I hope 111 be forgiven."
"Gaucho' at Three Theatres
TORONTO—Three Odeon .-uburban theatres,
the Danforth. Humber and Fnlrlawn.
combined for the .showing of Way of a
Gaucho."
About 900 small 16mm projectors were
Imported Into Iran In the year ending March
30. 1952.
30XOFFICE December 6. 1952
K
95
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