Boxoffice-March.06.1948

EXHIBITOR HAS HIS SAY
ABOUT
PICTURES
Just as the Barometer page shows first run reports on current pictures, this
department is devoted for the most part to reports on subsequent runs, made by
exhibitors themselves. A one-star contributor is new, two stars mean the exhibitor
has been writing in jor six months or longer, and a three-star contributor
is a regular of one year or more, who receives a token of our appreciation. All
exhibitors
COLUMBIA
Framed (Col)—Glenn Ford, Janis Carter,
Barry Sullivan. I expected big business, due
to Glenn Ford's past popularity here, but was
sadly disappointed with a very poor run. A
well made production and good acting but
I thought it was a lot like "Dead Reckoning."
Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Cold.—Carl E.
Pehlman, Rio Theatre, Edinburg, 111. Rural
and small town patronage. • * •
Last of the Redmen (Col)—Jon Hall, Michael
O'Shea, Evelyn Ankers. Don't pass this one
up, brother small town exhibitors. If you do,
you'll be sor-r-ryl It's a natural, packing them
everywhere, though we did not break any
in
records, due to bad roads. Played Mon.,
Tues. Weather: Below zero.—Harland Rankin,
Joy Theatre, Bothwell, Ont. Small town patronage.
• •
EAGLE LION
Law of the Lash (EL)—Al "Lash" La Rue, Al
"
"Fuzzy St. John, Lee Roberts. Al La Rue is
new here as far as a western star goes and
we didn't have any walkouts or comments
so don't
joyed
know
him
what
myself.
say about
Played
him. I en-
Wednesday.
Weather: Cold.—D. W. Trisk., Ritz Theatre,
Jerome, Ariz. Mining town patronage. * *
Red Stallion, The (EL)—Ted Donaldson,
Robert Paige, Noreen Nash. Don't pass this
one up. If you do, you'll have missed the boat.
It is worth playing, by all means. Weather;
Cold.—Harland Rankin, Rankin Enterprises,
Chatham, Ont. Small town patronage. * * *
Song of Old Wyoming (EL)—Eddie Dean,
Sarah Padden, Al La Rue. Here is our first
western with Eddie Dean and he was liked
very much as a cowboy but not as a singer.
This was in Cinecolor and it is the same as
;he rest—poor. Miracles happen every day,
because this film did not break—why I don't
know. It is a good western though and you
.should buy it. Played Fri., Sat. Weather;
Fair.—George MacKenzie, York Theatre,
Hantsport, N. S. Small town patronage. *
HLM CLASSICS
Thief of Bagdad, The (FC)—Reissue. Conrad
Viedt, Sabu, June Duprez. A Technicolor
feature which has played out here the second
lime in one year. The comment from children
was great. Adults reported a change
from the tragic films, and suggested more
from time to time. Played in combination with
"The Patient Vanishes." Played Thurs.
through Sat. Weather: 'Very cold.—L. C.
Utecht, Lake Theatre, Oak Park, 111. West
Chicago patronage.
*
METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER
Fiesta (MGM) — Esther Williams, Akim
Tamiroff, Ricardo Montalban. This was a very
good picture. Color and story, location and
music were tops. People made no bones about
telling me that they liked it. The only thing
wrong was the weather, which has been
keeping them away all winter. Played Sat.,
Sun.—Otto W. Chapek, Annex Theatre,
Anamoose, N. D. Rural and small town
patronage. * * •
Glimpses of New Scotland (MGM)— Short.
Here is my first comment on a short and it
is about places around my town. It shows
pictures of places where I have been and
things I hove seen and that makes it all
the more interesting. We had big crowds to
this one and it was enjoyed by all. How about
some more taken around my town, Metro?
Played Mon., Tues. Weather: Fine.—George
MacKenzie, York Theatre, Hantsport, N. S.
*
Small town patronage.
Great Waltz, The (MGM)—Reissue. Luise
Rainer, Fernand Gravet, Miliza Korjus. This
picture can only be enjoyed by lovers ot
Strauss music, who must also appreciate the
operatic soprano ol Miliza Korjus. In a small
town such as mine this picture's appeal is
naturally limited to a very small group of
people—or I might say two small groups, one
on Sunday and the other on Monday. Weather:
Cold and clear.—Carl E. Pehlman, Rio
111. Theatre, Edinburg, Rural cmd small town
patronage.
Show-Off, The (MGM)—Red Skelton, Marilyn
Maxwell, Marjorie Main. This is typical of
Red Skelton and was full of laughs and funny
situations. It should idraw in any town.
Played Thurs., Fri., Sat. Weather: Cold.—
R. W. Burgess, Roxy Theatre, McClusky, N. D.
Rural and small town patronage. * *
Song of the Thin Man (MGM)—William
Powell, Myrna Loy, Kennan Wynn. Part of
a double bill, but people catered to this picture.
William Powell and Myrna Loy still
He 'Blames' His Success
On 20th-Fox at Winnipeg
JJERE'S an exhibitor who "blames" his
success, rather than failure, onto one
of the big companies. Fox, take a bow
from S. N. Holmberg of the Regal Theatres,
Ltd., Sturgis, Sask.:
"Don't let anyone tell you 35mm is too
expensive for a small town—all you need
is to get good pictures and the public
docs the rest.
"When I came out of the RCAF in
February of '45, I went to a nearby town
as operator in a theatre but after four
months, decided to be my own boss. I
came back here and merchants of the
town bought me a 16inin show which had
operated here one night a week for years.
Grosses at the door averaged from $12
to $20, never more.
"I had ideas of trying 35mm on a gamble
after six months of this 16nun, and
was told by everj'one I was crazy, as the
town wasn't big enough for big machines.
But I got two 35mm machines anyway,
and at first, thought the people who
warned me had been right. Then 20lh-
Fox at Winnipeg came to my rescue,
thanks to Manager Huber, and booked
their big hits of two years. Business
boomed and put us on our feet. We
continually drew people from two neiglW
boring towns.
"For the past year and a half we have
run four nights weekly, two changes a
week. We paid up the machines in full
last fall and now we start all over again
in Steven, as we opened there on January
30.
"Our crowds built up from S15 houses
to as high as $300. We also believe we
are the only theatre in this part of the
country to have a stage show. We had it
with 'The Jolson Story,' having the stage
show come up here from 90 miles away.
The only thing that went wrong was that
people enjoyed the stage show more than
'The Jolson Story!'"
Diiferent Kind of Gripe
From "New Contributor
JJERE is a Uttle different gripe. I wish
the film houses would teach their
exhibitors and operators to patch film.
Every once in a while I find an improper
patch and it slips and bingo goes a foot
of film before a machine can be stopped.
This happened to me tonight and has
happened many times before.—Lewis
Hickok, Dream Theatre, Effingham, Kas.
hold boxoffice appeal at this theatre. In spite
of bad weather, business was average and it
played to family patronage. Second feature
was "Her Husband's Affairs" (Col). Played
Thurs. through Sat. Weather: Snow and cold.
—L. C. Utecht, Lake Theatre, Oak Park, 111.
*
West suburban Chicago patronage.
UYearling, The (MGM)—Gregory Peck, Jane
Wyman, Claude Jarman jr. This is one of the
best pictures ever to come out of Hollywood.
Everyone enjoyed this picture and said so.
The Technicolor was the best I ever saw.
Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Cold.—James
E. Davis, Rialto Theatre, Bennington, Okla.
Rural and small town patronage. * *
MONOGRAM
Newshounds (Mono)—Leo Gorcey, Muntz
Hall, Christine Mclntire. Leo Gorcey and his
crew get by here and this one had some new
stuff in it and we got by real well with it.
Played Wednesday. Weather: Cold.—D. W.
Trisko, Ritz Theatre, Jerome, Ariz. Mining town
patronage. * *
PARAMOUNT
Desert Fury (Para)—John Hodiak, Lizabeth
Scott, Burt Lancaster. Did better than we
expected
Lots of action
as business
and they
was
enjoyed
above
it.—Harland
average.
Rankin, Rankin Enterprises, Chatham, Ont.
Small town patronage, « * •
Easy Come, Easy Go (Para)—Sonny Tufts,
Diana Lynn, Barry Fitzgerald. This was a
comedy that was pretty weak. Played Tues.,
Wed. Weather: Cold.—Otto W. Chapek,
Annex Theatre, Anamoose, N. D. Rural and
small town patronage. * * «
Road to Rio (Para)—Bing Crosby, Bob Hope,
Dorothy Lamour. The only way we can get
a good crowd on Hope is to play him with
Crosby and this one had what it took, althougii
weather and sickness held us down.
Played Fri., Sat. Weather; Cold.—D. W.
Ritz Trisko, Theatre, Jerome, Ariz. Mining
town patronage. * '
Trouble With Women, The (Para)—Roy Milland,
Teresa Wright, Brian Donlevy. Who
doesn't have trouble with women, either
blondes or brunettes? Now we have it on the
marquee; and at the boxoffice, yes, we have
trouble too, for business was poor. Played
Thurs., Fri. Weather; Below zero.—Harland
Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ont. Small
town patronage. * * »
RKO RADIO
Crossfire (RKO) — Robert Young, Robert
Mitchum, Gloria Grahame. This is a good
show with an excellent cast. This is one of
the shows that is different. In fact, the interest
is
held all the way through the feature
and we had a lot of people stay over for the
second show to see parts of it again and get
straightened out with the story. Played Mon.,
Tues. Weather: Cold and snow.—D. W.
•
Trisko, Ritz Theatre, Jerome, Ariz. Mining
town patronage. * *
Crossfire (RKO) — Robert Young, Robert
Michura, Gloria Grahame. My patrons just
won't take to good drama here and therefore
a feature such as this is passed up by many
BOXOFFICE BookinGuide :: Mar. 13, 1948