Boxoffice-December.25.1948

. . . Also
. . Arthur
. . Benny
. . Johnny
. . Bob
SAN FRANCISCO
•There's been a shift of managers in the
Blumenfeld ch-cuit, according to East Bay
district chief Alan Warshauer. Warren G.
Pechner again is making his headquarters
at the Esquire, where he also is handling advertising
and publicity for two other Blumenfeld
houses, the T&D and Roxie. Pechner
succeeds Edward Gates who leaves to take
over as manager of the El Camino in San
Rafael. Hugh O. Jones has stepped from
the Roxie to Pechner's old spot at the T&D,
while William E. Chamberlain has left the
Berkeley to direct the Roxie. Ai-vid A. Erickson
has been moved from the Cerrito in El
Cerrito to the Berkeley, George DeWees from
the Vista in El Cerrito to the Cerrito and
Sid Klein, well known in San Francisco and
Riverside theatre circles, is a newcomer to
the Blumenfeld organization and is in charge
of the Vista.
Robert H. AUen, theatre operator in Tracy,
The largest television
died recently . . .
screen here will be installed on the mezzanine
floor of the Coliseum Theatre. The
Screen, one of 100 made by RCA, measures
5x7 feet and will keep entertained patrons
who are waiting for the next feature to start.
Frank Capra was up from Hollywood
looking around San Pi-ancisco for a suitable
location for his next picture, "Broadway
Four hundred children attended
Bill" . . .
the free Christmas program sponsored in
Sacramento by a local paper and radio station
in cooperation with Leonard Smith,
manager of the Varsity Theatre ... A Christ-
ATTRACTIVE POPCORN BOXES
Printed in Red and White
$7.50 per thousand
Complete Popcorn Supplies
ARTHUR UNGER CO., INC.
105 Golden Gate Ave. San Francisco 2, Cal.
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Your choice will then be
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B. F. SHEARER COMPANY
LOS ANGELES: 1164 SMIk Vii
SAN FRANCISCO: Z«3 taKii
f I14S
• PORTLAND: ll«T «. w.
Iirkill Mill • SEATTLE: 2311 Sii
mas celebration featuring Singleton's Kiddy
revue was held at the Alhambra Theatre
here for the children.
Children of Benicia, their parents and
friends were invited to the Victory Theatre
for a Christmas party. Two feature pictures
with cartoons and comedies were secured
by the management for the occasion
and everything was free! . . . The Donner
Theatre in Truckee was host at a free Chi-istmas
party for youngsters in the area. V. C.
Shattuck is manager.
K. B. Richetts from Babbitt Theatre, Babbitt,
was on the Row . Reese, Orpheum
in Lakeport, saw friends on the Row
in town was W. G. Allen from the
Sunset in Riverdale. Milton Samis' two
sons and George Dolfin were here from their
Hester Theatre in San Jose . . . Tony Heinsbergen,
architect for the Golden Gate Theatre,
was in town giving the final touches
to the beautiful house. The Golden Gate
was to be formally reopened Christmas day
despite the fact that it was never closed
during alterations.
Fox West Coast Theatres was to have its
gala Cln-istmas party Thursday i23) at the
Variety Club .
Unger, local popcorn
man, was off to the popcorn convention
in Chicago and from there to New York,
Washington, Philadelphia and points east.
Nettie, his wife, accompanied him . . . Fred
Williams, ConsoUdated Amusement, and his
wife will go to Honolulu after the fu-st of the
year for a business trip.
The Saratoga Theatre in Saratoga, being
built and operated by Mason Shaw, will open
around January 10 . . . Agnes Cannon, bookkeeper
at Monogram, was upset over the
loss of a fountain pen, a gift from Aggie.
A substantial reward is offered.
. . . Walter Bell,
.
R. B. Smith, Chowchilla Theatre, Chowchilla,
Maribel
was here
in Weott, also was in town . . . Willard Wagner
from the Stam in Antioch was along
the Row Judell, Jam-Handy
.
organization, was on his way to Seattle and
Portland Dolezal was in from
Howard Butler,
the Niles Theatre, Altura . . .
Monogram sales representative, toured
southern Oregon on business.
Hal Flanagan, formerly with Eagle Lion
as booker, is now with Favorite Films here
in the same capacity . . . Buck Smith, who
returned from Japan after a brief stay, is
now with Eagle Lion.
4B/llTr
ORGANIZAT/ON
EXPfRlfNCE
Jimmy O'Neal Elected
Tent 32 Chief Barker
SAN FRANCISCO—Jimmy O'Neal, theatre
concessioner, has been elected chief barker
of Tent 32, Variety Club of Northern California,
to succeed Abe Blumenfeld, chief
barker since the organization's founding in
May 1947.
Other officers, elected at a recent meeting
of the 11 canvasmen, were Ellis Levy,
first assistant chief barker; Nate Blumenfeld,
second assistant chief barker; Jerry
Zigmond, property master, and Al Grubstick,
dough guy.
The local Variety tent also tendered a testimonial
dinner for Abe Blumenfeld in recognition
of his outstanding service to the
club which he helped found locally. In addition
to the more than 200 club members
attending the dinner, Charles P. Skouras,
president of National Theatres, and representatives
of the Variety Club of Los Angeles
were in attendance.
Mesa Owner Wayne Phelps
Files Antitrust Suit
PHOENIX—A $144,000 suit against the
Harry L. Nace Theatres, Inc., and several
motion picture distributors has been filed in
federal court here by Wayne Phelps, owner
of the Times Theatre in nearby Mesa.
The suit charges the defendants have violated
antitrust laws in "preventing the
plaintiff from showing first run films."
Phelps seeks triple damages, figuring actual
damages have been $48,300 during the last
16 months from loss of trade suffered through
an inability to secm-e first run films.
Named defendants besides Paramount
Nace, Inc., and Harry L. Nace were RKO,
Warner Bros. Distributing Corp., 20th Century-Fox,
Columbia, Universal, Loew's, Inc.,
United Artists, Republic and Eagle Lion.
Old Tokay Theatre Sold
SOUTH BEND, WASH.—The old Tokay
Theatre building here has been sold to Harley
Webber, who said he would completely
remodel and renovate the building to accommodate
a new city hall and a recreational
center to include a bowling alley and
swimming pool. The building was erected
about 1920 by the late George Reizner and,
since his death, has been operated by A. G.
Basil.
Buys Hanford Victory
HANFORD, CALIF.—Gordon L. Shirley
has purchased the Victoi-y Theatre here
from William Knabhan of Alameda and will
take over active management of the house.
Shirley formerly was employed for seven
years by Westside Theatre, Inc.
Install Video Equipment
SAN FRANCISCO—The Telenews Theatre
has installed television receiving equipment
in its new television lounge, said to
be the first completed theatrical video installation
in the Bay area.
Sell to Erwin Kanovitz
LOS ANGELES—The Los Angeles Union
Theatre has been sold to Erwin Kanovitz.
No information as to price was available.
56
BOXOFFICE December 25, 1948