Boxoffice-December.25.1948

. . . The
Two More Theatres
Launched by Odeon
TORONTO—Odeoii Theatres opened two
new units just prior to Christmas, the Odeon
at Brantford and another at St. Thomas,
both in western Ontario. The launching of
these attractive urban theatres completed
the 1948 schedule of expansion, the next
to follow in the new year being the Humber
in the Toronto west end and the Odeon at
Ottawa.
The Odeon at London, Ont., opened October
22, has introduced pipeorgan entertainment
as a stage attraction, the staff organist
being Max Magee who conducted a
request week in conjunction with the engagement
of "Frieda." Patrons were invited
to wi'ite their requests for musical numbers
at designated performances.
Something new in the way of a theatre
feature was arranged by Manager W. C.
Tyers at the Odeon Toronto, ace house of
the chain, when the public was invited to
make reservations for a dinner for Christmas
or New Year's in the theatre's fullfledged
restaurant, special menus being prepared.
Incidentally, the trade gossip is that
various theatre managers are having their
meals at the Odeon Toronto so they can
check on its theatre patronage.
The head office advertising department of
Odeon. under the direction of Larry Graburn.
has been transferred from temporary
quarters at 431 Yonge St., to the Odeon
Toronto Bldg. at 22 Carlton St. The office
section of the theatre is not yet finished
and workmen may be kept busy for another
six weeks, after which more head office employes
will move in.
F. G. Spencer Acclaims
'Garnegie Hall' in Ads
ST. JOHN—For the second time in his approximately
35 years as an exhibitor, F. G.
Spencer, head of the Spencer circuit, personally
endorsed a motion picture, namely,
"Carnegie Hall," booked at the Strand, base
house of the chain.
In ads appearing in local dailies Spencer
emphasized that if the "Carnegie Hall" artists
were brought to St. John from New York,
the cost would not be less than $250,000. The
testimonial was captioned. "P. G. Spencer Endorses
'Carnegie Hall,' " and was addressed
to "St. John Theatre Patrons."
A preview was presented in the Strand, for
the Ladies' Morning Musical club. Backgrounding
the booking was the Spencer experience
as a musical entrepreneur when he
promoted tours of noted vocalists and instrumentalists
through the maritimes before
and since becoming a film exhibitor. Also
his wife was active as a concert and choir
singer.
Buys Rights for 'Magic'
TORONTO—President H. J. Allen of Cardinal
Films. Ltd., announced completion of
negotiations with Morris Safier for the Canadian
distribution rights for "Concert
Magic," a musical feature which stars Yehudi
Menuhin, Jakob Gimpel and Eula Bealx
in the the rendition of classic compositions.
Allen said that the picture would also be
available in 16mm form for presentation in
concert halls.
TORONTO CBC Head Sees Video
P
A. Ranicar of Warner Bros, has been appointed
liaison officer for the Manitoba
sub-committee of the film industry public
relations committee, sponsored by the motion
picture section of the Toronto board of
trade. The regional committee in Winnipeg
comprises Harold Bishop, manager of the
Capitol; H. Gray and I. W. Blankstein, whose
duty it is to cooperate in the promotion of
goodwill for all theatres.
"Joan of Arc" is scheduled to be the opening
attraction at the new FPC University
Theatre, which is expected to be completed
in January. Terry Tm-ner of the RKO New
York office was here to discuss details . . .
"Paleface" was given a sneak preview at
the suburban Capitol, then it became the
Christmas attraction at the Imperial. For
the regular sneak shows at the northend
Capitol Thursday nights, printed cards are
distributed to patrons for theii- comments.
If cards are signed, it signifies that the
amateur critics are willing to have their
comments quoted in newspaper advertising
or on the air.
After recovering from a long illness, Harry
A. Kaufman, general sales manager of Cardinal
Films, completed a trip to Montreal
and St. John, N. B. In the latter city he
conferred with Lew McKenzie, new manager
of the branch . . . President Harry J. Allen
of Cardinal Films announced the appointment
of Lew Miles as Winnipeg branch manager,
succeeding Martin Schwartz. A former
theatre manager and member of a veteran
theatrical family. Miles also has gained
fame as a star football player with the Winnipeg
Blue Bombers.
The Centre at Windsor added to its promotion
of sales of Christmas gift books of
admission tickets with a delivery service
anywhere in greater Windsor. Phone orders
were invited from patrons and the ticket
books were delivered COD ... A new facility
has been provided in the recently
opened Paramount in Peterboro, Ont. This
FPC house has a special screening room
which has been made available for private
parties on a rental basis for film showings
sneak preview idea has been adopted
by the Century in Hamilton, where new
pictures are screened without advance advertising
on Thursday nights. The stunt has
made a hit among theatregoers in various
Toronto and Ottawa theatres.
As Top Social Force
MONTREAL—When television becomes
well established in Canada, it will be basically
Canadian and probably the most important
single social force in the country, A. Davidson
Dunton, chairman of the Canadian
Broadcasting Corp.. declared in an address
at a meeting of the Press and Radio branch
of the Canadian Legion here.
"Surely it is worth while for us to wait
weeks or even months to insure that our
first steps set a pattern for futiu-e development
which will be in the best interests of
our country," the speaker declared.
"I think the time has come for Canada
to start in television but if the CBC had recommended
that licenses be granted to the
six parties requesting them at its last meeting,"
he said, "the stations would have to
rely heavily on American material, and we
want television in Canada to be basically
Canadian."
Dunton said that Canada's great distances
includes several time zones, and her two official
languages make government subsidies
necessary if Canada is to have a national
network in television. If this is not done,
Canadian stations would bring in many programs
from the U.S. because they could not
afford to produce their own. Yet television
would require even more programs than
radio, he said, because each program costs
from five to ten times more, and television
beams do not travel as far as radio beams.
"There are only 12 television channels
available for use with present sets, and since
this would make television broadcasting monopolistic,
its development must for this
reason be controlled in the public interest,"
he said.
He added that experiments were being carried
on in the United States to determine
how far apart stations of the same wave
length should be to prevent interference.
The ideal to which television in Canada
should look toward, according to Dunton,
was "the greatest possible amount of Canadian
material and talent, sei-ving the greatest
possible number of Canadians."
Odeon Plans New Theatre
VANCOUVER—The new $80,000 theatre
planned for the Praser district will replace
the present Odeon circuit theatre here. The
house is expected to be ready for occupancy
in August 1949. It will be of all-concrete
construction and will seat about 900 persons.
Screens — Arc Lamps — Rectifiers — Lenses — Carbons — Theatre Chairs
J. M. RICE & CO.
202 Canada Bldg. Winnipeg, Manitoba
Phone 25371
Everything For Your Theatre
COMPLETE SOUND SYSTEMS
An Expert Repair Department
BOXOFFICE :: December 25, 1948 97