Boxoffice-December.25.1948

er; Fair.—I. Roche, Vernon Theatre, Vernon,
Fla. Small town and rural patronage. * * *
I Walk Alone (Para)—Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth
Scott, Kirk Douglas. The trailer on this
picture didn't do it justice and kept the
cu.stomers away. Those that did see the picture
were as surprised as I was and went
away well satisfied. It sure fell flat at the
boxoffice but 1 insist that was no fault of
the picture. Played Tues., Wed. Weather:
Fine.—E. C. Holt, Freeburri Theatre Co., Freeburn,
Ky. Mining and small town patronage.
* * *
Road to Rio (Para)—Bmg Crosby, Bob Hope,
Dorothy Lam^r. Many fine comments on this
one. I can use all that Paramount can make
like this. Nothing but praise and look what
a cast—Hope, Crosby, Lamourl Played Sat.,
Sun. Weather: Good.—W. H. Swan, Auditorium
Theatre, Roscoe, S. D, Rural patronage.
Sorry, Wrong Number (Para)—Barbara
Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards. Ano;her
feature that makes the average small
town exhibitor wonder where everyone is.
Stories like this might click on the radio, but
for me it really was "sorry, wrong number."
Played Sun., Mon. Weather: Rained Sun., fair
Mon.—John N. Allison, New Vivian Theatre,
Carlisle, Ind. Small town and rural patronage.
*
Sorry, Wrong Number (Para)—Barbara
Stanwyck, Burt Lancaster, Ann Richards. Sorry,
but this certainly was the wrong number
here. Receipts at the boxoffice barely paid
the film rental and other expenses. How do
I get my bread and butter? We had a
number of walkouts and many who stayed
said they were worn to a frazzle. Stanwyck
did some good acting, however. Played Sat.,
Sun. Weather: Good.—T. M. Patton, Scenic
Theatre, Lexington, 111. Small town patronage.
* *
iiWhere There's Life (Para)—Bob Hope,
Signe Hasso, William Bendix. Very good and
all enjoyed it very much. Bob Hope is a
good comedian and did exceptionally fine
work in this one. Many laughs throughout.
Average attendance. Played Sat., Sun.
Weather: Good.—W. H. Swan, Auditorium
Theatre, Roscoe, S. D. 'Rural patronage. * * *
RKO RADIO
Fighting Father Dunne (RKO)—Pat O'Brien,
Darryl Hickman, Charles Kempner. This is
what we were needing for a Catholic town.
We gave it extra exploitation and business
was good. Playe.d Mon., Tues. Weather: Cold.
—Harland Rankin, Beau Theatre, Belle River,
Ont. General patronage. * * *
Fugitive. The (RKO)—Henry Fonda, Dolores
Del Rio, Pedro Armendariz. If "Fort Apache"
was the best play here this year, then "The
Fugitive" was absolutely the worst. There is
nothing about it that will appeal to these
farmers and rural folk. Any small town exhibitor
who plays this one should be run
through a long, long belt line! Played Mon
,
Tues. Weather: Fair.—I. Roche, Vernon Theatre,
Vernon, Fla. Small town and rural patronage.
* * *
01 Remember .Mama (RKO)—Irene Dunne,
Barbara Bel Geddes, Oscar Homolka. Well
liked by all the Scandinavians. It doubled
our midweek business and showed a profit,
for a change. I saw the stage play a year
ago. The picture followed the play very
closely and was almost as good as the play.
The only picture I could truthfully recommend
as excellent entertainment that I have playe.d
this year, and then only to Scandinavian
communities. Played Tues., Wed., Thurs.
Weather: Fair.—G. B. White, Almo Theatre,
Poulsbo, Wash. Small town and rural patronage.
*
Rachel and the Stranger (RKO)—Loretta
Young, William Holden, Robert Mitchum.
Personally I have never' cared for Robert
Mitchum but this show was excellent and I
will give Mitchum credit for turning in a fine
performance. Loretta Young should be given
praise for peforming in a picture which
doesn't enhance her beauty. Played Fri., Sat.
—Hobart H. Gates, Garlock Theatre, Custer,
C. D. Small town patronage. * * *
Tycoon (RKO)—John Wayne, Laraine Day,
Sir Cedric Hordwicke. John Wayne is a great
favorite here, and this is one of his best pictures.
Good color, lots of action and romance,
and just enough comedy. Very fine attendance
and plenty of compliments. It's a small
town natural il you advertise it right. The
title fools em. Playe.d Sun., Mon. Weather:
Fair.—Mrs. Pat W. Murphy, Queen Theatre,
Holliday, Tex. Oil field worker patronage. * *
Under the Tonto Rim (RKO)—Tim Holt, Nan
Leslie, Richard Martin. One of the best westerns
we ever had. Tim Holt is always good.
He looks the same on the screen as when
I saw him last summer making "Indian Agent"
ai the studio in Hollywood. Would have liked
to shake hands with Tim, but he was too
busy carrying the baby that didn't want to
The basketball
cry right in the scene . . .
headliner was plenty good, too. It is right
in line with the season now. Played Wednesday.
Weather: Good.—W. H. Swan, Auditorium
Theatre, Roscoe, S. D. Rural patronage.
* * *
REPUBLIC
Fabulous Texan, The (Rep)—William Elliott,
John Carroll, Catherine McLeod. This
failed us miserably. No business. Played extra
time and as time went on, we felt worse.
Played Mon., Tues., Wed. Weather: Cold.
Harland Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ont.
General patronage. * * *
Nighttime in Nevada (Rep)—Roy Rogers,
Andy Devine, Adele Mara. Another good
Roy Rogers musical western in color. The
new girl is okay—better than average draw.
Played Fri., Sat.—L. Brazil jr.. New Theatre,
Bearden, Ark. Small town patronage. * * *
Under California Stars (Rep)—Roy Rogers,
Jane Frazee, Andy Devine. Roy is up to his
usual antics in this fine western in which
Trigger gets kidnapped. There is an unusually
good plot to this western that is a little different
from the usual run-of-the-mill westerns.
You can't go wrong on it! Played Fri., Sat.
Grass Roots' Standards
Not Same as in Cities
TYCOON (RKO)—John Wayne, Laraine
Day, Sir Cedric Hardwicke. I can't
figure it out. This gets 8-pIus, 5 minus
in Review Digest and deserves a much
better rating, according to exhibitor reports.
Many pictures which click in small
towns get lousy ratings in Review Digest,
and some of its top ratings are prime
stinkers, so far as I am concerned. EX-
HIBITOR HAS HIS SAY gives us a truer
picture of what to expect but reports are
few and a day's job to locate.
Columbia, Republic and RKO make
good, entertaining, plausible 60/90-minnte
dramas, comedies and westerns, and what
do they rate in Review Digest? Usually
5-plus, 4-minus. That's all your lay and
trade reviewers know. New York, Boston,
Hollywood are loaded with jaded soupand-fish
critics whose reviews are poison
to small town exhibitors. Can't you figure
out some method of assembling reliable
reports from the grass roots section?
Frank Sabin, Majestic Theatre, Eureka,
Mont.
No one methodi seems to please everyone.
That's why we use several and leave
it to the exhibitor to find the one which
fits his situation.
Congratulations Oliered
E. C. Holt, Freeburn. Ky,
pxhibitors seem to be pretty normal
folk in that most of them get married
and seem to live as happily ever after
as the old fairy stories contended one
should. One of the latest of our contributors
to take a life partner is E. C.
Holt, manager for the Freeburn Theatre
Co. at Freeburn, Ky. Holt writes in:
".'\s I took three weeks off to get married
and take a vacation, I haven't been
having my say in BOXOFFICE for some
time."
It's a temptation to tell him this may
be the only place he can have his say
from now on, but we won't. We believe
in encouraging romantic illusions!
Weather: Fair.—I. Roche, Vernon Theatre, Vernon,
Fla. Small town and rural patronage.
* * *
SCREEN GUILD
Case of the Baby Sitter, The (SG)—Tom
Neal, Allen Jenkins, Pamela Blake. This did
okay with "Adventures in Silverado" (Col),
with which we doubled it and which they
seemed to like. They also liked this one
Screen Guild seems to make a lot of small
town hits. Played Fri., Sat. Weather: Cold.
Harland Rankin, Plaza Theatre, Tilbury, Ont.
General patronage. * * *
20th
CENTURY-FOX
Kiss of Death (20th-Fox) — Victor Mature.
Brian Donlevy, Coleen Gray. A very good
picture, according to comments by those who
saw it—and they were quite numerous. Above
average attendance for midweek. Played
Wednesday. Weather: Rainy.—J. E. Rougeau,
Club Theatre, Seven Sisters Falls, Man. Small
town and rural patronage. * * *
UNITED ARTISTS
Angry God, The (UA)—Alicia Parla, Casimiro
Ortega, Mario Forastieri. I want to warn
exhibitdrs about this feature. For both your
patrons' sake and that of United Artists, don't
use this terrible feature. Lock up first.
Evert Holsel, El Rancho Theatre, Culver, Ind.
*
Small town patronage.
On Our Merry Way (UA)—Paulette Goddard.
Burgess Meredith, James Stewart. (Formerly
"A Miracle Can Happen"). This is a
strong cast but the story is weak. Business
was average but I had some walkouts and
complaints. Cast also includes Henry Fonda,
Fred MacMurray and Dorothy Lamour. Played
Sun., Mon. Weather: Good.—E. M. Freiburger,
Paramount Theatre, Dewey, Okla. Small
town patronage. * * *
UNIVERSAL-INTERNATIONAL
Another Part of the Forest (U-I)—Frederic
March, Dan Duryea, Edmond O'Brien. Universal
seems to have a habit of making pictures
with a very fine cast, all of whom turn in a
great performance, and waste it on a story
which has no general appeal. This is one of
them. This strange family, ruled by hatred and
greed, is very realistically portrayed by the
stars but my patrons don't enjoy a fine performance.
They want a fine story—or at least
one they can understand. This did very poor
business and received not one compliment,
but plenty of unflattering remarks. Played
Wed., Thurs. Weather: Fair.-Mrs. Pat W.
Murphy, Queen Theatre, Holliday, Tex. Oil
field worker patronage. * *
Red Ingle and His Natural Seven (U-I)
Short. This two-reeler drew good comments
so I thought I would pass it along to some
of the boys. It's as crazy as anything you
would ever want to play, but stuff that the
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BOXOFFICE BookinGuido :: Dec. 25, 1948