Boxoffice-January.07.1950
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Back to the Country<br />
THE big trek back to the country, both by<br />
theatres and stores, to get away from<br />
parking problems and traffic snarls, is continuing.<br />
The National Suburban Centers<br />
of Boston, backed by a group of financiers.<br />
proposes to build shopping centers throughout<br />
the east and in the middle west.<br />
Its latest project is an $8,000,000 to $12.-<br />
000,000 project in Westchester county. New<br />
York, which will cover 75 acres between the<br />
Sawmill River Parkway and the Taconic<br />
State Parkway at Hawthorne Circle.<br />
Because these shopping centers are attracting<br />
theatres, both closed and drive-ins,<br />
it may be of interest to would-be drive-in<br />
operators to know some of the formulas<br />
used by the Boston group.<br />
Krst, the backers want to be near express<br />
highways and a drawing population<br />
of 1,000,000 within a radius of ten miles.<br />
According to Huston Rawls, president of<br />
National Suburban Centers, surveys show<br />
90 i>er cent of housewives are willing to<br />
drive 30 minutes to reach a place where<br />
they can have varied shopping facilities.<br />
Suburban populations will continue to be<br />
an increasing segment of the population.<br />
Rawls says.<br />
What he says fits in with obvious tendencies<br />
in the three states of southern New<br />
England, and also New York, Pennsylvania,<br />
Ohio, Maryland, North and South Carolina<br />
where drive-ins are mushrooming.<br />
Tax Maneuvers<br />
yjJHEN the U.S. Conference of Mayors<br />
advised its members last week to start<br />
pressure on individual members of Congress<br />
for cuts in the admission taxes it<br />
joined an ever-growing army of tax opponents,<br />
but not for the purpose of cutting<br />
taxpayers' expenses and stimulating business.<br />
The mayors want the federal government<br />
to get out of the excise tax field so<br />
they can take it over.<br />
Almost at the same time that the mayors<br />
were letting their latest move become<br />
known Abram F. Myers, chairman of the<br />
COMPO legislative and tax committee, issued<br />
a statement that the outlook for favorable<br />
action was good, but that there<br />
were so many unpredictable factors that<br />
nobody in this industry should relax.<br />
The house ways and means committee<br />
will be the central target when hearings on<br />
new taxation begin. That is where tax<br />
measures originate. If the committee favors<br />
a reduction, the prospects of getting<br />
it through both branches of Congress will<br />
be really bright.<br />
Business Booms<br />
ytZHAT with "Samson and DelUah" at the<br />
Paramount and Rivoli, the Christmas<br />
show at the Music Hall and "Prince of<br />
Foxes" at the Roxy business boomed just<br />
before Christmas on Manhattan and continued<br />
to roll upwards the following week.<br />
All the schools were closed and it was<br />
difficult to get through Rockefeller Plaza<br />
without losing a coat button or getting<br />
-By JAMES M. JERAULD<br />
pushed around. The lines completely surrounded<br />
the Music Hall and those around<br />
the Roxy went east as far as Sixth Avenue<br />
where they were across the street from the<br />
beginning of the Music Hall line. Some<br />
waited nearly three hours. At the Rivoli<br />
and Paramount there were more long lines.<br />
Even if the other houses had had weak attractions<br />
they would have benefited, because<br />
tired parents and their offspring had<br />
to go some place to sit down.<br />
It was remarkable—like the wartime<br />
days.<br />
Local Newsreels<br />
pROM time to time the national newsreels<br />
have included subjects of regional<br />
importance designed for showing only in<br />
certain areas. Also, many individual theatres<br />
have made up 16mm subjects of<br />
purely local interest and the regular projectionists<br />
have run them off. These have<br />
been increasing in number and have been<br />
found to be boxoffice stimulants.<br />
Now. for the first time, a company has<br />
been organized on a statewide basis to<br />
furnish this material. It is in Califor!iia<br />
and is called Town and Country Topic<br />
Productions. It claims to have more than<br />
80 theatres signed up, although it also will<br />
furnish service for television and commercial<br />
use.<br />
This experiment undoubtedly will be<br />
watched closely, because scattered television<br />
stations are using this type of film material<br />
and it has been found to be competition.<br />
Local exhibitors may want to meet<br />
this threat by using their own coverage,<br />
if a way can be found to do it without<br />
jumping the overhead.<br />
History Repeats<br />
TT WAS the finding of a baby girl in the<br />
Sheridan Theatre, Pittsburgh, Oct. 24,<br />
1928, that caused the founding of the first<br />
Variety Club by a group of showmen. They<br />
adopted the girl, named her Catherine Variety<br />
Sheridan. She is now grown up and<br />
married. Her distracted mother was made<br />
happy and the imagination of sympathetic<br />
people the world over was captured.<br />
Christmas night, 1949, history was repeated.<br />
A six-pound boy was found in the<br />
powder room of the Strand Theatre, Holyoke,<br />
Mass. Samuel Goldstein, president of<br />
Western Massachusetts Theatres, Inc.,<br />
immediately sent a check for $50 to the<br />
Holyoke Transcript-Telegram with the hope<br />
that a fund would be started to take care<br />
of the child.<br />
New England already has a Variety Club<br />
with headquarters at Boston. Another act<br />
of compassion like that in Pittsburgh could<br />
be a great thing for Variety and for this<br />
business.<br />
'King's Men' Is Honored<br />
NEW YORK — The February issue of<br />
Esquire magazine, on the stands January 6,<br />
named "All the King's Men" (Col> "the man's<br />
movie of the month."<br />
Chairmen Are Named<br />
For NCCJ Campaign<br />
NEW YORK—Forty-five industry leaders<br />
will serve as company coordinators and exchange<br />
area distribution chairmen during<br />
the campaign of the National Conference of<br />
Christians and Jews—February 18-28. A. W.<br />
Schwalberg, vice-president in charge of distribution<br />
for Paramount, is national distributor<br />
chairman.<br />
The company coordinators are:<br />
Lou Brager, Film Classics; Harry Buckley,<br />
United Artists; Mike Dolid, Warner Bros.;<br />
Pete Friedhoff, Monogram; William Gehring,<br />
20th Century -Fox; Al Grubstick, Screen<br />
Guild; George Josephs, Columbia; Al O'Keefe,<br />
Universal; H. M. Richey, Loew's, Inc.; Burton<br />
Robbins, National Screen Service; A. E.<br />
Schiller, Republic ; Jack Schlaifer, Eagle Lion<br />
A. A. Schubart, RKO, and C. J. Scollard,<br />
Paramount.<br />
The exchange area distribution chairmen<br />
are: Paramount—Jess McBride, Milwaukee;<br />
John Moore, Boston: Heywood Simmons,<br />
Dallas; Ulrik Smith. Philadelphia; 20th Century-Fox—Charles<br />
F. Powers, Portland; I. J.<br />
Schmertz, Cleveland; J. E. Scott, Omaha; Ben<br />
Simon, New Haven; Loew's—Albert L. Adler,<br />
Kansas City; Herbert Bennin, St. Louis; Poster<br />
B. Gauker, Indianapolis; Saal Gottlieb,<br />
Pittsburgh; RKO—Jack Chinell, Buffalo; Joe<br />
Emerson, Denver; Sam Gorelick, Chicago; Joe<br />
Smith, San Francisco; Warner Bros.—James<br />
Abrose, Cincinnati; Art Anderson, Minneapolis;<br />
Fred Greenberg, Los Angeles; Don<br />
Woods, Detroit; Columbia—Clarke Baker,<br />
Des Moines; Herman Chrisman, Memphis;<br />
Duke Duvall, New Orleans; Dewey Gibbs,<br />
Oklahoma City; Universal—J. W. Greenleaf,<br />
Charlotte; E. Vogel, Albany; United Artists<br />
—John Bachman, Atlanta; Carroll Trowbridge,<br />
Salt Lake City; Eagle Lion—Wallace<br />
Rucker, Seattle; Fred Rohrs. Washington;<br />
Republic—William P. Murphy, New York City.<br />
TOA Names 18 Area Heads<br />
For Brotherhood Week<br />
NEW YORK—Eighteen TOA members have<br />
accepted appointment as exchange area cochairmen<br />
for the Brotherhood week campaign<br />
to be held February 17-25, Gael Sullivan,<br />
national exhibitor co-chairman, has reported<br />
to Ted R. Gamble, national chairman of the<br />
motion picture division.<br />
TOA exhibitor co-chairmen, who will serve<br />
in each exchange area with an Allied and<br />
distributor co-chairman, are:<br />
Saul J. Ullman, Albany; Louis M. Gordon,<br />
Boston; James Eshelman, Buffalo; John Balaban,<br />
Chicago; Jack R. Keegan, Cinciimati;<br />
Julius Gordon, Dallas; Earl Hudson, Detroit;<br />
Ken Collins, Indianapolis; Dale Danielson,<br />
Kansas City; Harry Viimicof, Los Angeles;<br />
M. A. Lightman jr., Memphis; Harry French,<br />
Minneapolis; N. L. Carter, New Orleans;<br />
Morris Loewenstein, Oklahoma City; Robert<br />
R. Livingston, Omaha; Roy Cooper, San Francisco;<br />
Frank L. Newman, Seattle, and Frank<br />
Boucher, Washington, D. C.<br />
MGM Shifts Tradeshows<br />
NEW YORK—MGM has set tradesbowings<br />
for foiu' new pictures and has canceled<br />
one previously set for January 19— "Shadow<br />
on the Wall." The four new pictures and<br />
dates are: "Black Hand," January 18; "Nancy<br />
Goes to Rio," January 31; "Key to the City,"<br />
February 2, and "Conspirator," February 6.<br />
14 BOXOFFICE :: January 7, 1950